Back with a vengeance....

It's about darned time that A Reader's Respite got back to the business of reviewing books around here. Enough of this slacking off.

We thought we come back with a bang and give you the low-down on Dan Brown's big sequel to The DaVinci Code (love it or hate it, it was a popular book and we mused a bit about it here), this one titled The Lost Symbol.



Did it live up to all the hype? Well, yes and no. The DaVinci Code was a best seller because, fact or fiction, readers liked all the secrets and revelations contained in the plot. Naturally, if Dan Brown wanted to replicate his original success, it was necessary for The Lost Symbol to use the same formula.

This time, instead of focusing on the Catholic Church and Mary Magdalene, Brown chose to direct his energies towards the Freemasons, a veritable treasure trove of symbolism, myth and conspiracy theories.

This is the Freemason's symbol, for all the uneducated masses out there. You'll also find this symbol on all of our currency, hidden inside your passport, and even imprinted on the front door of the White House. Sheesh, you didn't know that?

And because so many Freemason symbols are to be found lurking around our nation's capitol, Washington D.C. is the setting this time.

If running around Washington D.C. looking for an ancient treasure rings a vague bell in the back of your mind, you're not alone. We couldn't help but envision Nicholas Cage in National Treasure throughout the book.

Perhaps Ben Gates and Robert Langdon could join forces in the next installment to rid D.C. of all evil (politicians, that is).

Any-hoo, if you liked The DaVinci Code, you may enjoy this read as well. But beware that much of the novelty of protagonist Robert Langdon's revelations have worn off. Instead of riveting you to the page, this time around you may feel a bit tired of the lecturing Harvard professor.

But despite pages of formulaic plot and dialogue, we found a few choice spots of brilliance. We'll leave you with one of them:

From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to American politics - the name Jesus had been hijacked as an ally in all kinds of power struggles. Since the beginning of time, the ignorant had always screamed the loudest, herding the unsuspecting masses and forcing them to do their bidding. They defended their worldly desires by citing Scripture they did not understand. They celebrated their intolerance as proof of their convictions. Now, after all these years, mankind had finally managed to utterly erode everything that had once been so beautiful about Jesus.

The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown






You're looking for the giveaway for this one, aren't you? A Reader's Respite would glady give away our copy of this one were it not ensconsed on our Amazonian Devil Device (ie, Kindle). But alas, we haven't figured out a way to seperate the novel from the device yet.

13 comments:

  1. I am reading this one now! And my God! I didn't know that about the symbol!
    I liked tat quote but I am not there yet!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Da Vinci Code didn't do that much for me, so I won't be seeking this one out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think of the Da Vinci Code as the book I liked when I didn't know any better. I'm not sure it would stand up to the better books I've read since. I will most likely read this one "just because", but not anytime soon. I'll wait for a giveaway, or 10 years from now when the thing goes to paperback.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Da Vinci Code didn't do that much for me either. But with the movies, I quite liked the Angels and Demons.

    Steamy Darcy

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have this on my eReader and plan to read it soon. I love figuring out puzzles and so I have fun with these books. Do I see the flaws? Yes, of course. I don't have to read great literature all the time; escape reading has a place too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not much of a Dan Brown fan myself so I'll pass on this one. I think I read about half of The Da Vinci Code before I stopped. My friends loved it so, I think that's just me being too picky.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Veens - have fun with the book, like Beth says, it's good to have an escape read!

    Kathy - I think people either loved or hated it...it really was a polarizing book, wasn't it?

    Sandy - good description and you captured exactly how I feel about it.

    Enid - I never saw the movie Angels and Demons but now you've caught my interest with it....Netflix here I come!

    Beth - exactly!!

    Austenfan - nah, you're not too picky. It just didn't work for a lot of people, so no harm, no foul, right? At least you gave it a try and didn't judge it based on what others were saying, so kudos to you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll read this one day. Sometimes I need a predictable puzzle to look at.

    And I thought ADD stood for something else; now I know about the Amazonian Devil Device (ha!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really can't wait to read this one! Sounds like an awesome book. I love all his books.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree -- The Da Vinci Code was so popular because it was fresh and new and had some juicy stuff in it that seemed like it could be real. Freemasons? That has been done to death. I believe Brad Meltzer did a book with the same theme as well. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'll have to get my hands on a copy of this at some point...I thought DVC was okay, actually liked Angels and Demons better. But since Dan Brown is a NH author, I feel like I have to include him in my NH author highlights for Galleysmith's Literary Road Trip. Book sensations don't get a whole lot bigger, after all (okay, Harry Potter, but other than that...). Not that he needs any extra publicity! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'll be reading this one eventually, but I'm in no great hurry, to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm ashamed! I still haven't read The DaVinci Code!

    ReplyDelete

Fire away!