You have to feel sorry for Robert Langdon. As if 24 hours spent running around Vatican City in Angels and Demons and another 24 Parisian hours in The Da Vinci Code, trying to decipher symbology in a race against time, wasn’t enough to finish him off mentally and physically, now he is forced to spend another short period of time deciphering symbology on the run, this time to save a long-time friend and mentor in Washington, D.C.
The Premise
Robert Langdon, Harvard symbologist extraordinaire, is lured to Washington to give a lecture at the Capitol Building. When he gets there, he finds he has no lecture, but instead a grisly discovery waiting for him, as if mocking him to follow the clues. He is given a short period of time by a mysterious man on the phone in which to save his old friend and father figure Peter Solomon by unlocking a Masonic portal.
The Story
The Lost Symbol follows the same pattern as Brown’s previous books, including those not about Robert Langdon specifically – a 24-hour period in which to decipher clues. The books about Langdon are rich in symbology, and Brown has done his research well to bring us another thriller.
This book focuses on Freemasonry, and its rituals and meanings. Brown seeks to enlighten readers at the same time as entertaining them, by delving into ancient myths, superstitions, and practices, and separating fact from fiction (so to speak) – all set in the backdrop of a real city, with real landmarks and real institutions. (It’s no wonder that Da Vinci Code tours were so popular after that particular Brown book – you want to see what he’s talking about for yourself.)
The Lost Symbol also delves into Noetic theory, a study of the mind and intuition, or mind over matter. It’s a fascinating glimpse into how the mystical connects with science.
Overall Conclusions
If you are wanting to read a book where the characters have depth and react to events in a realistic way, don’t expect it from this one. If you like a thriller that you can’t put down, where you are on the edge of your seat and have to know what happens next, and love the facts-based informative fiction, pick up The Lost Symbol.
Even though this book follows the same pattern as the previous Robert Langdon novels, Brown has thankfully changed it slightly so that readers don’t get jaded by the predictability. It’s no fun if you can constantly predict the bad guy by looking at the patterns of the other books, for example. Brown’s onto a winning formula with his short-period race-against-time clue-and-symbol-filled thrillers, but it’s good to know that he hasn’t fallen into a rut where every book reads the same.
Overall, The Lost Symbol is a great read – just don’t expect to be able to ration it out over a week. You’ll be up past midnight with “Just one more chapter” justifications.
Publishing Details
First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Bantam Press; ISBN 978-0-552-16123-7.
Janina-Monique Wildewood - My passions are reading, travel, and research, and to be able to combine all these with my main passion, writing, is even better! I ...
