Tom Hanks – DaneCobain.com

Title: The Lost Symbol

Author: Dan Brown

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 670

Rating: 6/10

Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol

Oh, joy of joys – time to write another long review of a Dan Brown novel. The Lost Symbol is the third book in his Robert Langdon series, following on from Angels & Demons and his best-seller, The Da Vinci Code.

Now, in my opinion, the series started strongly with Angels & Demons and has slowly weakened with each new book – I’m not saying that The Lost Symbol is a bad read, but it’s not as gripping as the earlier novels. It does, however, feature Brown’s signature riddles, twists and antagonists.

It’s also one of the fastest-selling books that’s ever been released – 6.5 million copies were printed in the initial run, the largest run in publisher Doubleday’s history, and it sold a million copies on release day. The Da Vinci Code was also a best-seller, and so it makes sense that the hype around its sequel would translate in to sales.

Dan Brown

Like The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons before it, it’s also being turned in to a film with Tom Hanks expected to return as Professor Robert Langdon. I wasn’t too keen on the previous movies, but I wasn’t crazy about the books either – while I doubt that I’ll ever watch the films again, I do think that they did the books justice.

Now, I’ve mentioned Brown’s formulaic writing style before, but I think it’s prudent to take a look at it again. See, while there’s nothing wrong with the way that he writes, it feels devoid of life and personality. Brown has lectured on writing before, and it does feel as though his work follows a strict formula that’s copied over from novel to novel.

While the details of the storylines differ, the storylines themselves remain the same – Langdon inadvertently embarks on an adventure, then faces a race against time as he tries to uncover a secret while avoiding death at the hands of an unknown adversary.

Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon

I prefer writing to be from the heart, an emotional response to a situation. I prefer writing that’s innovative and soul-searching. I prefer books that were written out of necessity, books that were written because if they weren’t then the author would’ve died or lost their mind. Brown’s writing lacks this vitality – he writes because he’s good at it. He’s the equivalent in the literary world of Rihanna in the musical world.

Of course, I quite like Rihanna, and so do a lot of people – there’s no shame in being a popular author, and Brown has the talent to back it up. Having said that, I wouldn’t waste my money on gig tickets or albums, and I always feel like I’m wasting something more valuable than money when i’m reading one of Brown’s novels. I feel like I’m wasting my time.

That said, the conspiracy-laden storyline is gripping and vaguely educational, and the character of Mal’akh is particularly terrifying. His identity is revealed at the end of the novel in a supposed twist, although I figured out who he was after the first couple of hundred of pages. I’m saying nothing, though – I don’t want to spoil it for you, just in case you decide to read it.

There’s something both smug and annoying about this Dan Brown quote…

In fact, this antagonist, with his full-body tattoos and lust for blood, is the scariest and most sinister of all of Brown’s ‘bad guys‘, mainly because he’s crazy – you don’t want to get on the wrong side of him. Notable, he’s also the first of Brown’s evil murderers who concocts a plan himself – all the others have been pawns in some evil game.

Overall, it’s worth reading The Lost Symbol if you’ve read the other books in the series, but it’s not the best book to start with – if you’re a first time reader, pick up Angels & Demons instead. If you like Brown’s writing, you can follow Langdon’s story through The Da Vinci Code and then move on to The Lost Symbol.

I couldn’t think of any other images to use, so here’s a picture of a cute kitty…

Click here to buy The Lost Symbol.

Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code | Review

Title: The Da Vinci Code

Author: Dan Brown

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 605

Rating: 7/10

Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code

It’s time. It’s the best-selling novel of one of the world’s best-selling authors. It’s The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, the book that made a star of the writer and which went on to become a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou. Odds are that if you’re a reader, you’ve read it. And if you’re on this site in the first place, you’re probably a reader.

Dan Brown’s tale of the Illuminati follows Harvard professor Robert Langdon and symbologist Sophie Neveu as they struggle to decipher an ancient mystery – it’s a typical Dan Brown novel, really. Langdon’s background as a symbologist is a necessity – the path is strewn with puzzles hidden in artwork, and it’s through this that Langdon has the symbologic savvy to understand how each of the pieces of the jigsaw fits together.

And, like all of Brown’s novels, there’s a twist – see, it turns out that Jesus had a ‘thing’ with Mary Magdalene, and after his death his bloodline continued throughout the ages. Problem is, certain people don’t want that to become common knowledge, and Langdon and Neveu need to stay alive for long enough to figure out what it is that they’re sitting on and to make it public.

Dan Brown

Another central plot line is the eventual discovery of the Holy Grail, the wooden cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper. Except, that’s not actually what the Grail is – but I’ll be quiet, I don’t want to spoil it for you all. It’s one of those books that you ought to read anyway, just because of its popularity.

It’s not a bad book though, and it’s one of only two Dan Brown novels that I could actually recommend. As much as we all love to hate him, Brown is still a master wordsmith and a man who literally taught on the subject. He started writing much later than most as well, after dabbling as a musician.

Predictably, the book managed to draw attention to the Opus Dei and to come under fire from Christian associations across the world – many called for the book to be banned. Ever heard of the Streisand Effect? It’s a phenomenon that’s named after Barbara Streisand, who tried to suppress aerial photographs of her house. This attempt at censorship alerted people to the problem in the first place, driving the whole thing to much greater heights than it could previously have reached. In part, the book’s success is surely down to the right-wingers who tried to censor it, thus increasing the desire to read it in the first place.

The Mona Lisa

As for the conspiracy element of the story, well – we all love a good theory, don’t we? I find conspiracy theories as interesting as the next man, but I’m slightly hesitant to believe them. I’ve seen too many low-budget documentaries to believe everything that I see and hear.

Of course, it doesn’t matter whether you believe it in the long run – you just need to suspend your disbelief for long enough to sit out the story. That’s pretty easy, because Brown’s writing is lucid and communicative – he’s not a bad writer, despite the occasional scientific and historical inaccuracies.

Overall, it’s a recommendation from me, ’cause it’s the kind of book that anyone can enjoy. It makes you feel clever, too – I have a feeling that that has something to do with the book’s popularity. It’s the kind of book that people read to complete their quota of a book a year.