Book: The Lost Symbol
ISBN-13: 978-0385504225
Author: Dan Brown
Series: Robert Langdon Series, No. 3
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Release: September 15, 2009
Length: 528 pages (Hardcover)
Rating: C+ (75 / 100)
Verdict
Hardcore fans of Brown’s previous works, Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, are certain to enjoy The Lost Symbol. It’s choked full of all the qualities that made the first two books international bestsellers, but for many readers, this book is going to be one volume too much for Brown’s formula to bear.
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Pros: This book is a fast-paced page-tuner. It features the same type of great info-tainment quality as the previous two books.
Cons: The book’s plot is formulaic, predictable, and ultimately anti-climactic. The “secret” at the center of the book is a severe disappointment, and at the end of the book, Brown launches into a full-on sermon, ruining what very little emotional impact the story held.
Synopsis
In Brief: If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code, you know how this book goes. The difference is that The Lost Symbol is set in Washington, rather than France, and it follows Langdon as he snoops out the secrets of the Masons rather than those of Christianity.
Official: In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world’s most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling — a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale.
As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object — artfully encoded with five symbols — is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.
When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon — a prominent Mason and philanthropist — is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations — all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.
Review
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown is Brown’s third Robert Langdon thriller. In this volume, Langdon explores the fascinating “secrets” behind the architecture of Washington D.C. and the founding fathers’ Freemason connections. Unfortunately, The Lost Symbol fails to ever rise above mediocrity.
Brown follows the formula of the previous two Langdon books so closely that the course of the entire plot is evident within a few chapters. The cast, the antagonist, the chases, the twists, and even the conclusion to this book is all very familiar. The trivia and historical perspective he offers throughout the rest of his book on the links between Freemasonry and the founding fathers is intriguing, but it’s not enough to justify re-hashing the same story a third time.
In fact, the only significant difference between this book and its predecessor is it’s last fifty pages, in which the characters behave as if none of the first four hundred pages of plot occurred while Brown flies off the rails with a sermon about the beauty and misunderstood nature of religion. The sermon contributes absolutely nothing to the story and only serves to demonstrate just how deeply the criticism of his last two books’ supposedly anti-Christian sentiment has effected him.
And yet, despite the Brown blatantly phoning this one in, his books still outsell everything but Harry Potter, making Brown one of the most successful brands ever produced by the publishing industry. Even if these three books were unique, his success would be difficult to understand.
Brown’s work is built entirely upon good central concepts. His work is almost entirely devoid of well-crafted prose, deep characterization, or emotionally-charged dialog, all of which most readers would consider prerequisite to a bestseller. His characters speak and behave the same not only within each book, but also throughout his body of work. His descriptions are free of any thought-provoking imagery or symbolism (ironic, in a book that follows a symbologist). Plus, his character all have about as much depth as the cast of a horror movie.
It’s sad that of all the excellent books released this year, this should be the one to break sales records. As rapidly as the publishing industry is fading, disappointing tens of millions of readers in one fell blow seems like a very poor move. All that can be done, now, however, is to forewarn readers who haven’t spent the full hardcover price for the book. So here’s the warning: Unless you’re a rabid Dan Brown fan, wait for until this book is available at your local library or, at least, until the paperback edition is released.
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Further Information
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