Veronica 🦦
Written on Dec 3, 2019
'Impossible to put down' New York Times
'Thrilling and entertaining' Los Angeles Times
'A narrative that can grip you like a vice' Daily Mail
'Unputdownable... Jaw-dropping' News of the World
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NOW A MAJOR TELEVISION SERIES
The Capitol Building, Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon believes he is here to give a lecture. He is wrong. Within minutes of his arrival, a shocking object is discovered. It is a gruesome invitation into an ancient world of hidden wisdom.
When Langdon's mentor, Peter Solomon - prominent mason and philanthropist - is kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons.
It is to take him on a breathless chase through Washington's dark history. All that was familiar is changed into a shadowy, mythical world in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth...
Includes an extract of the latest Robert Langdon thriller, Origin, available now.
- ISBN10 0552149527
- ISBN13 9780552149525
- Publish Date 22 July 2010 (first published 1 January 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
- Imprint Corgi Books
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 672
- Language English
Reviews
angelarenea9
Written on Jun 10, 2013
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Mar 5, 2011
dokie80
Written on Jun 30, 2010
"magic square" nya bikin geleng2, gua sampe meng-"google" beberapa hal karena nih buku. awalnya sih seru, tapi lama2 lambat jalan ceritanya dan ga seru lagi. kalah jauh sama buku2 yang lainnya.
urut berdasarkan yang paling bagus menurut gua:
1. [b:Angels & Demons|960|Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)|Dan Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255864772s/960.jpg|3338963] - langdon
2. [b:Digital Fortress|11125|Digital Fortress|Dan Brown|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21XVTXS129L._SL75_.jpg|40195] - bukan langdon
3. [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255581720s/968.jpg|2982101] - langdon
4. [b:Deception Point|976|Deception Point|Dan Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266447971s/976.jpg|3135896] - bukan langdon
5. [b:The Lost Symbol|6411961|The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)|Dan Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255568700s/6411961.jpg|6600281] - langdon
empressbrooke
Written on Sep 27, 2009
But more importantly, the book. If I lived on a desert island and someone handed this to me and told me that it had single-handedly saved the publishing industry during this current economic downturn, would I have believed them? Probably not. It's like The DaVinci Code set in DC, and therein lies the problem. Brown is a bit like M. Night Shyamalan, where his popularity was established by That One Thing He Did Well, except until he seemingly felt obligated to repeat it several times even when, creatively speaking, he'd probably write something more interesting if he allowed himself to do something different.
Or, maybe he's more comparable to my beloved Preston/Child writing duo, who have locked themselves into only writing books about a fan-favorite character even though, again, some variety might rejuvenate them.
Angels & Demons, the first Robert Langdon book, remains the high point in the series. At that point in time, Brown understood pacing. He understood how to move the story forward with exciting action while at the same time educating us about everything he had found in his research. It felt like a story. The DaVinci code lost a little of that and became more about the research and information, which led to my puzzlement over it being turned into a movie before A&D. And now, The Lost Symbol has completed the journey to the "all information, no story" side of the spectrum. It took me a week out of the 2 weeks the library is permitting me to have this book to get more than 150 pages in. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking one word: "INFODUMP."
It's like Brown felt a bit of pressure to make sure he told us as much information as he could vomit up. Sure, the Freemasons are a pretty good choice for a secret-filled topic, and the National Treasure movies certainly showed us that DC is full of the symbols that Brown and Langdon specialize in. But it's not balanced, and to back up this opinion, I present the fact that it takes nearly 150 pages to move the action forward from the initial, "Oh my god, there is a severed hand in the middle of the Capitol's rotunda." Trust me, if I found a severed hand, I would not be standing still for 150 pages.
It was still interesting and a little fun, and the latter half of the book went a lot faster than the first half, and even though the plot twist at the end was predictable, I give Brown props for finally having a villain who ISN'T the mentor/person of authority. I also liked the throwback to A&D's discussion about science vs. religion and how they're entwined rather than opposing schools of thought.
My advice to Brown now that he's done his duty and saved the publishing industry from the poorhouse - write something different. I know, your publisher would throw a total shitfit if you said you were retiring Mr. Langdon. You stopped being a person whose creativity is important back when The DaVinci Code hit the top of the best seller's list. You're a moneymaker, plain and simple, and they're gonna milk you until you're dry. I hope you get to write what you want next, and that it's not about symbols. It was fun learning about the NSA in Digital Fortress (you know, back before 9/11 and the Patriot Act made the agency a household name).
Eve1972
Written on Sep 17, 2009
jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Jan 1, 2009