The Lost Symbol - A Sneak Peak

Overall Rating: 7.5/10.0

I finally managed to get down reading and now reviewing Dan Brown’s Latest Book “The Lost Symbol”. The problem with writing a critique on this Latest Best-seller, which sold more than one million copies on 16th September, i.e. the day of its launch and also reaching the #1 position on Amazon.com sales, is that there needs to be a lot of care taken to ensure that the review is useful, and yet doesn’t reveal the slightest things about the plot. However, I am trying to take care to ensure, I have no spoilers here, which may spoil the fun of the blog-readers, who haven’t had their share of reading this book as yet.

Like all of Dan’s novels, even the Last Symbol, has hidden groups, shady enclaves and hidden secrets, which unfold at each and every turn. The story moves with our dear Prof. Robert Langdon (who is now 3 books old), moving in yet-another quest, which challenges his in-depth knowledge of ancient societies and symbols.

The story this time is about the “circles-inside-circles” in the Free-Masons society, which is hiding some secret, which yields un-imaginable power to the person, who can solve the mystery and reach the conclusion. However, as with his other books, Dan Brown, includes some facts of history, which are probably also mixed with some of his creative fantasies, which creates a fusion, the readers would find completely invigorating. One major difference here is that, the story happens right there, in the heart of Washington D.C., the Capital of United States, and yet, we find the reading as fascinating as it would have been Venice.

One point I’d really like to mention here is that, in this book, the role of the villain here is very well managed. You may find the villain early, and may not get the shock-value, like in the older books, because you know Dan Brown, but the actions are so villainous and kind of brutal, that you feel like dumping the villain in front of an Express train and see him getting trampled. This very fact is a definition of a villainous job well-done.

Why I liked this book?

The Lost Symbol is a page-turning thriller – but the main reason why I loved this book lies in the fact that unlike his other books, in this book, there is a revelation. The book kind of reveals the importance and opens the readers to the thoughts of “tolerance” towards other people, their customs and religions, and also makes the readers ponder about the existence of “the Supreme Element - God”.

This is done, in a self-realization, when Langdon tries to defend the Free Masons society, whose customs are first shown kind of satanic and a cult, till Langdon gives explanations and forces the readers to not be judgmental since, all customs will look the same way unless properly explained and looked at a bias.

What I did not like in this book?

One major drawback that turned me down was the constant self-denial the character of Robert Langdon had for the happenings around him. He keeps trying to fight out everything stating, it cannot be real and that all this is just a myth. I had hoped that the character would have matured to believe anything, especially after what happened to him in the earlier books (Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons), where he found truth, which was even stranger than fiction.

Final Verdict:

I guess, here I need to answer the question most readers will probably be posing. “Is this book better than Da Vinci Code?”

Well, in my humble opinion, the answer is “Yes, the book is better than Da Vinci Code”. However, my personal favorite still remains Angels and Demons. Yet I believe, Dan Brown has done excellent work in this book (barring Grammatical mistakes). Some of the points he puts really makes us have self-realizations, while others make us have thrills. Take a copy and read the first chapter, I won’t ask you to read more. And while enjoying this “dessert for the brain”, don’t forget to have your meals for the body.