Done with The Lost Symbol

Here are my thoughts about the book while I was still reading it – The Lost Symbol.

I’m done with The Lost Symbol at last. It took me 8 days to read it. It’s a bit long for a thriller, but I was not able to spend much time on it on any day. Finally, I had to spend a better part of my Sunday in order to wind it up.

I found the theme of this book even better than those of Dan Brown’s previous works. The fact that the subject isn’t as far fetched as the Jesus’ lost lineage or mysterious meteorite, has made all the difference to me. Even though, this includes all the usual symbols, mysteries, secrets and codes, the ultimate truth is the simplest one and yet very powerful. I could relate to it and was astonished by the revelation.

I hated Sato very much in the beginning for intimidating Robert. I made a little note too at that point – “I hate Sato.  Whatever her motives are, at the moment she is just a malicious, inconsiderate, selfish brute.”

I had a strong feeling even then that she has her own reasons for behaving so and she intentioned well. But all the same, my feelings for her didn’t improve much. Despite her efficiency, I couldn’t appreciate her ruthlessness. She is one of the coldest characters I’ve ever came across.

And I was awed by the sensory- deprivation tanks and breathable liquid mentioned in the novel. Never heard of them before. I was curious before I came to that part as to how the author would explain the escape of an important person from death by apparent drowning.

Here are my thoughts about the book while I was still reading it – The Lost Symbol.

I’m done with The Lost Symbol at last. It took me 8 days to read it. It’s a bit long for a thriller, but I was not able to spend much time on it on any day. Finally, I had to spend a better part of my Sunday in order to wind it up.

I found the theme of this book even better than those of Dan Brown’s previous works. The fact that the subject isn’t as far fetched as the Jesus’ lost lineage or mysterious meteorite, has made all the difference to me. Even though, this includes all the usual symbols, mysteries, secrets and codes, the ultimate truth unveiled is the simplest one and yet very powerful. I could relate to it and was astonished by the revelation.

I hated Sato very much in the beginning for intimidating Robert. I made a little note too at that point – “I hate Sato.  Whatever her motives are, at the moment she is just a malicious, inconsiderate, selfish brute.”

I had a strong feeling even then that she has her own reasons for behaving so and that she intentioned well. But all the same, my feelings for her didn’t improve much. Despite her efficiency, I couldn’t appreciate her ruthlessness. She is one of the coldest characters I’ve ever came across.

And I was awed by the sensory- deprivation tanks and breathable liquid mentioned in the novel. Never heard of them before. I was curious before I came to that part as to how the author would explain the escape of an important person from death by apparent drowning.

The Lost Symbol

I’m currently enjoying reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and I’ve covered about 25% of it so far. Just wanted to pour out my thoughts on the experience.

Whenever there is hype over anything, I fear that the product in question might end up not justifying the enormous magnitude of the anticipation. But in the case of The Lost Symbol, my fears have proved groundless, for Dan Brown successfully emerged with a yet another edge-of-the-seat thriller.

I was intrigued by his declaration in the beginning that all the organizations, rituals he mentioned in the book really exist. If that’s the case, there lies a whole separate world which remained hidden to the general public.

I’m even more impressed by the field of Noetic Science. It says that the mind has effect on the matter; that thoughts can make or break things. Of course, it isn’t entirely a new perception. Like the author explained in this novel, the powers of the mind have been recognized and realized by many in the ancient times. And we Indians do have countless instances depicted in our epics and sacred scriptures.

All this has reminded me of something I read a while ago,  a speech called ‘The Power of the Mind’ by Swami Vivekananda, an inspirational and spiritual personality of the 19^th century, delivered at Los Angeles on Jan 8^th, 1900. As all his talks, this particular speech too is highly inspirational and mesmerizing. He explained that the human mind has tremendous power waiting to be harnessed. I remember being transfixed on the idea that each mind is connected to every other mind and that each mind is in actual communion with the whole world. You can find some excerpts of that enlightening talk here.

I liked the fact that Dan Brown mentioned some real artifacts related to neotic science, like the book – The Intention Experiment and aroused my interest in that field.

One more thing I’ve experienced while reading the book is that – I keep picturizing Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. Though I don’t have any misgivings whatsoever about his superior performance befitting the role, I feel that he is a bit too old for the character. And that spoiled a bit of fun and restricted my imagination about the physical aspects of the character.

More later – may be when I finish reading it. Not a promise though!

Criticism against Dan Brown

I was really surprised, when I encountered this statement: “Dan Brown is the author that his peers most love to hate” in an article on  guardian.co.uk 

Here is what Jodi Picoult has to say about him and his Da Vinci Code:“I don’t understand the hype over such a poorly written novel – and as an author who does all her own research, I know better than to consider myself an expert in the field I am writing about,” she told the Daily Mail. “I believe this was an error in judgment for this particular author.” 

As I googled a bit, I found so many who hate his works and his style. There are certainly more than a handful out there who feel that he is a horrible writer.  

Look at these two:

• Please someone hate …
• I hate you all 

But those are his readers. I couldn’t find any more references to the authors actually slamming down Dan Brown. 

While I can see the controversy his Da Vinci Code raised, I definitely don’t think he’s crappy. While I agree that all his works and characters sound a lot similar, I don’t agree that they are poorly written.  For me, they are the best page tuners I’ve ever read – totally gripping. I had bad experience only with Deception Point, but I think that’s only because I picked it up in the end after finishing off all the other three and his style just became monotonous. 

I may not be qualified to comment on the literary value of his works, but  I feel that they are bestsellers for a reason, a good one at that. 

Right now, I’m just curious as to why his peers hate him and why some feel his writing is gross..!