Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol: Long and Lost

I love to read (did I tell you that?). Everyone knows I guess. And I love Dan Brown’s novels. The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Deception Point, and Digital Fortress, which I manage to re-read each time I feel bored to read something else.

I found the first book by coincidence. When I was staying in Muntilan (for my high school), I often sneaked out to Jogja (particularly discount book store: Togamas) to buy some books. I was pretty updated at that time. Moving out to Surabaya for college, a bit sad for me because I couldn’t find any friends obsessed to book as obessed as me (clearly). So my frequent visit to bookstore was limited (beside, Togamas is soooo far from my campus). One day I just went to a bookstore, found The Da Vinci Code, and well, it was the starting point of my addiction to Dan Brown’s.

I’ve been waiting for his last books, previously rumoured will be entitled The Solomon Key, and still keep in passion waiting for the books, even after I am here in Taipei. So finally, a couple months ago, the book released, with title: The Lost Symbol.

I couldn’t help myself to buy and read to book in short time. Shorter than the other four novels, in fact. Why why why? Because the book is soooo thrilling and interesting? Arrrgghh, I hate to say this, but yes, I found myself get bored reading the novel.

It is kinda long, and pretty much increasing the reading-mood in the several first chapters. That’s what I like. Started with a bit flat and common story, then slowly the plot rises, and finally surprise you in the end. But not for this novel.

As I said, the story is long, and I got bored in the middle of the book. I always love conspiracy (everyone does, I believe). This book is about Masonic circle, with their hidden tricks everywhere, here pictured in Washington DC. I love the tense, I admire the break-and-start chapters (you know what I mean, changing place and time here and there), and surely I expect great surprise in the end. That is the culprit, someone who’s very very unpredicted to be the bad guy.

Anyway, the story goes around Robert Langdon again, and this time with someone he respects as a father, Peter Solomon. Peter is being abducted, and it is Langdon’s duty to find him. It is all about Masonic brotherhood. And that is the simple storyline: to uncover what secret they hide. Well, as Brown’s signature, expose the unveiled symbol or sign in publicly known place. Washington DC now the center for the battle.

Aside from Peter, Brown also write about Noetic Science, here in relevance with Peter’s sister, Katherine. Interesting. I like this part. Most likely because I always try to open my mind to any possibilities, any discoveries, any anomalies. I can say: I have not much room for surprise.

Well, as my confession: I skipped some part of the book since it is too long (I would say the pace does not really suit me). I wouldn’t say long because of the number of pages, no, I read Harry Potter and I will not say that’s long. Long because it is slow. And lost, because yeah, I was kind of having no idea what was going on, and when I got the point, it came to the part where I was a bit disappointed about who is the culprit. I should have known, actually. At the time I still thought that the culprit must be someone from a group against the Masonic brotherhood, anything not personal. But hey, why didn’t I remember Brown’s favorite?

He always has culprit with personal reasons! Revenge, love, victory; and it is so personal. How could I forget it?

Well, this book is fairly good to me. I still want to buy his book in the future, because even fairly good is better than most.

When book is your passion, you do anything for it.