Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown



Rating: 5/10

Review:  

This is The Dan Brown novel template:
Robert Langdon is called to decode/analyze/decipher ancient symbols/crypts/codes that reveals a powerful secret that could change mankind, a secret that has been valiantly protected by a secret organization with powerful members.  


Insert names of famous cities of the World, add a well-educated, brilliant scientist/historian as the female lead, and of course the big bad villain, in a story that usually happens in the span of a day.  

Working that formula for The Lost Symbol, it would sort of give you the book's blurb:
Robert Langdon is called to decipher the ancient 'word' that reveals a powerful secret that could change mankind, a secret that has been valiantly protected by the Freemasons. Racing against time in Washington D.C, Langdon has to help a friend Peter Solomon with the aid of his brilliant scientist sister Katherine Solomon. All in a day. A few convenient coincidences thrown in

This latest thriller from Dan Brown is mediocre at best with occasional flashes of brilliance. The book is not tightly-paced and rambles a lot. Sometimes , it's just information overload. Or perhaps the irritation arises because of the feeling of deja vu that seems to plague the reader more than Langdon. This is just all TOO familiar! The book is also too long, which certainly hurts its chances of being a good thriller.  


To give credit where it is due, the book does share a lot of interesting information about the Freemasons, the close connection between science and mystics, the ideas behind the construction of some of Washington D.C's most famous buildings - familiar territory for Dan Brown. Also, there are some excellent twists to the tale that made me gape in surprise and awe!  

But in the end, the book is typical Dan Brown - whether that's a good thing or not depends on the reader, I think. Angels and Demons is still my favourite Dan Brown novel and I hope he can come up with a novel that matches the pure excitement, adrenaline rush and brilliance of Angels and Demons. The Lost Symbol, sadly, is too formulaic to gain a rating more than just 'readable'.

10 comments:

Heather G. said...

I've heard a lot of similar reviews...so this one continues to sit on my TBR shelf....though, one I will get to it! Great review!

A Buckeye Girl Reads said...

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this book. It's still on my TBR pile.

Aarti said...

Mediocre with flashes of brillance, huh? That's an interesting combination! My dad read this one, but I have no desire to, myself. Not a huge thriller person.

Kals said...

Heather - Thanks :) Yeah..I sat on this book for months before I finally read it and it wasn't worth the long read, really.

Colette - Yeah, I've seen that a lot of people love the book. The plot structure became too boring for me.

Aarti - Thanks for dropping by! I've started following your blog and I love it :) Yeah..give this a miss. You won't be losing out on much!

Shweta said...

Nice review but I didn't like the book as much as you did . Actually hated this book . Really did. For all the anticipation and the wait . It was a big dud and he went on with the mystery for too long . I seriously got bored.

I think his Angels And Demons was the only one which kept me up reading all night :)

Kals said...

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't really like it either. It was okay :)

True! Angels and Demons is easily his best book and I thought the movie was pretty decent too:)

Amanda said...

Thanks for such an honest review. I was feeling mean not having forked out for the hardbook for us to share at home but now I'm glad. I think I'll save it for my Library Challenge and later rather than sooner.
It's great being able to catch up on your posts now that I'm back online:D

Kals said...

Oh yes, don't waste money buying it. But it's still worth a read on a lazy day ;)

I'm glad you're back. Happy reading and posting! :)

Veens said...

Ahh@ There we have something in common! I also think Angels and Daemons was a masterpiece.. and I have almost the same COMPLAINTS from this one.. LOL!

Good review.. I must say I enjoyed parts of it.. but most of the time, I was just focusing on FINISHING it LOL!
But well the ending took me a lil by surprise :)

I think another think I did not like was really short chapters.. give me break.. He breaths and then there is another scene LOL! It is as if he is written it as a movie LOL!

Kals said...

" He breaths and then there is another scene LOL!"
LOL! Well said! :D And I agree with you. Too many short chapters were irritating!

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