The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)

Sep 30, 2009 Grumpus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fiction-series

I don’t get all the haters of the Dan Brown books. Are you really going in with the expectation that these books are going to be award-winning, works of art? If so, do you critique every book you read with that same expectation? It would be a pity if you did.

Like movies, I don’t expect every one I watch to be an Academy Award winner. If I did, that would certainly narrow the number of films I’d see. No, I go to be entertained (whatever that may mean on any particular day). That’s the way I look...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Janet Wilcox rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this novel actually better than DV Code and A & D, which is ironic as it wasn't quite the page turner as those were, but the plot and ideas were more believeable. I was very interested in The Masons, as they were so much a part of the early patriotic/revolutionary era of the US. As usual there is a gruesome evil person, with superhuman like skills and power. The whole story covers just 24 hours...wow, what a day!
Interesting insight from Brown on the Masons or Noetic Science?: "a tem...more I liked this novel actually better than DV Code and A & D, which is ironic as it wasn't quite the page turner as those were, but the plot and ideas were more believeable. I was very interested in The Masons, as they were so much a part of the early patriotic/revolutionary era of the US. As usual there is a gruesome evil person, with superhuman like skills and power. The whole story covers just 24 hours...wow, what a day!
Interesting insight from Brown on the Masons or Noetic Science?: "a temple of God" refers to the "temple" of the brain; how "the created,...becomes the Creator"; when the eye is single, your body fills with light". For me the last part of the book added to my personal confirmation of what faith is, and that "our minds can generate energy capable of transforming physical matter." I believe as Katherine stated, "As soon as we humans begin to harness our true power, we will have enormous control over our world..and be able to design reality, rather than merely react to it."
How about this idea: God created us in his image, but not just our physical bodies resemble him, but our minds! Now that's a a great idea, and correlates with my LDS belief that we were all intelligences first, even before our spirits were created. Because of this, we have God-like potential power, and indeed can become like him. We just haven't learned all that is necessary ...yet. Interestingly, he refers to the Hebrew meaning of God, Elohim, which is plural. Hmmm, gives lots to think about, especially if you don't believe in God, or if your belief in God is limited.
Love this idea also on p. 563, There are those who create, and those who tear down. The dynamic has existed for all time.
Another perspective of atonement...."gathering what is scattered...to bring order from chaos, to find "at-one-ment", from this vantage point, His characters discuss the inherent power of prayer groups, healing circles, singing in unison, worshipping en mass... unfortunately, no mention of Christ in that view, but there is still much truth there. "We have barely scratched the surface of our mental and spiritual capabilities." Can you believe a popular fiction novel promoting such eternal truths? I'd love to talk to others about this, but my husband disliked the book. I thought it was great.(less)

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Oct 12, 2009 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I liked Angels and Demons and I really liked The DaVinci Code but this latest of Dan Browns thrillers was barely worth the time, and definitely not worth the money.

The Lost Symbol follows the familiar Dan Brown formula - an ominous conspiracy, a threat to end the world as we know it, a relentless villain, and a search for hidden secrets which require the decoding of obscure clues. This formula has given us a couple of fine thrillers, and has taken advantage of the authors familiarity with arcan...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoy Dan Brown's stories. I have read Angels and Demon and The Da Vinci Code, I am currently reading Deception Point and plan on reading Digitial Fortress. I absolutely love his story telling. I have read mixed reviews and I think the negative reviews are just really people who are too serious in life. For goodness sake it is a book for entertainment, not a non-fiction story. Though I have read some non-fiction stories that are more fiction then Dan Brown's book. Brown's books are ente...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Mery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pinjam

Ketika pertama kali mendengar Dan Brown akan menerbitkan kembali kisah Robert Langdon, aku bersorak karena senang. Memang, aku adalah penggemar Robert Langdon. Sang kutu buku dan ahli simbol yang selalu dikejar-kejar masalah itu. Makanya aku sedikit antusias mendengar berita itu. Namun, entah sampai saat ini aku malah enggan membeli bukunya.

Cerita awal, seperti biasa, Langdon secara mendadak dipanggil untuk hal yang mendesak. Dan kali ini dia menerima undangan tak terduga dari sahabat lamanya Pe...more

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May 26, 2010 Bettie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: published-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 28, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, spiritualism-and-dogmatism, 2010-challenge-reads

When I thought about the rating for this book I wasn't basing it on historical accuracy or the author's technical skills. I base these thriller/historical fiction/religious suspense books on the experience of reading them. In high school, history WAS my favorite subject. In college, my favorite class of all was my World Religions course. The history of belief systems and symbology and religion is and has always been fascinating to me. So it stands to reason that this book would interest and ente...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Endah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: buntelan-dari-penerbit

Membaca novel-novel Dan Brown bersiaplah untuk bergadang. Itulah selalu yang selalu saya alami. The Lost Symbol menjadi pengalaman ketiga setelah The Da Vinci Code dan Angels and Demons. Bersama si ahli simbologi lajang, Profesor Robert Langdon, saya kembali menelusuri misteri ruangan-ruangan bawah tanah yang menyimpan bukan saja keindahan tetapi juga sejarah menakjubkan. Kali ini, Langdon membawa kita mengungkap rahasia Gedung Capitol di Washington, DC, Amerika Serikat.

Ada apa gerangan di bali...more Membaca novel-novel Dan Brown bersiaplah untuk bergadang. Itulah selalu yang selalu saya alami. The Lost Symbol menjadi pengalaman ketiga setelah The Da Vinci Code dan Angels and Demons. Bersama si ahli simbologi lajang, Profesor Robert Langdon, saya kembali menelusuri misteri ruangan-ruangan bawah tanah yang menyimpan bukan saja keindahan tetapi juga sejarah menakjubkan. Kali ini, Langdon membawa kita mengungkap rahasia Gedung Capitol di Washington, DC, Amerika Serikat.

Ada apa gerangan di balik kemegahan mahakarya Gedung Capitol itu? Tentu tidak akan saya sampaikan di sini agar kau membacanya sendiri. Saya hanya akan menceritakan betapa buku ini akan kembali membawamu pada sebuah petualangan penuh keajaiban di balik simbol-simbol kuno serta sihir ilmu pengetahuan. Menurut saya, novel-novel Dan Brown, bukan sekadar menyajikan ketegangan dan horror, tetapi juga ilmu pengetahuan. Jadi rasanya karya-karyanya bisa digolongkan juga ke dalam genre science fiction.

Bagi engkau yang telah membaca dua buku sebelumnya (The Da Vinci Code dan Angels and Demons), akan berjumpa kembali dengan sang jagoan: Robert Langdon dengan bidadari pendampingnya, Katherine Solomon, dalam sebuah thriller yang berlangsung selama kurang lebih 12 jam. Robert Langdon berupaya membongkar sebuah rahasia yang menyelubungi perkumpulan kaum Mason yang sudah ada sejak berabad-abad lalu. Bahkan ternyata George Washington dan Benjamin Franklin pernah menjadi anggotanya.

Sudah tentu, dalam usaha mengungkapnya, Langdon menemui banyak kendala. Dia harus berhadapan dengan seorang penjahat sadis yang tak segan-segan membunuh demi mendapatkan yang diinginkannya. Salah satu korbannya adalah sahabat terbaik Langdon, Peter Solomon, salah seorang anggota terhormat Freemasonry. Nyawa Peter terancam dan hanya Langdonlah yang mampu menyelamatkannya. (Ya iyalah, secara dia jagoannya :D).

Maka, sebagaimana The Da Vinci Code, Brown mengajak kita menggali misteri seputar Piramida Mason, simbol agung yang menyimpan sebuah “Kata” yang hilang. Dengan piawai, Brown menyingkap lapis demi lapis kisahnya dalam tempo cepat. Setiap babnya selalu diakhiri dengan sebuah pertanyaan atau pernyataan yang memaksa kita membuka halaman berikutnya demi menuntaskan rasa penasaran. Brown memang ahlinya meramu misteri dan ketegangan. Deskripsinya tentang satu subjek sangat detail tanpa terjerumus menjadi “kuliah” ilmiah yang membosankan. Saya dibuat tercengang setiap kali sebuah selimut misteri tersibak. Sudah pasti, novel yang semula hendak diberi judul The Solomon Key ini dibuat melalui sebuah riset yang serius.

Salah satu daya tarik dari buku-buku Brown adalah keberaniannya menghadirkan fakta sejarah dalam versi yang berbeda yang hasilnya kerap menimbulkan kehebohan dan pro-kontra di kalangan pembacanya. Bagi saya, terlepas dari semua kontroversinya, sangat menikmati suguhan kisahnya tentang benda-benda dan artefak kuno yang tidak pernah terbayang sebelumnya. Saya seakan-akan tengah diajak tamasya ke sebuah museum yang penuh berisi karya seni agung lengkap dengan kisah-kisah menakjubkan di sebaliknya. Entah itu hanya sekadar hasil imajinasi Brown atau memang fakta sebenarnya, saya tak lagi terlalu peduli.

Agak sedikit berbeda dengan The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol tidak lagi menampilkan kejahatan konspirasi. Penjahatnya hanya seorang dengan motif balas dendam. Dan dalam urusan tegang-tegangan, Angels and Demons masih jauh lebih mencekam. Saya ingat betul, selama membaca novel itu pada malam hari, berulang kali saya menengok ke jendela, merasa seram dan ngeri sendiri seakan-akan penjahat dari novel tersebut bisa muncul di kamar saya sewaktu-waktu. Hiiiiy….

Tetapi, sebagai sebuah bacaan setebal 712 halaman, The Lost Symbol sangat menghibur, terutama pada bagian akhirnya yang tidak terduga.***
(less)

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Sep 22, 2009 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who want to take comfort in the fact that Indiana Jones 4 could have been WORSE.

Shelves: on-my-shelves, 52booksin52weeks-2009

I have such issues rating Dan Brown books... I want 1.5 stars, I think. Snark ahead.

Here's the deal: the man can't write. He's a name-brand & url spewing, Wikipedia-like fountain of knowledge, who CAN'T HANDLE VERB TENSES. He also likes really short sentences. That aren't sentences at all. Really. Expect iPhone, Twitter, and Google shout-outs, too. I'm almost surprised he didn't mention the inevitable hash #thelostsymbol and tell us to use it when we tweet about what we just learned.

On the f...more I have such issues rating Dan Brown books... I want 1.5 stars, I think. Snark ahead.

Here's the deal: the man can't write. He's a name-brand & url spewing, Wikipedia-like fountain of knowledge, who CAN'T HANDLE VERB TENSES. He also likes really short sentences. That aren't sentences at all. Really. Expect iPhone, Twitter, and Google shout-outs, too. I'm almost surprised he didn't mention the inevitable hash #thelostsymbol and tell us to use it when we tweet about what we just learned.

On the flip side, who doesn't love a good romp around a famous city solving mysteries with art and science and religion? You know the drill, and the formula hasn't changed here in the slightest.

As a former DC resident of 7 years, I have to admit, I was expecting slightly more from the location, but Langdon and his companion du jour keep getting trapped in random places, so it's a bit disappointing on that front. He does get 10 points for a hilarious caper including the Blue Line out to the King Street station though and the Red Line to Tenleytown (yeah, Tenleytown shout-out, what up!)

This book's wacky science theme is Noetics, and the quasi-religious thing at hand is the Masons. Since the first thing that comes to mind re: Noetics is Fringe, I sort of expected a Pacey Witter guest appearance, but alas, it was not meant to be. I know absolutely zip about the Masons, but who wants to bet their membership applications go through the roof this month?

So my final verdict: did I hate it as much as Catcher in the Rye? No. (Will I ever hate any book as much as I hate Catcher in the Rye? Unlikely. BUT THERE'S TIME.) Is it the best Robert Langdon book? Not by a long shot. Angels & Demons still is the best of the trilogy. Is it still vaguely enjoyable in the way only a Dan Brown book can be? Yes. Does Dan Brown's copy editor need to be publicly humiliated? YES AND HIS NAME IS APPARENTLY JASON KAUFMAN (according to the Acknowledgements, so I'm not like, stalking anyone here) AND GOOD LORD MAN, ONLY YOU CAN ~~PREVENT FOREST FIRES CAUSED BY PEOPLE BURNING THIS BOOK~~ EDIT THIS INTO SOMETHING ENJOYABLE. EVERY TIME DAN BROWN DOESN'T KNOW HOW A VERB WORKS, KITTENS DIE.

Also, if I ever have to read the words "neutered sex organ" again, I will be forced to remove my eyeballs and then pour bleach directly onto my brain.

One more P.S., since I tweeted this and then forgot to include this here: Most unbelievable part of the plot? The Redskins are in the playoffs AND score on their opening possession. PLEASE TRY AGAIN, YOU FAIL AT HAVING SPORTS KNOWLEDGE.(less)

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Nov 03, 2009 Elena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think I finally figured out why I hate Dan Brown. He writes very average thriller/ mystery books, just like many others do, and the thing is that I don't have a problem with the other writers. Sometimes their books are entertaining, sometimes they are not, sometimes they are poorly written, sometimes they are not so bad, and I'm perfectly fine with it. The thing I can't stand about Dan Brown is his attitude. He truly believes he has been invested with the power of 'omniscience', and he looks d...more I think I finally figured out why I hate Dan Brown. He writes very average thriller/ mystery books, just like many others do, and the thing is that I don't have a problem with the other writers. Sometimes their books are entertaining, sometimes they are not, sometimes they are poorly written, sometimes they are not so bad, and I'm perfectly fine with it. The thing I can't stand about Dan Brown is his attitude. He truly believes he has been invested with the power of 'omniscience', and he looks down at the reader as if he were talking to a bunch of retarded individuals (which we actually probably are just by virtue of the fact that we are reading his books). But this is still ok, it doesn't upset me all that much.
What I think is unacceptable is the fact that in his 'all encompassing knowledge', all we find is an endless bunch of lies, lies about the most obvious evidence anybody can prove. Angels and Demons, which takes place in Rome, is filled with sentences in Italian, except that Mr. Brown didn't even bother looking up the spelling of the words and, as if that were not enough, he invented words to look cool in the eyes of his readers which, come on, wouldn't be able to pick all the bull I'm trying to sell them in a million years!
In the Italian version of The Lost Symbol, I noticed that the translators skipped more than one passage because what DB had written not only wasn't accurate, it was blatantly WRONG! So, I don't know if they didn't want to look stupid themselves or did it to try and give Mr. Brown a better image abroad. Just one tiny detail out of many: Classical Greek 101 - Apo is a preposition, with different meanings but still and only a preposition, for sure not a verb. No!!! not in the Lost Key. Dan Brown has to show us he knows the ethimology of the word apotheosis, and so Apo, for him, turns into a verb, and he lectures us as if he were revealing this great truth. I read on a review that his books are an insult to human intelligence. I agree, and not because they are necessarily awful books, but because taking reality and twisting it so that it can fit the story line and, on top of that, selling it as if it were some kind or revelation we can only obtain through Dan Brown's grace, to me is unacceptable.(less)

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Sep 18, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a fan of Dan Brown. I've read all his books - not just The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, but also Deception Point and Digital Fortress. I like his writing style, how his books are layered with codes and mysteries, and how they're so fast-paced they make my heart beat faster because I feel pulled into the stories and into the lives of his characters.

The Lost Symbol is the third book in the Robert Langdon series, and I was glad to see that Brown brought this dynamic and entertaining c...more I'm a fan of Dan Brown. I've read all his books - not just The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, but also Deception Point and Digital Fortress. I like his writing style, how his books are layered with codes and mysteries, and how they're so fast-paced they make my heart beat faster because I feel pulled into the stories and into the lives of his characters.

The Lost Symbol is the third book in the Robert Langdon series, and I was glad to see that Brown brought this dynamic and entertaining character back to the United States from Europe and the UK in his previous books. The book starts with a bang, pulling me in within the first few paragraphs, though I didn't feel quite as captivated by this story as I had with his previous two.

As with numbers 1 and 2 in the series, there's a format to the story: Robert Langdon, Harvard professor and expert on symbology and religious iconography find himself embroiled in the middle of a high-stakes religious mystery, where a long-debated and highly protected secret is on the verge of being exposed to the masses and ruined for those who have long stood to protect it. There is, of course, the supporting female character, a smart and capable woman who helps fill in the gaps where Langdon's knowledge leaves off. As was true to the past two books, there is physical and emotional danger, as well as a deranged villain who is at once brilliant, physically superior, and acting in what he believes to be the best interest of the world.

Despite the true-to-form shape of this book, though, it stands well on its own as a book. Although I enjoyed the reading of this book from beginning to end, it wasn't until the final chapters that I felt a strong connection with it, and that is because the view of religion that Brown describes here - as in both of his previous books in the series - falls directly in line with my own personal beliefs of religion and the concept of God. Readers who criticized his previous explanations of such topics will likely find much to refute and criticize here as well, but for me it's like a breath of fresh air, to know that I'm not the only one who sees the universe in greater terms than just a church and its congregants.

This was an entertaining read, as always, and I'm glad to add it to my collections with his other works. I'm sure I'll enjoy reading this particular book more in the future.(less)

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Feb 10, 2010 Uci rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hibah-hadiah

Malam menyapa. Buku bersampul keras setebal 712 halaman sudah ada di tangan saya. Setelah menunggu dengan antusias untuk membaca kelanjutan petualangan Profesor Robert Langdon, saya berniat menyelesaikan novel ini dalam satu hari...kalau bisa malah satu malam. Dan demikianlah saya pun mulai membuka halaman pertama.

Adegan awal langsung menghentak. Robert Langdon diterbangkan dari kenyamanan pagi di rumahnya, ke Gedung Capitol di Washington, DC untuk memberikan ceramah mendadak. Namun di gedung me...more Malam menyapa. Buku bersampul keras setebal 712 halaman sudah ada di tangan saya. Setelah menunggu dengan antusias untuk membaca kelanjutan petualangan Profesor Robert Langdon, saya berniat menyelesaikan novel ini dalam satu hari...kalau bisa malah satu malam. Dan demikianlah saya pun mulai membuka halaman pertama.

Adegan awal langsung menghentak. Robert Langdon diterbangkan dari kenyamanan pagi di rumahnya, ke Gedung Capitol di Washington, DC untuk memberikan ceramah mendadak. Namun di gedung megah penuh sejarah itu, Langdon malah disodori potongan tangan Peter Solomon, sahabat dan mentor yang sedianya mengundang dia untuk berceramah. Peter adalah Master Terhormat dalam organisasi Mason Bebas (Freemason) yang sejak dulu diselubungi misteri dan mitos serta legenda. Tangan Peter ditato simbol-simbol yang akan membawa kepada rahasia-rahasia selanjutnya. Dan tugas Langdonlah untuk memecahkan rahasia tersebut, jika ingin Peter selamat.

Halaman demi halaman terbuka dengan cepat. Saya berkenalan dengan Inoue Sato, direktur Office of Security CIA yang brilian namun galak setengah mati, yang memaksa Langdon untuk berterus terang kepadanya. Saya menyimak rahasia-rahasia tersembunyi di Capitol, labirinnya serta ruang-ruang bawah tanahnya yang mahaluas. Lalu Dan Brown beralih membeberkan penjelasan ilmiah tentang fisika dan metasistem dan....uh, mata saya tak mau kompromi. Saya tutup dulu The Lost Symbol untuk hari ini.

Esok paginya, dengan tak sabar saya melanjutkan petualangan di ibukota Amerika Serikat tersebut. Karakter-karakter lain mulai mewujud lebih jelas. Ada Katherine Solomon, adik Peter yang menggeluti ilmu Noetic. Tak usahlah saya berpanjang lebar menjelaskan makhluk apa Noetic itu. Yang jelas Katherine dan ilmunya punya kaitan penting dalam kasus ini, juga dengan Robert Langdon. Ah ya, Langdon tentu tidak sendirian berjibaku menyingkap misteri. Ada Katherine yang cantik dan cerdas di sisinya.

Ada teman tentu ada lawan. Lawan Langdon kali ini adalah Mal'akh, psikopat fanatik yang menjerumuskan Langdon dalam kegilaan semalam. Ya, ini juga ciri khas Dan Brown. Langdon hanya punya waktu beberapa jam untuk memecahkan misteri Piramida Mason, padahal tantangannya begitu berat.

Tak lama kemudian, utak-atik simbol yang bikin penasaran mulai bertebaran. Saya sampai mengambil kertas dan bolpoin untuk ikut corat-coret memahami Persegi empat Ajaib. Sembari membayangkan Perpustakaan Kongres dengan rak bukunya yang mencapai 800 kilometer, karya-karya seni agung dengan pesan dan makna tersembunyi, Monumen Washington yang anggun, Katedral Nasional yang lebih tinggi dari gedung 30 tingkat....

Mal'akh pun makin intensif mempraktikkan Sihir Hitamnya dan...pet! listrik di rumah saya mati. Sudah lepas Maghrib, masak saya harus berhenti? Petualangan Langdon saja tak sampai 24 jam, harusnya saya bisa selesai baca lebih cepat dari itu ^_^ Ditemani dua lilin, keanehan sosok bernama Mal'akh jadi terasa nyata.

Syukurlah listrik tak lama-lama ngadat. Halaman 530-an, sebuah kejutan sukses mengagetkan saya. "Ah masak siiiiih...," membuat saya makin tak sabar menuju garis akhir.

Malam makin larut. Bacaan saya mulai terbata-bata. Sepertinya Brown tak tahan untuk tidak memamerkan wawasan luasnya tentang sejarah dan ilmu pengetahuan melalui uraian-uraian panjang yang kadang membuat kening berkerut. Huff..huff...sedikit lagi, sedikit lagi...

DOR! di halaman 620-an Brown kembali melemparkan bom kejutan yang langsung membuat saya terjaga hingga petualangan berakhir. Hingga saya mendapat jawaban tentang Simbol yang Hilang.

Apakah novel ini istimewa? Dari segi popularitas tentu istimewa. Terjual 1 juta kopi dalam 1 hari! Belum lagi antrian pembaca di seluruh dunia yang tak sabar menanti saat novel ini diluncurkan di negara mereka. Namun jika saya harus membandingkan dengan dua buku sebelumnya, ketegangan dan kegemparan tema yang dipilih berkurang dahsyatnya. Walaupun pesona Dan Brown masih kuat. Buktinya saya tidak bisa dan tidak mau berhenti membaca! Menariknya, kali ini Brown menghadirkan pertanyaan (atau pemahaman) tentang keimanan yang bersifat universal, bukan untuk agama tertentu. Sedikit terasa preachy tapi toh cukup berhasil membuat saya merenung setelah halaman terakhir ditutup.

Menjelang tengah malam, usailah perjalanan dua hari saya bersama The Lost Symbol. Saya pun tidur dengan nyenyak, membawa serta mimpi tentang simbol-simbol yang hilang dan rahasia-rahasia kemanusiaan yang masih terpendam.(less)

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Nov 05, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: absolutely no one

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Morgan (though "recommend" is an awfully strong word)

Shelves: bestsellers, thrillers

Normally I wait until I’ve finished a book before passing judgment on it, but sixty pages into The Lost Symbol I decided that life was too short to read really terrible books.

One of the things I liked best about The Da Vinci Code was that its plot unfolded in real-time: it takes place during a few very busy hours of Robert Langdon’s improbable life, in about the amount of time it takes to read the novel. This technique keeps the pace of the book exciting (there are no natural breaks in which to...more Normally I wait until I’ve finished a book before passing judgment on it, but sixty pages into The Lost Symbol I decided that life was too short to read really terrible books.

One of the things I liked best about The Da Vinci Code was that its plot unfolded in real-time: it takes place during a few very busy hours of Robert Langdon’s improbable life, in about the amount of time it takes to read the novel. This technique keeps the pace of the book exciting (there are no natural breaks in which to put the book down, because you are right there with Langdon for each plot development and puzzle solution), but also demonstrates the kind of discipline on the part of the author also shown in a really well-rhymed sonnet that commands the respect of the (or, at least, this) reader. This is the novelistic equivalent of Scribe’s well-made play (a cinematic example would be the film Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant, one of my favorites).

The Lost Symbol, however, is anything but disciplined. The point of view, time, and place bounce around every one or two minutes, evincing not the well-put-together thriller of The Da Vinci Code, but rather the attention span of a three-year-old. Each scene lasts about as long as a television commercial, and juxtaposed scenes have about as much connecting them as two adjacent television commercials.

Another piece of sloppiness: during my brief encounter with the novel, I encountered the phrase “exact same” five times. A good friend of mine used to be in the habit of correcting anyone who dared to let that phrase pass his or her lips (because, after all, if two things really are the same, then the word “exact” is superfluous, not to mention grammatically suspect), so while I will tolerate the phrase as a spoken colloquialism, my feeling is now that only the most careless of writers would ever commit such a phrase to print.

With all the doors that must be open for Dan Brown after the phenomenal success of The Da Vinci Code, how difficult could it have been for him to sit in on a lecture of a popular course at a prestigious liberal arts college? I only wonder because no college course I have ever attended proceeded anything like the one shown in one of the many (many, many) flashbacks early in the book (although, admittedly, I did not go to Harvard, but I suspect the students there would not be so easily impressed by something as shocking as (gasp!) pointing out that the Church has rituals of its own. I mean, come on, these kids are taking a course called “Occult Symbols”: what did they expect?)

So I have no doubt that, if I had read the book in its entirety, everything would turn out to be not as it seemed in a shocking plot twist near the end, but, really, there are too many good books out there for me to waste my time on this one.(less)

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Oct 19, 2009 Ellen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ugghhhhhh. I've been trying to figure out where to start with this one for the past couple days and still haven't been able to decide. So I guess I'll start with my point.

This book F*CKING BLOWS. F*ck you, Dan Brown, you smug bastard, for insulting my intelligence like nobody's business. I really liked Angels and Demons, was entertained by The Da Vinci Code, and this book had half the content (not to mention a sixteenth of the climax) of the latter in almost twice the number of pages.

Do you get...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Stacey rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Kept feeling like I was reading an amalgam of Angels and DaVinci's Code. When I started wandering off in search of snacks in the middle of paragraphs, I knew it was time to shelve this as a "can't finish," and move on.

14 likes · like · see review

Sep 21, 2009 Holly rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

Obviously, this book disappointed me greatly. I kept plugging along until about half-way through when i realized that absolutely NOTHING had really happened in the storyline. It didn't even feel like a Dan Brown book. The excitement, and nervous anticipation i've felt while devouring his previous books, was nowhere to be found. My eyes were literally glazing over from Brown's attempt to sound scholarly about the minutest details of the most boring, and inexplicable 'scientific' subjects. Where b...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Blair rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-etc, read-on-kindle

There isn't really that much I can say about this. If you've read any Dan Brown books before (and I know most people have read The Da Vinci Code at some point), you'll know what to expect... Encrypted messages, dramatic chases through a city at night (in this case it's Washington), discussion of conspiracy theories, and a deranged bad guy; and everyone thinks obvious things in italics an awful lot. I did really quite like The Da Vinci Code in a dumb thriller/action movie kind of way, and I thoug...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Julie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ugh this was literally one of the worst books I have ever read. Or, well, listened to, as Chris and I used it to get through 2 legs of a drive from NYC to St. Louis.

Just to be clear, though I'm a stickler for good writing, I recognize that previous Dan Brown books like the Davinci Code are what they are. That is, they are good stories, badly written. And that's fine - there is a place for that - like 19 hour car rides. Unfortunately, the Lost Symbol was a terrible story, terribly written. Brown'...more Ugh this was literally one of the worst books I have ever read. Or, well, listened to, as Chris and I used it to get through 2 legs of a drive from NYC to St. Louis.

Just to be clear, though I'm a stickler for good writing, I recognize that previous Dan Brown books like the Davinci Code are what they are. That is, they are good stories, badly written. And that's fine - there is a place for that - like 19 hour car rides. Unfortunately, the Lost Symbol was a terrible story, terribly written. Brown's prose has sunk deep into the depths of cliche and tired literary tropes - deeper than I thought he or his editors would dare go. What's worse, his dialogue is so hackneyed, grammatically flawed, and frankly stupid that you come to hate - literally hate - all of his characters. When one major character is presumed dead about 2/3 of the way through the book, I cheered. "Drown, [name:], Drown," because I had come to despise that idiotic buffoon of a protagonist so much. The book was barely edited, with repetitive passages everywhere. If there is any one thing worse than suffering through Dan Brown's crap exposition once - it's suffering through it three times in a book because Brown's editors are too smug and lazy to edit this hack's writing.

Storywise, too, the Lost Symbol bordered on pathetic. First of all, TLS is just a watered down retread of the Davinci Code reset in Washington DC. I was actually insulted by how thinly veiled this was. Do we have an American Sophie? Yes. A Sauniere? Yes. A police inspector who is somehow connected to the unfolding events? Yes. A psychotic killer? Um, hell yes. And it was this last character - the psycho, here named Mala'kh - that really ruined the book for me. Because unlike in Angels and Demons and in the Davinci Code, this villain was just a serial killer. Just a psycho. Not motivated by anything particularly meaningful except his bloodlust and desire for power. After sitting through HOURS of listening to this guy torture people, I wondered whether I was reading a Dan Brown thriller or a crappy knock-off of Silence of the Lambs. The fact that Brown had to resort to hours and hours of sadistic serial killer content shows just how flimsy his storyline is.

And flimsy it was. Brown's whole plotline was filled with holes and deus ex machinas. To make his implausible, illogical storyline work, he had to make his characters into idiots who failed to see the most obvious facts in front of their faces. The ending is not a thoughtful surprise, but rather a massive, laughable letdown. Consider your worst case scenario of how you will feel at the end of the Lost series: that will be your reaction to the end of this book.

Most of this book read like a badly written lecture from a cocky, second-rate professor from the University of Phoenix. Actually, I think that's more of an insult to the University of Phoenix. Avoid at all costs.(less)

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Nov 15, 2009 Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who liked his other stuff/people who are prejudiced against religion.

Recommended to Graham by: The publisher, through a brutally efficient carpet-bombing marke

My review from http://grahamchops.blogspot.com/2009/...

You've been hearing a lot about this book. I know this because, as we've established, you have an Internet connection, which means you live near civilization, or at least somewhere that people are saying things. If not, well...ugh, I don't have anything witty to say.

I liked this book. I'm kind of pissed at the critics who had their reviews written before it even came out (or before they even read it), jumping on the "I Hate Dan Brown" bandwa...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Dianna rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

well, that's several hours of my life i'll never get back.

you know, it's not so much that the writing is bad -- i expect it to be bad. it's laughably bad. (to enjoy some truly great bad, relish the self-consciously lascivious descriptions of the bad guy's naked body, they are made of awesome.) it's not so much that the plot is shaky -- i expect it to be shaky, and if this plot could be drawn, it would have to be drawn by dr. seuss. it's that i would expect, at least, that the book actually END S...more well, that's several hours of my life i'll never get back.

you know, it's not so much that the writing is bad -- i expect it to be bad. it's laughably bad. (to enjoy some truly great bad, relish the self-consciously lascivious descriptions of the bad guy's naked body, they are made of awesome.) it's not so much that the plot is shaky -- i expect it to be shaky, and if this plot could be drawn, it would have to be drawn by dr. seuss. it's that i would expect, at least, that the book actually END SOMEWHERE.

as i recall of the da vinci code, the details of which don't stick in my mind, there WAS a conclusion of sorts, the Big Secret did actually turn out to be something -- that whole Jesus Got Laid revelation that everyone got their panties in a wad about. in this one, i was so confused by the end that i lost track of what The Big Secret was supposed to be, and i don't think one was ever actually given. it started as a Place that contained a Thing ... then it was a Place that contained a Word ... then there was no Place but there was a Word ... then there WAS a Place and a Word which was perhaps a Thing after all ... after that, i fuzz out, i have no idea what the conclusion was.

dan brown just sort of rambles about some ideas he must have found interesting after watching a lot of The Learning Channel and reading some Joseph Campbell. a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, dan. a very little.

but you know what? that's ok. it's a supermarket book. it's an airplane read, and sometimes i like an airplane read, just like sometimes i eat a donut for dinner. but if you're going to drag me through a book that starts and stops and lurches and jerks like a teenager in driver's ed, for god's sake dan, GIVE IT AN ENDING.

anything can be forgiven with a decent ending. you obviously didn't have anything in mind when you started and i'm sorry, kiddo, but your talents are not great enough to take you to unexpected places. leave that to the big boys. you go steal another interesting conclusion about a historical/religious/mythological item and work backwards. you are not good enough to ruminate randomly and have it come together as something meaningful.

watch that petard, brother, after it hoists you high, it'll drop you hard.(less)

32 likes · like · see review

Kat D - that was, perhaps, the funniest book review of yours I've ever read. I liked it, but in a "that's fascinating" sort of way.

Did you NOTICE that the...more
Oct 20, 2009 04:01pm

Dianna yeah, it even starts out with a mutilated body(part) in a public setting.

it doesn't bother me that he uses the same frame -- lots of authors do that,...more
Oct 23, 2009 11:22am

B B So true, so true.
May 09, 2011 09:44am

Feb 10, 2013 Christina Stind rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction

Sometimes when I read a very popular book, I start thinking about to what extent I'm able to judge it on it's own merits and how much I'm influenced by reviews etc. In the case of Dan Brown and this third instalment in the Robert Langdon series, it's almost impossible to avoid hearing comments about it and reading reviews and therefore I knew that a lot of people regarded it as ... not his best work, let's put it that way. So I started reading without many expectations - but I'm still a bit disa...more Sometimes when I read a very popular book, I start thinking about to what extent I'm able to judge it on it's own merits and how much I'm influenced by reviews etc. In the case of Dan Brown and this third instalment in the Robert Langdon series, it's almost impossible to avoid hearing comments about it and reading reviews and therefore I knew that a lot of people regarded it as ... not his best work, let's put it that way. So I started reading without many expectations - but I'm still a bit disappointed. I couldn't help feel that I've read this all before. It seems as Brown has developed a formula for writing Robert Langdon books and he sticks with it, no matter what. Now, I actually enjoyed both Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code - they were both fast-paced exciting reads. I expected at least that much from this one. But I must admit that I didn't even get that. While reading it I kept trying to figure out what exactly went wrong this time - and I'm still not quite sure. Maybe it's 'just' that he uses the same way of writing, the same basic story line - and even to some extent the same plot twists ...
The Lost Symbol follow Robert Langdon and female sidekick Katherine Solomon for about 10 hours. In these ten hours they manage to save the Masonic brotherhood and prevent a major breakdown of the US government and country. All in a days work, I guess.
Langdon is lured to Washington on the pretence that he is to give a lecture. When he arrives, he finds out that he has been brought there to help solve an age-old puzzle and figure out the location of the Ancient Mysteries - and the Lost Word.
So far so good - but there are too many flaws in both the writing and the story. It really annoyed me how many people were chuckling in this book! Besides this minor problem there were some problems in the storyline - things that were too easy like when a character conveniently overhears something important through the ventilation system or a CIA director conveniently hands over evidence that turns out to be very useful later on. But my biggest problem is that the characters don't act like normal people. Towards the end, after the big show-down, of course they still have time and energy to discuss some more and take on 'sightseeing' etc. - and after what has happened to them, both mentally and physically, this is simply not possible. It makes no sense!
And then the way every character takes every chance to deliver a lecture - no matter what the circumstances are, they always explain everything with a lot of details from the very early in time and upwards.
I did enjoy the book. It was interesting - but it was easier to put down than the first two in the series, and it wasn't good enough to deserve a higher rating.(less)

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Sep 22, 2009 Tara Lynn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booklist-for-2009, overrated-reads

I am so disappointed. I found Brown's other books to be captivating, if a little formulaic. This is just a blatant rewrite of his own material in a different setting. Angels and Demons set a bar for Brown, and he just hasn't been able to match it since. It reads just like The DaVinci Code, with its plot changed to Washington, D.C. It's a completely improbable plot mixed with even more improbable character developments and plot twists.

So disappointed. If I'd known, I never would have bought the...more

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Sep 18, 2009 Malcolm rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now boarding on track 33, the Symbolism Express departing for the Freemasons, the Invisible College, the Office of Security, the SMSC, the Institute of Noetic Sciences and multiple points around the cryptic compass.

Your temporal destination, not Paris and London, but Washington, D.C.

Your conductor, Harvard symbiologist Robert Langdon, the Indiana Jones of the new age.

Tied to the tracks in the gathering darkness ahead and facing certain death, if not embarrassment, another keeper of the ancient m...more Now boarding on track 33, the Symbolism Express departing for the Freemasons, the Invisible College, the Office of Security, the SMSC, the Institute of Noetic Sciences and multiple points around the cryptic compass.

Your temporal destination, not Paris and London, but Washington, D.C.

Your conductor, Harvard symbiologist Robert Langdon, the Indiana Jones of the new age.

Tied to the tracks in the gathering darkness ahead and facing certain death, if not embarrassment, another keeper of the ancient mysteries including the wisdom of Solomon, not a man of the Louvre, but a man of the Smithsonian.

Traveling alone, an attractive female relative of the man lashed to the tracks, not agent and cryptologist Sophie Neveu, but Noetic scientist Dr Katherine Solomon.

Sitting in the engineer's seat with a small stone pyramid rather than a chalice holding down the deadman's pedal, a rogue and tattooed Mason in search of apotheosis replaces Silas, "The Da Vinci Code's" rogue and scourged monk as our antagonist for the evening.

Hold on. It's going to be another bumpy ride.

Dreams of déjà vu remind you what the journey will be like: short chapters, multiple points of view, conflicting agendas with something very large (yet unknown) at stake, the thrill of the chase, the almost-sexual tension of near-satisfaction again and again as answers appear and disappear, multiple station stops for arcane wisdom instruction, and a desperate-save-humanity-hunt for secrets you've stared at your entire life without comprehending.

By the end of the novel, you won't be a 33rd Degree Mason and you won't be like unto a god in any way you can quite wrap your mind around, but you will have experienced a high-adrenaline ride. This thrill is what the journey is all about. Perhaps reality lurks around the edge of the plot and theme and perhaps sacred messages lurk within the vast white spaces between the lines of black type, but that's not why we're turning the pages from 1 to 509.

Dan Brown has done it again, and upon reflection at the dawn's first light, you'll see that he knows how to pull the right strings and push the right buttons and sprinkle the right esoteric seasonings across his smorgasbord of mysteries from around the world to keep readers addicted for the trip. On the last page, you may well hope, along with Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon that men and women will follow the ancient maps toward their true potential; but seriously, the novel's destination really doesn't matter, does it, because the ride was the peak experience you were seeking when you picked up "The Lost Symbol."

All aboard.
(less)

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Oct 17, 2009 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dan Brown is an American writer with an interest in puzzles and code-breaking. His dad was a Mathematics teacher. Brown uses gravity boots to beat his writer's block. His best-known work, The Da Vinci Code, was commercially successful but was widely derided for the dishonesty of the promise in the front of the book: "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in (the) novel are accurate". On checking, more than half of the items described in the book are false. He ha...more Dan Brown is an American writer with an interest in puzzles and code-breaking. His dad was a Mathematics teacher. Brown uses gravity boots to beat his writer's block. His best-known work, The Da Vinci Code, was commercially successful but was widely derided for the dishonesty of the promise in the front of the book: "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in (the) novel are accurate". On checking, more than half of the items described in the book are false. He has also been accused of plagiarism and of having a very bland and formulaic writing style.

His new book, The Lost Symbol, uses the same main character as The Da Vinci Code, and has a similar claim on the inside front cover. "All rituals, science, artwork and monuments in this novel are real". How my heart sank when a friend asked me to read it; surely, it was bound to be another ponderous, badly-written piece of airport fiction larded with misconceptions and sloppy research worthy of a child?

Well, yes and no. Brown has visibly put a lot of work into developing his writing style, and it shows. Characterization, while basic, has moved beyond non-existent here. The plot is well-thought-out and makes this a page-turner, far more than any of his other works. There are some genuinely clever twists.

I loved the tiny Japanese CIA internal security operative, and the trick with drowning someone in oxygenated fluorocarbons was effective and sounded plausible, though I admit I haven't researched it.

This book shows real growth from his really low points like Deception Point, hence my three stars.

Unfortunately, we still have the same problems which have dogged Brown's artistic development from the beginning, and for which there is little hope of a cure. The prose is clunky; although better than before, there are long stretches that read like Wikipedia articles - dry and ponderous. (Wikipedia is mentioned several times in the book and I kept wondering if Brown has ever read the article there called Inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code?)

While the plot is genuinely clever, it relies too heavily on tricks and code-breaking. The motivation of several key characters is tricky to fathom, and the ending seems highly implausible, although strangely satisfying. This is the closest we get to art in this book.

Worst of all, Brown fails to even try to live up to the commitment he voluntarily makes at the start of the book. Far from being "real", key plot devices like the one-dimensional lady scientist's "holographic disk drives", "enriched plutonium", and her field of research ("noetic science") are fictional. Bunsen burner fuel is normally a gas like natural gas, not a liquid. Pulling back on the stick (actually called the "cyclic") of a helicopter won't arrest a descent but instead make it fly backwards. And so on, and so on.

There's nothing wrong with speculative fiction, of course - but I question why he would make such a statement and then not live up to it. And these inaccuracies in areas I know about, call into question my suspension of disbelief in the other areas of the novel.

Brown said in one of his plagiarism cases (which, to be fair, he won) that his wife does all his research for him. Maybe he should consider doing some himself or hiring someone to do a better job. Of course, other than personal integrity (clearly not a priority for Brown), why should he, when his books are such a commercial success under the current formula?(less)

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Sep 28, 2009 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The use of a large amount of symbols and conspiracy buzzwords does not excuse one from having to actually write a compelling story. The "twist" in this books was easily visible hundreds of pages out and didn't surprise a single person I know who read the book.

Now, I had very high hopes for this book as I am from DC and love the area, however there was so little of actual DC in the book(unlike DaVinci Code & Angels and Demons) that it seemed like it could have been in any city in the world ex...more

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Oct 29, 2009 Ilona rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was disappointed with this book, especially towards the end. While it was interesting to read about the Masons and fun to read about locations in DC (nice pick of Tenleytown and Kalorama Heights), I found it to be very preachy, way out there, had lots of holes in the story, and not very realistic.
While Mal'akh's twist at the end was entertaining, the holes in his own story didn't make it terribly surprising (he happened to get every detail from Zachary in that one night that he "died" - come...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Laura Rittenhouse rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, I don't quite know how to review this book - I fully expected to like it. I certainly liked "The Davinci Code" and figured this would be the same style. If it is, my tastes have changed.

Look, "The Last Symbol" is likeable in it's own way, and it's certainly easy to read, but it is just a bit too obvious for my taste. The bad guy is covered in scary tattoos. The antagonist is covered in scars and is constantly lighting cigarettes. The good guys are all 100% good, all the time. The conversa...more

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Nov 16, 2009 Leonardo Duenas-osorio rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fast paced entertaining book. As expected, there is nothing too literary to find in the narrative of the book---and this should be a realistic expectation of the readers. Instead, the book has abundant thrilling moments within a contemporary context that uses many realistic elements. The story and its connections to symbols, national security, Freemasons, and secrets in Washington D.C. make the reading interesting and relatable to real life.

Regarding the climax of the story, I must ad...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Robyn rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Normally, I'm able to enjoy Dan Brown's works, to a reasonable degree. I was initially disappointed after reading his earlier works to find out to what extent he outright made stuff up, but, once I put that aside, I managed to enjoy them as adventure stories with pretensions to academic thought wedged in; I learned to not take them seriously and to just have fun with it. With that firmly in mind, I sat down to The Lost Symbol, expecting more of the same.

It's not quite what I got.

Have you ever ha...more

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Nov 30, 2009 Katharina rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, read-2009

I honestly don't know why I even finished this.

3 likes · like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
Women in Dan Brown's books	8	184	May 17, 2013 01:53am
Are any of you tired of the same "Dan Brown formula"?	74	468	May 16, 2013 11:54am
do you believe that man could be god?	14	152	Feb 20, 2013 03:08pm
Was anybody else disappointed with Langdon ?	134	718	Oct 25, 2012 04:17am
Interesting Facts	5	148	Sep 20, 2012 12:34am
What did I miss? Doesn't make sence?	34	379	Jun 11, 2012 10:08am

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The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon #3)

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