The Bottom Line: This book is worth a read because of the plotting and characterization. Expect some long sections of detailed description for background purposes.
donnamr's Full Review: Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol: A Novel
Dan Brown tells a good story. He's managed to do so in his previous 4 novels (Angels & Demons, The DaVinci Code, Deception Point, Digital Fortress), and now he almost does it again in The Lost Symbol. After reading all of these published works to date, I can say that his latest is my least favorite. Not that I didn't like it - it was gripping enough for me to keep turning the pages.
What Worked for Me
One of the strong points of Brown's writing is his ability to weave complicated tales with startling characters and lots of puzzles to solve. The Lost Symbols had those elements.
Robert Langdon, the main character, is a professor immersed in the study of symbols, so he is the perfect target for a mystery involving the search for a symbol that will unlock ultimate power. Langdon is an unwilling participant in the deadly search for answers to an intricate puzzle, as he was in Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code. His knowledge and brain power get him through many complications and entanglements with CIA agents, Masons, clergy, and a single-minded villain who turns out to have quite a few surprises in store for Langdon and his associates.
As in past novels involving Langdon, the plot starts with a single brutal act that causes a domino effect of unusual and confusing events surrounding the search for some hidden truth. Langdon teams up with a scientist whose brother has been kidnapped and tortured into revealing some high-powered information in which the CIA has a keen interest. The scientist is also conducting some secret research in the hidden recesses of Washington, DC that makes her a target of the villain.
The characters are well-drawn. The motivations of the villain appear clear from the beginning. (I use the word "appear," because this is one of the "gotcha" twists of the plot.) One of the things I particularly liked about Angels and Demons was the fact that the villain was supposed to be more obscure. Here, it's clear from the early chapters who he is. Instead, the suspense comes from the uncertainly of what this character might do next. So, it's not a matter of who, but what, when, and how.
The CIA connection comes in the person of an impatient, overbearing, and uncompromising woman who has no qualms about wielding the power she possesses. One can't help wonder about her ulterior motives as the story progresses. Langdon is literally trapped between her demands and those of the villain.
One of the techniques that Brown uses successfully is juxtaposition of the events. He leaves the reader hanging at the end of a chapter and switches place and character emphasis in the next chapter. Thus, everything has a simultaneous feel to it, and the suspense is built in that manner.
What Didn't Work for Me
Some of the description seemed overwhelmingly detailed. I realize that background information was necessary, but some of the flashbacks seemed overly long and tedious. There were a few times I felt I could have skipped sections and still made perfect sense of what was going on. There's also a lot of dialogue and exposition involving theory that slowed the pace of the novel. I suppose some of this was necessary to understanding of the final outcome, but it seemed to go on a bit too long.
I also felt the strong arm of coincidence in a couple of the resolutions to predicaments. Remembering details just in time - stuff like that. One in particular didn't seem logical because it seemed out of character for the villain (without giving too much away, it has to do with a drowning episode.)
Finally, I felt that the last chapters of the book were anticlimactic. The problem was solved, the conflict was resolved, but now there were several chapters that gave closure to some of the theoretical aspects of the theme, but didn't really have any plot. I almost didn't finish the last chapter! I don't feel it really added much. (When the story is over...it's over!)
Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely, I would recommend this as a book to read. Dan Brown displays an incredible amount of knowledge and research, and the ideas he infuses into the action are fascinating. His sense of action and suspense are superb, and he knows how to weave a complicated puzzle of a story. His characterizations (though a bit over the top with this particular villain) are interesting and multi-faceted. Bottom line: you can't help rooting for Langdon and his associates.
I'm a Dan Brown fan and likely to read anything he writes. I enjoy his style and the challenge of the puzzles his characters have to solve. I liked The Lost Symbol, but it didn't quite have the gripping effect that, for example, Angels and Demons had for me.
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