The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon) Mass Market Paperback – October 19, 2010

The Lost Opportunity In the year 2005, Dan Brown released his fourth novel, The Da Vinci Code. It soon became a world-wide sensation, outsold only by J.K. Rowling's fifth Harry Potter novel, Order of the Phoenix. Still, The Da Vinci Code is one of the most widely read books ever written. Clearly Brown hit on some sort of secret formula of entertainment. The question is, can he do it again? Does his latest novel and Code follow-up, The Lost Symbol, live up to the legacy? Well, yes...unfortunately. The first thing one notices about this book is the jacket. Simply put, this book is beautiful. The seal of the Masonic Scottish Rite is stamped in red "wax", directly above the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., which can be seen through a pyramidal rip in yellowed parchment. Layers of arcane symbols cover nearly every inch of the jacket, and the Washington Monument is visible through a keyhole on the spine. Nearly everything on the jacket has a meaning, including several hidden puzzles that the clever reader can decipher. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but if an exception was made for The Lost Symbol, then it would be a literary masterpiece. But who cares how the book looks? What really matters is the story. Every Dan Brown novel centers on a secret society and its, well, secrets. This time it's the Freemasons, a world-wide organization whose roots stretch all the way back to the ancient Egyptians, and whose members range from your grandpa to the President of the United States (pick your favorite, they were all Masons). The Freemasons, however, are not so much a secret society as they are a "society with secrets", secrets that people would kill for.The story starts with the usual shadowy ceremony, this time a mysterious tattooed man named Mal'akh being inducted into the 33rd degree of Freemasonry (this being the highest possible level). But, of course, Mal'akh has sinister, ulterior motives, as can be deduced by such interior monologues as, "They have opened their doors to me," and "Soon you will lose that which you hold most dear." Despite being something of a cookie-cutter villain, Mal'akh is actually quite terrifying, with anintriguing back story and a knack for really ruining your day. He's also really full of himself, as can be deduced by such interior monologues as, "I am a masterpiece." Mal'akh does a lot of interior monologues.The story then jumps to returning Harvard "symbologist" (no, there is no such thing) and lover of turtle necks, Robert Langdon. Langdon receives an urgent call from his old mentor Peter Solomon and is asked to come to Washington, D.C. right away, where he is needed to give an emergency presentation on (whom else?) the Freemasons. He catches the next flight and speeds off. Naturally things don't go too well. One kidnapping, severed hand and sinister phone call later, Langdon is racing against a 12-hour clock to rescue Peter Solomon by solving the Ancient Mysteries of the Freemasons, all for the benefit of Mal'akh.Brown's work has been accused of using the exact same template, and The Lost Symbol is no exception. The great thing about The Lost Symbol, however, is that it manages to make a tired formula new and exciting. The tone and pace are tense and urgent as Langdon struggles to sort out the web of deception in order to save his mentor. The situations Mal'akh puts the characters through are nerve-wracking and sometimes disturbing. The puzzles and codes, being Brown's specialty, are excellently crafted and immensely fun to try and solve before Langdon. Then there are the locations. From the Masonic Temple to the Smithsonian Museum, each place that Langdon visits is a real location in Washington, and each is a fantastic set piece described in wonderful detail. Lots of surprising facts are revealed about the nation's capitol city. In fact, the entire story is full of detail that never becomes too overwhelming. There are also some small secrets (try dialing the phone number Langdon is given early in the story) and nods to the fans (a mention of one of Brown's earlier novels) that can be found throughout the story.It's unfortunate, then, that the worst part is the ending. The Lost Symbol commits the same crime as The Da Vinci Code, by rewarding readers with--well, nothing. After the intense chase across Washington, after the deception and puzzle solving, when the Ancient Mysteries are finally revealed they don't live up to the grand name. The trouble gone through just doesn't seem worth it. Not only that, but the story rambles on when it feels like it should have ended 37 pages ago. The action comes to an abrupt halt, and suddenly the characters begin to wax philosophical. There's nothing wrong with some depth to a story, but the message Mr. Brown tries to convey seems to have been lost in translation. Even Langdon is left scratching his head at the confusing conjecture. It's tempting to recommend that readers simply stop reading after the final confrontation, but that would leave loose ends. It's a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise great story.The Lost Symbol could have been better than The Da Vinci Code, and in some ways it is; the writing is better, the story is more skillfully crafted (and more historically accurate), and there's lots more action. But it ultimately loses points for an unsatisfactory finish and several pages of pointless rambling. Read the book and enjoy the ride, just don't expect too much at the end.

What consists of about 500+pages of puzzles, conspiracy theories, secret society initiations, hidden Freemason knowledge and the pairing of quantum physics with the New Age (or Old Age) theory of a universal consciousness? The new Dan Brown blockbuster, of course.After a successful run, or should I say chase, down the streets of Rome in  Angels & Demons - Movie Tie-In: A Novel  and Paris in " The Da Vinci Code ," Brown brings the action across the pond to the new world--the shining citadel that Deists around the globe proudly recognize as a onetime symbol of humanity's hope for a future illuminated with the fruition of everything man could create and imagine--Washington D. C.--the Lost Symbol.In our bipartisan political framework where the media rules and dictates what the common man desires--fame, celebrity, wealth, power, plasma TV, brand new billion dollar stadiums to celebrate the idea of a bread and circus for the 21st century--Brown stands at his pulpit of mainstream popularity and delivers a bit of a profound message for the masses. Pointing to the Capital building and the wondrous symbology of the American capital and its environs, he chastises the last---oops! --two hundred and thirty-three years, exclaiming that the very infighting that separated mankind from its own development and caused the founding of a nation that pushed aside religious and all other differences had crept into man's thinking yet again--and a veritable stirring of the ant pile that suggests a natural formation of hierarchical beings was in desperate need to return us to our original founding principles.Cleverly, as media evangelist, Brown hides his own message in a carefully honed vehicle--the popular suspense novel where he lays the cornerstone of his own genre founded and perfected by him, despite the numerous unsuccessful attempts at cloning its success. The reading public reaches for and grabs this, the Da Vinci Code School of Literature like infants seeking sugar-infused formula filled with vitamins and minerals necessary for standardized growth.And grow we do, when we read Brown's interesting philosophy cloaked within the conundrum of the bestselling thriller. Freely, for the price of $30 USD, we follow him into the bowels beneath the Rotunda and onto a magical mystery tour of arcane Americana that leads to the mythical pyramid of the Freemasons and perhaps to the rediscovery of ancient knowledge that will help us approximate the divinity of God.Using the science of Noetics as a springboard, Brown discusses the connection to the universe that we, Age of Aquarians, have been pondering since we knew how to ponder. Wonder of wonders, he deftly demonstrates the exponential power of group intention--where many minds are focused on a particular outcome, creating a phenomenal success for himself--many readers concentrated on Brown's next book--and lo and behold, it was a runaway success, commanding much discussion and speculation even before it was in print. How's that for a universal consciousness changing and redefining Brown's world as orchestrated by Brown? Brown will do for the theories purported by the Institute of Noetic Science what he did for all those egalitarians who loved the fact that Mary Magdeline was the first and foremost disciple of the Christ.Honestly, the intense interest that Brown generates in terms of his message for the masses in the language of the mainstream is close to phenomenal. He teaches. He instructs. And he gains disciples of his own that hang on his every word without the necessity of highbrow esoteric nonsense or the trill of a fancy phrase.Bottom line: This isn't great literature, but Dan Brown achieves the near impossible. After all the numerous imitations to the formula started in "Angels and Demons" and perfected in "The Da Vinci Code," in `The Lost Symbol,' he writes another spectacular whirlwind novel, replete with a crazed villain intent on destruction, a brilliant woman scientist that acts as sacred feminine to the protagonist Professor Langdon's yang, a time-sensitive drive to solve an ancient puzzle both word and numeric, the failure of which means death to an unsuspecting innocent and rings within rings of conspirators who are not quite sure which side they are on until the very last page. Like the conundrums of which he writes, Brown packages a message within a message that in the case of The Lost Symbol subtly urges America back to its roots, rising above the labyrinth of religious differences and bipartisan politics to soar above on the level of the Capital Dome to glimpse at its true destiny. Formulaic at times predictable, with characters speaking as if they just emerged from a cave to see a light that for seconds blinds them, The Lost Symbol entertains and works with no need for either six nor the Masonic 33 degrees of separation. Recommended.Diana Faillace Von Behren"reneofc"

I first read this book a few years ago and I wasn’t very keen on it at the time, but then, seeing that a ten part TV series has been made of the book I got started on the book again and watched the series bit by bit. I couldn’t really remember much about the book after so many years but began to enjoy it more the second time around, although the TV series is pretty good it’s not a patch on the book as they changed so many things, and to be honest I was quite surprised that Dan Brown allowed his name to be put down as executive producer. Anyway about the book.Robert Langdon has been called to Washington DC by his friend and prominent Mason Peter Solomon to conduct a lecture, but soon after his arrival a severed hand is discovered, stuck on a spike, the hand is wearing a Masonic ring that Langdon recognises as belonging to his friend Peter, and so kicks off and challenge from a killer and kidnapper who will stop at nothing and do anything to get what he wants, and what he wants, legend says, gives its holder such awesome power that even Robert Langdon is sceptical as to it’s existence. And so the hunt is on with Peter’s sister Katherine across Washington DC with the CIA dogging their heels at every turn to uncover and decode the clues to not only find the hidden treasure but also find and save Peter.The book to me is better than Angels and Demons but not as good as the Da’Vinci code, but if you’re a fan of Dan Brown as I am, then give it a go as it’s worth it. And if you get a chance to see the ten part series (called Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol) then DON’T expect a lot of things to be the same as in the book, for instance. Book: Katherine is Peter’s sister. Series: She is his daughter. There are quite a few main role people in the series that aren’t in the book. And there are quite a few very important things in the book that are done completely differently in the series. Some people may say I’m just being picky and that’s ok, but to me these things are important in a book to film/TV transfer.

I tried really hard to get into this book, but finally gave up half way through. I think that I should have given up after three chapters and was annoyed at myself for sticking with it and wasting so much time. There was far too much technical information, most of it unnecessary and boring. I tried skipping but there was so much of it: page after page on many occasions. This all distracted from the story line, plot and characters. And rendered the book one of the most tedious of reads. My wife was reading Origin, Book 5, at the same time and tells me that it is altogether a better book. For now, though, Dan Brown is way down my list of favourite authors and it will be some time before I work up the energy to read another Robert Langdon book. I am disappointed because I believe that successful authors should always strive for high quality writing. This book was far from high quality.

First of all I have quite enjoyed Dan Brown's previous books. The content is usually a lot of ancient tosh but excitingly presented. This one however, for me, has the sin of being boring. Dear me. There is Langdon the wide-eyed innocent, as usual. The pretty female companion, as usual. The grotesque villain, as usual. The running around like a headless chicken, as usual. The ridiculous expansion of time, as usual. You have an hour! Is the threat and more is accomplished in that hour than distance, traffic and pedestrians allow. Heyho, it's fiction. It is allowed. However, in this story nobody seems to break sweat, the demands of bladders and bowels are ignored. Again forgivable but it is so dull and pedestrian. This is a tedious love letter to the United States of America, to Washington Dc (the tourist board will love him) and to the Freemason Society, American chapter. Briefly there is a friend of Langdon with tragic history, son lost to drugs and a foreign prison, a secret held in Washington, not for the likes of ignorant plebs, and Langdon the only man who can decipher and discover it. Oh, yawn. He keeps saying, "I don't understand!" and then shows he does. Yawn! Unforgivably the author plays a naughty trick early on with his readers misleading them over a vital fact which is presented near the end as a great surprise. Yawn, most readers will have guessed the truth long before then. It is obvious. However the biggest disappointment is the lack of excitement and feeling. It reads like a series of lectures. Are you listening back there? Read, if you must. If you are a fan you will enjoy. I was coming down from reading a brilliant story when I read this one for what I hoped was a readable piece of tosh. Well, I was right about the tosh.

It was one of the worst.....even in some places more so than the Da Vinci Code and that is saying something. Not any where near as good as Angels and Demons or Inferno. The end was so so long and boring that I started to skip paragraphs just to get this finished. Wished I'd just watched National Treasure instead, but don't like to not finish a book, so it was a hard slog to get this finished!!

This is the first Dan Brown book, I've read. I saw the films for the first two books in the Langdon series and fancied a read. I've also read Holy Blood Holy Grail and Foucault's Pendulum, which seem to be on about the same sort of thing. The book was a nice read and given that it is a mixture of fact and fiction, I found it stimulating. I couldn't quite get into Brown's writing style and sometimes it detracted from the story. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I thought a best selling author with successful Hollywood films based on his books would be a better writer, but then this is just my opinion and others may find his writing better than I did. Some books you pick and love the way their written. The Author manages to effortlessly carry you along the narrative and you are drawn into the story. This did so in parts but not throughout. Also the end seemed to drag on a bit for me. Perhaps what has made Dan Brown's work so successful is the subject matter which he has clearly researched very thoroughly and this certainly makes the book worth reading. It was a good read and the sort of thing I would expect people would like to read on holiday.