Yesterday, I finished reading Dan Brown's (hereinafter "
DB") latest - "The Lost Symbol". (No, I do not suddenly have more time on my hands in B'bay. I am at home now.)
SPOILER WARNING: - This piece contains information about the storyline of the book. If you have not read the book and are the kinds who prefer to read the book with a 'clean' slate, then do not proceed further.
If I were to ask myself to choose one word with which to describe the book - I sadly, would choose - 'Disappointing'.
I wonder what DB was attempting with this book. My initiation to DB was with the hoopla surrounding "The Da Vinci Code". Brilliant. It was after this that I read "Angels and Demons". Almost unbelievably, this book was even better. The suspense, the fast storyline, the obvious brilliance with which the book had been edited, the brilliance and the central role of the hero and the way in which symbology and all the secrets of Rome and Venice had been weaved into the storyline, so that the reader would not have to compromise on the main story, while being awed with all the additional, sensational information - these were the reasons that I loved those books. Thus, the day I heard that "the Lost Symbol" had been released, I escaped from office to go buy the book. Then, I waited patiently till I had the time and the opportunity to read the book at one stretch, and then did.
Sadly, all that I had anticipated, the very reasons why I loved the other two books, were absent in this one. DB seems to have tried too hard with this book. The book and the story seem forced rather than spontaneous. Of course, the brilliance and the minuteness of the research remains unaffected. What has changed is the way the research has been woven into the storyline. The story begins crisply, and very promisingly. Soon however, the story begins to lag in favour of long-winding lectures about the significance and the symbolism of Washington. entire pages are devoted to these lectures, without any bearing to the story. For example, Langdon spends two entire pages, 'lost in thought'. While he fruitlessly, 'thinks' the story does not move an inch. In fact, after he has broken out of his reminiscent reverie, it takes another three pages before he has composed himself and understood his surroundings enough for the story to even begin moving.
And that's another thing. One of the best features of the previous books is the brilliance of Robert Langdon. Here, he is almost an unnecessary appendage. I was patient. I waited and waited for Langdon to get the plot, to understand what was going on and take charge. Except, he never does!!! The story would probably have progressed faster without him!! At the end of the book, everybody is congratulating him, hugging him and thanking him for the brilliant work done. He, 'modestly' says, "You know I dint do anything, right?" No one else could have hit the nail straighter on the head. He has in fact, done NOTHING throughout the book.
Now to the plot itself. Remember Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys? Or even the Enid Blyton Mystery series? Remember how all their chapters ended with some sort of a suspense? A truck barrelling straight on into Nancy's car, or the gun-toting villain spotting the unarmed Frank in his blue sweater behind that wooden cupboard... the kid reading would then anxiously hold his breath, send a silent prayer for the well being of his / her hero and turn the page to learn what happens next... and the truck, at the last possible moment swerves to avoid Nancy, and the villain lunges, only to crash painfully into the cupboard and discover that Frank had left his sweater there only as a red herring... or something like that? Well believe it or not, this book is exactly like that! The false alarm chapter endings are seriously hilarious after a while.
DB also tries two twists in the plot. One: - At the end of one chapter you learn that Robert Langdon is dead. He has drowned. The effect is supposed to be disastrous on the reader. The reader is supposed to lay aside the book and howl and mourn the ultimate end of the hero. Only, the reader by now is so used to and fed up of the false alarm endings and the generally slow plot and the loose editing, that this shattering piece of news has no effect on him. He almost has expected it. Similarly, he expects at this point, that Langdon will make a 'miraculous' come back and that he is not 'truly' dead. A short while, and ample broad hints later, the reader is proved right.
Two: The villain turns out at the end, in what is supposed to be another startling revelation, to be one of the main character's previously thought to be dead, son. I mean, how corny. And apart from the idea, in itself being less than intelligent, the reader has been getting broad hints about this twist for a while now. Again, the reader has almost expected it. At any rate, 'surprise' would not be an apt description of the readers' state of mind at the moment.
A friend who had read the book mailed me the other day. She thought that the climax had been stretched for far too long. She's right. Again it is a case of loose editing. The book / story, for all intents and purposes ends at the 3/4th mark. The rest of the 1/4 of the book is devoted to stretching out the climax. When at long last the climax ends and the story is officially over, DB realises that he has forgotten to tie up the numerous loose ends in the book. He then proceeds to use up another 50 - 75 pages giving us now irrelevant bits of information about things that happened waaay back in the book. Katherine learns that her research is safe after all, we learn, once again, that the CIA Director is not the bad guy, and Langdon finally discovers the 'lost word' which will save all mankind.' But we never do discover why the CIA was involved in the first place. The 'national security' line does not quite manage to convince. And we never figure out what the danger to the 'world' at large was. what is it that was so 'successfully averted'. The plot overall is more reminiscent of 'Digital Fortress' and a hash of mediocre Hollywood movies than the stuff Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code were made of.
Read the book, if you will, for the information you will glean about Symbology and Washington DC in particular. The book, as I said, is well researched. Read it as a non-fiction and you will probably end up a happier reader than if you expect it to be first rate fiction.
Here is a simple, light, easy read which neither taxes nor assaults the reader's intelligence. The book is all about this uber-successful associate-on-the-verge-of-making-partner at the best law firm in London and her life or the lack thereof, and what happens, when suddenly circumstances force her to quit her job and take up housekeeping!!!!! Apart from the the fact that the book is relatively well written and is able to hold reader-attention for the most part, why this book felt so nice to read is that it describes almost perfectly, the life in a law firm. :-) 
