Okay, this is my first ever Blog Book Review and I'm doing it because I feel so strongly about the book. . . and not in a good way. I don't know how many of you have read Dan Brown's books, but I've read all but one (Digital Fortress, something about computers. It made me not as interested, although I'm sure I'd still like it) and have loved every single one of them. I got so into Angels & Demons that I read it in one day. True, I was up very late that night, but I finished it and it was better because the story took place in 1 day, it was like I was reading it in real time, 24-style.
Anyhoo, I read his most recent book in the Robert Langdon series, The Lost Symbol. Ever hear the expression, know when to stop? Yeah, it should have been prior to this book. What, you ask, was so bad about it? Well for once, I have specific critiques of something, so here goes. I first want to start out by saying: Buy a thesaurus!!! I have never seen the word "esoteric" so much in my entire life. I would actually like to do a word count in the book. It would be worth it to me to sit down and scan each page to find how many times he uses the word. My friend read the book after me, with my strong warning in hand, so she actually paid attention. She counted it over 30 times in the first chunk that she read. She noted that sometimes it was used 2x in one sentence. Just like many other things in this book, I say "Okay, I get it already! Move on!"
Which leads me to my next issue. I think I actually read several facts at least three times throughout the book. Individual facts and larger themes were constantly repeated like the reader is in kindergarten and just can't be trusted to learn the first time. I'm a big girl now. You tell me something is important, I get it. Next fact.
Now the facts. Like all of his books, this one was chock full of little known trivia items. Fascinating to be sure, but this is a novel, not a lesson in the architectural subliminal messages created throughout the rise of our great nation. I readily admit that Dan Brown seems to know a lot about these topics and does an amazing amount of research for his books. I'm sure he could teach some of the classes that his fictitious scholar teaches at Harvard, and I would actually be very interested in those classes if he offered them. However, this is not a classroom, it's a novel.
Which leads me into my main problem with the book: Most of his other books are fascinating stories that teach you interesting things along the way. This one is the reverse. It's almost like he decided that he knew a lot about the topic and wanted to write a book about it, so he set out to and squeezed a story around the multitude of facts. Basically, the story comes second to the lesson, and it's very obvious.
If you've never read a Dan Brown book, please do not let this book be your first, for it may come to represent your future opinion of his works, which would be a mistake. I swear, the rest of his books are really good!!! If you've read his other books, you will be disappointed. Let's just hope that his next work gets back to his story telling as a priority and interesting tidbits as an added bonus.
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