the last couple of months, i have been dividing my 'extra' waking hours between writing, work and the promise that i will go back to my first love - reading. it was through reading, i suppose, that i was able to discover my knack for writing and speech.
despite the several sudden changes in my line of work, i vowed to keep my mind preoccupied - and have been delving in stories of adventure, fantasy and the living, breathing pain that is the human condition through the last 3 books that i have read.
yesterday, i was able to finally finish dan brown's most recent work. and i was actually two years behind - as robert langdon's third adventure was first unveiled in 2009.
this time, the lost symbol takes us through langdon's journey in decrypting codes and secrets of the exclusive brotherhood of masons. all came spiraling when the protagonist was invited for a lecture in the u.s. capitol only to find his friend peter solomon's severed hand in the rotunda. peter solomon also was the worshipful master, having been initiated to the highest of masonic degrees - the thirty third.
in typical dan brown fashion - he leads us to a maze of signs and symbols, allowing langdon to decipher each item he stumbles upon, only to find out that the answer leads to another conundrum.
robert langdon's adventures has spanned almost a decade, with angels and demons first hitting the shelves in the year 2000, followed by the da vinci code back in 2003. the mythology and facts mentioned on each of the books were just too many to remember, unless you are a symbologist with an eidetic memory.
but what i liked about this particular protagonist, or the way his character evolved, is that he makes a manifold of empyrean and mundane things seem easy to relate to. i do know that all of dan brown's novels have sparked criticisms - their film adaptation even more.
it is true that he is not umberto eco - an author who actually studied and teaches semiotics (that being the study of symbols), however, he is able to mix the idea (or truth) of religion, science and history in a grandiose narrative - all of which transpires within twenty-four hours (or less). i suddenly remembered that such an approach to a story is comparable to jostein gaarder's 'sophie's choice,' which tours the reader through philosophy and its origins.
but the real adventure his thrillers give its readers is the priceless trip one could make through time and space - one day langdon was in paris, then there was italy, and then in this case, the political seat of the united states.
the funny thing was when i started to read the book and remember the character tom hanks played in the last two films, it was much easier to let my mind unravel and imagine, because there's a 'face' to it now. i even went into a soundtrack downloading frenzy, getting what tracks i could from the internet - suites that were used in the da vinci code and angels and demons - and i could swear i 'hear' the haunting hum of the melody hanz zimmer was tapped to compose for the film interpretations in my head as i turned the pages.
all in all, despite split reviews of the novel, i enjoyed the wild, entertaining and intellectual ride. and i am secretly hoping there would at least be one or two more additions to the phenomenon that is robert langdon.
0 comments:
Post a Comment