Allow me to preface this post by saying that The Lost Symbol is, for better or worse, only the second DB novel I've read. The first one was--I'll give you three guesses--the most obvious of his bunch, and (perhaps this is where for worst comes in) I find it difficult to talk about this book without invoking the tome that is the Da Vinci Code.
Now, in some sense, that's a good thing. The fact that both books are "Robert Langdon" books definitely calls for comparison. Then again, Angels and Demons was also a "Robert Langdon" book, yet I found myself sufficiently satisfied with having just seen the movie on that one. (Not a bad movie, as a matter of fact, though I feel like the surprise would have been lost entirely had I read the book--but, alas, that's to be expected.)
So what to say about The Lost Symbol? First, I guess my big gripe is that I really, really liked the Da Vinci Code. As you can probably guess from this blog, I'm pretty into literary fiction, lyric texts, modern language, blah blah blah. I'm also a girl who likes her action novels. Give me some old fashioned Robert Ludlum Borne Identity kind of thing any day. I really do enjoy a page-turner, and considering that Da Vinci Code was a page turner with a deep, intellectual meaning behind, I was signed up from the get-go. Add to that the fact that the collective American conscious is pretty interminably linked with badass professors like Indiana Jones, and we've got ourselves a combination that's unlikely to fail. And yet, in the Lost Symbol, I think it does fail just a little bit.
First, the beginning got off to a sloth-like pace, especially when compared with the whiz-bang start of DVC. I mean, dude. A museum curator murdered in the Louvre before the end of the first chapter? MONEY IN DA BANK. The Lost Symbol, on the contrary, takes its sweet time. Sure, it starts with Brown's beloved perspective of the evil / misunderstood / plot twist-ridden character, and then floods off to Langdon / other relevant parties, but I just felt underwhelmed. I really had to pull through until we got to the puzzles, which was one thing I think Brown generally does fantastically, especially with regard to pacing and reader interaction. You're constantly trying to figure that shit out right along with his characters, but, again, LS seems to be just a little bit slow on the uptake. I would have love a quicker execution when it came to uncovering certain things.
That being said, I thought the overarching idea in this work of Brown's (if we're comparing to DVC and Angels and Demons re: main plot as it relates to the Church / religion / science / controversy-causing stuff) was actually really interesting. I truly did appreciate all of the consideration Brown included with regard to religion and enlightenment as an ultimate reflection of man's ascent to godliness through use of his intellect. I think it's a beautiful concept, though one that sort of gets him in trouble with the church again if we're taking about men being equal to God and whatnot. Not my fight, but let me just say that I think this is the least propagandish of Brown's novels, and that, moreover, people who take really serious issues with his work need to remind themselves that, as it says in the copyright page of his novels, this is a work of fiction. Frankly, one thing I have to give Brown absolute credit for is his incredible ability to piece together seemingly unfittable works of art, historic locations, obscure encryption tools, and ancient organizations to create a conspiracy tapestry worthy of Henry V. That being said, it does get a little old when the plot is always sort of predictable, and the only reason I find myself reading is to uncover the deciphering of the clues.
On the other hand, I did really enjoy the Neo-science stuff he included, and especially that moment towards the end where Langdon's situation becomes, shall we say, precarious. I thought it was really clever, but also sort of predictable. You can't just **SPOILER WARNING** off your main character and expect a halfway intelligent reader to buy it. Um...really, Daniel?
On the third hand (third hand? hmm...) I just started reading The Rule of Four and am immediately willing to say it will beat The Lost Symbol on my list of good action / thriller reads, because the writing actually flows and feels quick, sharp, and unforced. Some of the scenes in the classrooms with students had me rolling my eyes and holding a stitch in my side. ALL of the students DB describes somehow wind up being like Minkus from Boy Meets World. Anyone? Buehler?
Ultimately, I can't say it was a bad book, because I got through it pretty quick and did enjoy several parts of it. I also can't say that it was a fantastic book, one of those that is the complete package, the way I really did think Da Vinci Code was. I guess, for me, the locale of DC doesn't do very much to add to the "coolness" of it, and the writing wasn't as crisp or fast-paced as I would have liked. I also felt like Brown beat us over the head a little bit with his message at the end, though, I suppose, this message is far more innocuous than others he could have picked.
FINAL VERDICT:
* out of *****
Get it from the library.
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