Book Review - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Beware Spoilers!

I hadn't planned to read this yet but picked up a brand new copy at the library and thought I may as well make use of it, having it on loan from the library is also a great incentive to read a book fairly quickly, although I didn't think I would need one for this as I really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and loved Angels and Demons.  This sadly I didn't enjoy quite as much, still a good read and an enjoyable story but it didn't quite hit all the excitement and involvement for me as the other books mentioned.

The story was fast paced and dramatic, the plot complex and puzzling, some of the scientific information startling, interesting, mind boggling and both believable and unbelievable.  But this time I just didn't seem to care quite so much, Robert Langdon just seemed that bit more boring, and surely after what he has already been through in his life would he really be so naive as to allow himself to get dragged into yet another mystery like this, wouldn't he be questioning every invitation he receives no matter who it is from.  I am beginning to think of him as a very unlikely hero (or maybe that is the point)

The story all takes place in and around Washington DC which brings this book some differences to the European set books, but I was also less familiar with the places which may have made this book less enjoyable.  There are some amazingly dramatic events and one or two I was quite surprised to find Langdon was able to finally escape from, the characters were typical Dan Brown characters and the villain perhaps the worst of all his villains (although I had had a sneaky suspicion that he may have been who he turned out to be all along - with no evidence for this in the book!!)

Overall not up to the other books of his which I have read and it is quite a long book at over 600 pages, a good airplane or beach novel.  So I was glad I had borrowed it from the library as it kept me focused to finish it and I didn't feel cheated that I had had to pay for it!!

Ciao

Sue
XX
Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (not off my reading challenge)

Book Review - Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Just a note of caution if you haven't read this book there may be spoilers!

I have really struggled with the Midge Ure book and so it got cast aside again for Angels and Demons by Dan Brown which was a thoroughly enjoyable read, as expected.  I had planned to try and read this first before I saw the film, but ended up seeing the film, although there are some huge differences between the book and film - not in the form of plot etc but a very important character in the book is totally missing from the film, and some minor plot changes alter it slightly.  The changes of course made reading the book more interesting to see what was missing from the film.

The book takes place over a period of less than 24 hours and is pacy and action packed all the way through, the action moves from America, the CERN Complex in Switzerland to Rome and Vatican City.  The book is easy to read and is very much a page turner, I tried to imagine Robert Langdon as having a face other than that of Tom Hanks but it was Tom's face which constantly popped into my imagination as I was reading it.  Other than that seeing the film didn't really have too much of an impact as I had forgotten most of the details which helped in reading the book.  I enjoyed the book so much that I borrowed the film again and watched that too - that was very enjoyable too, Jamie loved it so much he is trying to read the book himself and Mike even watched the film!!

This is of course one of those books where you have to forget about the realistic aspects of access to the Vatican, moving from America to Rome in a matter of a couple of hours (taking in Switzerland en route!) otherwise the plot wouldn't work.  Robert Langdon is called in to help interpret and investigate the mysterious death of a CERN scientist at the hands of what looks to be the The Illuminati.  This takes him to Vatican City where the Cardinals of the Catholic Church are just about to go into Conclave following the death of the Pope.   The Preferati, the most likely Cardinals to succeed have been kidnapped and one an hour will be killed throughout Rome at significant sites to the Illuminati, on the Path of Illumination, seemingly as revenge for the persecution the organisation faced throughout its history.

There is name dropping and this time it consists of Galileo, Raphael and Bernini amongst others, the backdrop of Rome and the intrigue of ambigrams and the Illuminati which all make this book so very readable.   Lots of intrigue, historical drama, murders, excitement, a very very good read.

As for the film, well I enjoyed it much more second time around and could fill in the blanks where I needed to and consider which and why certain aspects of the film were altered.  Very enjoyable film - good fast paced entertainment.  I would thoroughly recommend both.  I am very much planning to read another Dan Brown in the near future.

Ciao for now
Sue

Reading challenge 14/16 - currently reading If I Was by Midge Ure