Il simbolo perduto

Morire di suspense. Morire affogati da un oceano di parole. Odiare i caratteri scritti, quelle lunghe, infinite righe nere su sfondo bianco che riempiono la nostra vita tenendoci compagnia per gran parte della giornata. È questo il giudizio, in sintesi, dell’ultimo libro di Dan Brown, il best seller “Il simbolo perduto”.

Con questo romanzo torna a calcare i freddi pavimenti delle librerie di tutto il mondo il tuttologo Robert Langdon, uno che ci mette mezza nottata a risolvere enigmi che, secondo la prosa di Dan Brown, le menti più celebri dell’umanità intera – da Newton a Galilei passando per Durer, Washington e chissà chi altro – hanno celato mediante le loro opere, i loro scritti, i loro edifici, i loro quadri. “Il simbolo perduto” è un disco rotto, un vecchio ritornello, un canovaccio sempre identico a se stesso, incapace di mutare e di rinnovarsi e che da “Il codice da Vinci” passando per il precedente “Angeli e demoni” fino giù giù a quest’ultimo libro ci ripropone uno schema consolidato in accordo al vecchio adagio calcistico secondo cui squadra che vince non si cambia. Libro che vende si riscrive. Bella merda.

Se con il Codice si scorrazzava per mezza Europa su Suv e jet privati, se con “Angeli e demoni” si correva in una Roma stranamente priva di traffico, con “Il simbolo perduto” non ci si muove da una Washington notturna e a tratti pure suggestiva. Il centro della narrazione ruota intorno allo Smithsonian Museum e quella zona lì che, francamente, a me che nella capitale USA non ci sono mai stato dice ben poco. Come già per i precedenti romanzi, infatti, sarebbe stata particolarmente utile alla lettura un inserto fotografico contenente i luoghi e le opere di cui il libro parla. Perché bisogna essere onesti, gli enigmi artistici con cui Dan Brown dissemina i suoi scritti sono intriganti, ti spingono a cercare su Google questa o quell’opera per osservare con i propri occhi proprio quel dettaglio che ci era sfuggito e intorno al quale, diversamente, l’autore americano ci costruisce qualche centinaia di pagine di storia. Ha ragione il regista Ron Howard in una intervista rilasciata per i contenuti extra della versione Blu Ray di “Angeli e demoni”, il principale merito di Dan Brown è quello di stuzzicare la nostra curiosità inducendoci a condurre delle ricerche personali e, in tale maniera, ad avvicinarci ad opere nuove e a noi sconosciute oppure a riscoprirne di vecchie ma con occhi nuovi. Infatti è proprio la parte centrale del libro, quella che segue fedelmente il canovaccio di cui dicevamo sopra che, seppur senza grosse novità, si lascia leggere, scorre veloce grazie anche a capitoli brevi e, come sempre, interrotti sul più bello. Sembra di assistere ad una puntata di Voyager, con Roberto (Robert) Giacobbo (Langdon) che ti fa due palle così su questa e quella domanda, ti porta di qua e di là ma non ti dà mai la risposta. Dopo un po’ ti scoglioni. Vanno bene le domande, ma ogni tanto sarebbe bene far seguire anche qualche risposta, non vi pare?

Quindi, macinando pagine su pagine, misteri su misteri, galoppiamo verso la conclusione del romanzo e qui torniamo all’inizio della nostra recensione. Parole, parole, parole e ancora parole. Langdon da buon supereroe ha sconfitto tutti i cattivi, poi, cazzo, è così intelligente che mica può essere ancora tenuto all’oscuro dei potenti misteri, in questo caso, della massoneria. Ci mancherebbe. Quindi deve scoprire una parola, la Parola Magica (abracadabra?), di cui il Gran Maestro della massoneria è a conoscenza. Potrebbe dirgliela punto e basta. E no, troppo facile. Altre cento pagine, noiosissime, in cui non si capisce una minchia, in cui ci viene detto che i maghi che Striscia la Notizia sputtana ogni sera hanno invece veri poteri, se avete un tumore mica dovete andare da Umberto Veronesi, figuratevi, meglio il mago Oronzo. Ovviamente è un romanzo e rivendico il diritto della fiction di inventarsi quello che vuole, dalle astronavi, a Narnia, alle porte spazio-tempo. Però rivendico contestualmente il mio diritto di lettore di dire che quella invenzione narrativa è una cagata pazzesca. E mi aspetto anche i 92 minuti di applausi.

Mi risulta incomprensibile come un prodotto destinato al grande pubblico, fatto apposta per essere comprato da chi non compra mai libri possa essere scivolato così banalmente sulla buccia di banana della prolissità che si trasforma in noia ineliminabile. “Il simbolo perduto” è un tomazzo di 600 pagine, di cui almeno 200 potevano essere tagliate senza nulla togliere al racconto, alla suspense, all’ammiccamento al lettore. O forse quelle 200 pagine inutili giustificano i 7 euro in più di prezzo di copertina per il libro probabilmente più venduto dell’anno. Regge come ipotesi? E intanto l’Amazzonia ringrazia.

I would love to meet Jesus. Seriously… does a man like that exist? A believer, a true person, a committed man, kind, philanthropic, loving and giving, fair, caring and the son of the most powerful man in the world. Plus: he can do magic! What more can you ask from a man? Oh! He has to be good-looking, sexy, with a peculiar style that no one else has, have a lot of other men wanting to be like him and gorgeous women chasing him too. You’ve got it!

Does your life lack emotion? Well, Jesus has someone trying to kill him, which made him the most famous renegade in history. He is the leading figure on thousands of films and books; he is the only man that ever resuscitated from death; he is not afraid of wearing skirts; you can hit him all you want and he’ll just turn the other cheek so that you can hit him some more; he made it possible to people all over the world not to work on his birthday and his “deathday”, to celebrate holy conception, birth, the art of giving gifts (which he started…), judgment, passion, crucifixion, death, burials. So, the man does know how to throw a party.

He can predict the future (he guessed Judas would betray him, didn’t he?). With bread and water he can make a great dinner party, so great in fact that people still talk about it, write about it, make films about it and paint the scene all over and over again, so that everyone can have a reproduction on their wall. He made other people famous, like Virgin Mary, the Three Wise Men, Judas and the Twelve Apostles, Mary Magdalene, Leonardo Da Vinci, Robert Graves, Mikhail Bulgakov, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, Dan Brown, more than two hundred and sixty popes, some priests, and most recently, José Saramago. Who knows what he could do for you?

The most read and printed book in history only sells because of him. The man is so important that someone tried to register his name as a brand! And what is it about his name that every men and women scream it out loud in bed!? “Jesus Christ!” may mean pain, surprise, happiness, fear or anger and it has suffered some alterations, like, for example, “Jesus F****** Christ!”. If he was not chaste, as some orthodox churches insist, I would travel back in time and most definitely try to marry him.

Joana Tadeu

Tom Hanks, left, plays symbologist Robert Langdon and Ayelet Zurer portrays physicist Vittoria Vetra in the thriller “Angels & Demons.”

This week’s DVD releases cover a lot of territory. They include a family film from the director of “Spy Kids,” a holiday comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, an Adam Sandler feature helmed by writer-director Judd Apatow and a big-budget thriller starring Tom Hanks.

Funny People
3 stars
DVD contains rated and unrated versions of the film. The rated version received an R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality
Universal
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

There are enough funny people in writer-director Judd Apatow’s appropriately titled relationship dramedy to keep things interesting through the movie’s 155-minute run, but the filmmaker is awfully lucky he assembled the cast that he did.

Adam Sandler stars as George Simmons, a wildly popular actor-comedian who seems to have it all: Hit movies, a palatial Southern California home and the adoration of fans everywhere. But when Simmons learns he’s contracted a deadly disease that could very well end his life, he begins to question his place in the world, and he latches onto a fledgling comedian named Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) for support. Although funny, Ira is yet to perfect his standup routines, so he’s ecstatic when the veteran Simmons agrees to hire him as a personal assistant, and the two men quickly form an awkward but genuine friendship.

Apatow sets up the premise with style, and its interesting to watch Simmons, who is jaded and miserable, interact with George, who is still full of hope and excitement. Unfortunately, the movie takes a negative turn when Apatow leads us into a subplot built around the one big love (Leslie Mann) that George let slip away. Because Sandler and Rogen are a lot of fun to watch, and because they get good supporting performances from Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman, we can forgive Apatow for straying. Still, there’s little doubt that “Funny People” would have been funnier if it skipped the romantic stuff and put all its energy into George’s bout with mortality and his relationship with Ira.

The movie is available as part of multiple home video releases, including a two-disc Unrated Collector’s Edition. Extra features vary.

Angels & Demons: Extended Edition
2½ stars (out of four)
Unrated
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

You have to give director Ron Howard credit for consistency. His adaptation of writer Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons” shares precisely the same pace and tone as his earlier take on Brown’s bestseller “The DaVinci Code.” Trouble is, “The Da Vinci Code” movie is merely a workmanlike thriller, while the book was a breathtaking piece of genre fiction.

“Angels & Demons” is arguably a weaker novel, but I had higher expectations for the film because the plot is more cinematic. While “The Da Vinci Code” spent a lot of time focused on ancient codes and ciphers, “Angels” is a fast-paced footrace through the streets of Rome. As in “Da Vinci,” Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is at the center of the action.

Langdon is called upon by the Vatican when it appears that a secret society known as the Illuminati has surfaced and placed a devastatingly powerful bomb at the heart of Vatican City. Equally horrifying is a message claiming that four cardinals — the most likely successors to the just-deceased pope — have been kidnapped and will be publicly executed. The perpetrators have left hints as to when and where they will commit their nasty deeds, but they are steeped in historic riddles that only Langdon has the ability to decipher.

Intent on stopping the murders, he embarks on a desperate race to solve the riddles and beat the Illuminati at its sick game. He’s aided by the Vatican police, Swiss Guard and a beautiful physicist named Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer).  Also helping is Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor) who — because of the pope’s death — is temporarily the lead authority at the Vatican.

Howard does a good job recreating the events depicted in the book, and Hanks captures the Robert Langdon spirit perfectly, all of which leaves us with a decent movie. Decent, but not great. What the film lacks is the breathlessness one feels while reading the novel. Yes, there are exciting moments on screen, but they are frequently countered by extended dialogue sequences that relieve much of the tension. Part of the trouble is that Brown’s plotting is complicated and cerebral, and it’s tough to condense that type of storytelling into a two-and-a-half hour movie. It can be done, but it takes an extraordinary effort, and everything about this film is painfully ordinary.

DVD extras include more than a half dozen making-of features, focused on everything from the adaptation of the novel to the film’s elaborate props.

Four Christmases
2½ stars
Rated PG-13 for some sexual humor and language
New Line Cinema
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

With most DVD releases hitting stores less than six months after a film was released into theaters, it feels odd to get “Four Christmases” a full year after its theatrical run. But, clearly, New Line Cinema decided the video would attract more attention during the holiday season. The studio is probably right because, as a comedy, “Four Christmases” is slight, but there aren’t many holiday films to choose from, and it’s always nice to have something new to throw in alongside “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas.” 

Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon star as Brad and Kate, a modern power couple that have never married and spend their holidays trying to dodge their fractured relations. Things go awry, however, when bad weather stops their planned flight to Fiji and a television news crew interviews them about the bad break. Suddenly, their parents — all divorced — are aware that they’re available for the holiday, forcing them to accept invitations to four separate Christmas celebrations … one with Brad’s crotchety father (Rober Duvall), one with Kate’s newly spiritual mother (Mary Steenburgen), one with Brad’s anything-goes mom (Sissy Spacek) and one with Kate’s surprisingly normal dad (Jon Voight).

Like “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” the film considers the stress of family gatherings, but never in a mean-spirited or distressing way, and Vaughn and Witherspoon are typically charming. “Four Christmases” is a generic comedy in every sense, but it has enough funny moments to make it viable for anyone who enjoys Vaughn and Witherspoon. The film will never replace “Miracle on 34^th Street,” but it does go down awfully well with a nice glass of egg nog. 

The DVD has no extra features. 

Shorts
2½ stars
Rated PG for mild action and some rude humor
Warner Brothers
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

In one of the more bizarre careers in film history, do-it-all filmmaker Robert Rodriguez regularly shifts between, ultra-violent action movies — “Planet Terror,” “Sin City,” “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” — and family friendly material — “Spy Kids,” “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” “Shorts” falls into the latter category, telling the story of several children who discover a mysterious charm called a Wishing Rock. The kids soon learn that any wish made with the rock in hand will come true, leading to wild adventures with space aliens, upright crocodiles and even a booger monster.

All the craziness is set against the backdrop of the ultra-corporate world they call home. You see, the children’s parents work for a gigantic corporation run by a nasty CEO named Mr. Black (James Spader). Predictably, his kids, Helvetica (Jolie Vanier) and Cole (Devon Gearhart), are the town bullies.

Rodriguez chose to tell his story through a series of short films that are replayed out of order, leaving viewers to piece things together a little at a time. The most important player is Toby “Toe” Thompson (Jimmy Bennett), the narrator of the each piece.

“Shorts” is wild, wacky and childlike enough to appeal to most elementary school-age children. It is not, however, as carefully crafted as today’s better family films. Rodriguez’s plotting is so over-the-top, it seems he was focused solely on letting his inner child loose, forgetting that a great family picture also includes something for parents.

Along with the movie, the DVD includes one of Rodriguez’s “Ten Minute Film School” extras, this one focused on the making of “Shorts.” Also included is a “Ten Minute Cooking School” episode devoted to the making of Chocolate Chip Volcano Cookies.

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK

“2009 World Series Film — Philadelphia Phillies Vs. New York Yankees”: A detailed account of the season that led the Yankees to their 40^th American League pennant and 27^th World Series title. Available on DVD Nov. 24 and coming to Blu-ray Dec.15.

“The Witches Hammer”: Horror story about a woman named Rebecca (Claudia Coulter) who is brought back from the brink of death and turned into a vampire by a secret agency. Then, she is used as a weapon against her own kind. 

“Gomorrah”: Award-winning Italian drama based on undercover Italian reporter Roberto Saviano’s expose on Naples’ mafia underworld. The film is being released as part of the Criterion Collection, and it’s presented in Italian, Mandarin and French with English subtitles.

“Golden Age of Television”: This three-Disc set features kinescopes of the live broadcasts of “Marty” (1953), “Patterns” (1955), “No Time for Sergeants” (1955), “A Wind from the South” (1955), “Bang the Drum Slowly” (1956), “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (1956), “The Comedian” (1957), and “Days of Wine and Roses” (1958).  These shows were a combination of theater, radio and filmmaking when TV technology was growing rapidly. The set also features interviews with a number of acting legends, including Andy Griffith, Piper Laurie, Jack Palance, Mickey Rooney, Rod Steiger and Mel Torme.

“Megafault”: Syfy Channel thriller about a massive earthquake that creates a crack in the Earth’s crust and threatens to tear the world in half.  Stars Eriq LaSalle (“ER,” “Without a Trace”), Brittany Murphy (“Sin City,” “8 Mile“), Justin Hartley (“Smallville”) and Bruce Davison (“X-Men,” “Knight Rider”)

“Evergreen”: Coming-of-age film about Henrietta (Addie Land), a 14-year-old who believes she’s missing out on life. Desperate to change her family situation, she inserts herself into the lives of wealthy Chat Turly (Noah Fleiss) and his mother Susan (Mary Kay Place), only to find that she may have it OK after all.

“Toi & Moi (You & Me)”: French romantic comedy about Ariane (Julie Depardieu), a writer who pens stories for a magazine inspired by her sister Lena’s (Marion Cotillard) love life.  Both women are in relationships with commitment-phobic men, and they fantasize about finding Mr. Right. Presented in French with English subtitles.

“Beverly Hills 90210” — The Eighth Season: Life after graduating high school is no cake walk for Brandon (Jason Preistley), Kelly (Jenny Garth), Donna (Tori Spelling), David (Brian Austin Greene) and the rest of the original “90210” gang. During season eight, they explore issues such as Kelly being victimized by a drive-by shooting, Donna’s drug overdose, and Brandon and Kelly’s wedding plans.

“Melrose Place” — Fifth Season Volume 2: This season had a huge shift in cast members, as the final 13 episodes introduced Rob Estes, Lisa Rinna and Alyssa Milano. Also, Grant Show, Marcia Cross and Laura Leighton left the show.

Forrest Hartman is an independent film critic whose byline has appeared in some of the nation’s largest publications. E-mail him at Forrest@ForrestHartman.com

Gostei bastante, apesar de discordar, como cristã, da teoria a cerca de Jesus contada no livro. Mas como leitura é instigante, com boas surpresas.

Sinopse

Que mistério se esconde por trás do sorriso de Mona Lisa? Durante séculos, a igreja conseguiu manter a verdade oculta… até agora. Antes de morrer assassinado, Jacques Saunière, o último grande mestre de uma sociedade secreta que remonta ao tempo da fundação dos Templários, transmite a sua neta Sofia uma chave misteriosa. Saunière e seus antecessores, entre os quais se encontravam homens como Isaac Newton e Leonardo da Vinci, conservaram durante séculos um conhecimento que pôde mudar completamente a história da humanidade. Agora Sofia, com a ajuda do expert em simbologia Robert Langdon, parte em busca deste segredo, em uma carreira trepidante que os levam de uma chave a outra, decifrando mensagens ocultas nos mais famosos quadros do genial pintor e nas paredes das antigas catedrais. Um quebra-cabeças que poderá ser solucionado, já que não estão sozinhos no jogo: uma poderosa e influente organização católica está disposta a utilizar todos os meios para evitar que o segredo seja divulgado. Um apaixonante jogo de chaves escondidas, revelações surpreendentes, enigmas complicados, verdades, mentiras, realidades históricas, mitos, símbolos, ritos, mistérios e suposições em uma trama cheia de reviravoltas inesperadas narrada com um ritmo incessante que conduz o leitor ao segredo mais cuidadosamente guardado desde o inicio da nossa era.

Acres of newsprint has been taken up with the critics’ opinion of The Lost Symbol, but what about everyday readers? Nick Johnson, of The Millennial Freemason blog, sent us this review recently.

Freemasonry will never be looked at the same again. Dan Brown and his new book, “The Lost Symbol” has seen to that. For many years, Masonry was viewed as a civic organization, an organization dedicated to improving society, just like the Lions, Elks, or any other animal-related club. Yet, Freemasonry has always had a deeper meaning that comes from its antiquity. As a young Mason still learning the Craft, this novel represents a different and more important work than its pulpiness may, at first glance, allow.

Certain concepts really stand out in my decision to become a Freemason: tolerance, reverence, enlightenment. As a young man, I’ve grown up in a world very different than even parents’. Race and religion are not defining qualities in making friends or doing business. Dan Brown seems quite enthralled with the concepts expressed within the Lodge, specifically equality, the idea that men of many different religious beliefs, races, and national origins could come together to honor the notion of Deity without killing one another over superfluous definitions.

“The Lost Symbol” is quite fair in its portrayal of Masons as seekers of truth, holding secrets that are passed on from one to the next in an unbroken chain. However, this book has made some very large promises that local Lodges are going to need to keep. New brothers will be entering lodges looking for truth and enlightenment. After the Second World War, the great rush of joiners in the 1950’s sought fraternity, the brothers of this new millennium will seek fraternity in uncertain times, where people murder innocents over major disagreements on faith. They will enter Masonic temples to put themselves in a separate, sacred space to seek illumination away from the cacophony of the outside world.

Dan Brown presents an interesting conundrum, how does a centuries-old institution remain interesting? His answer to the question is rather clear, there are certain elemental truths in the world, and it is groups like the Masons that bear them onto the next generation. Although Jefferson states that all these truths are self-evident, it requires the discerning mind to separate universal truth from opinions and belief; Masonry asks brothers to look about their own world and continue to perfect themselves and to walk uprightly based on those universal laws.

I really enjoyed “the Lost Symbol.” Masonry will have to change as more younger men continue to join Freemasonry. These young men will expect Chambers of Reflection, discussions about the Scottish Rite, and the relation between Freemasonry and the Ancient Mysteries. This book is pulp but it is good, clean, all-American pulp, and I, for one, had a fun time reading it.

Send us your thoughts and, if we think they add something new to the analysis of Dan Brown’s novel, we will gladly publish them here.

The Lost Symbol is a 2009 novel by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of The Da Vinci Code.

Released on September 15, 2009, it is the third Brown novel to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, following 2000’s Angels & Demons and 2003’s The Da Vinci Code. It had a first printing of 6.5 million (5 million in North America, 1.5 million in the UK), the largest in Doubleday history. On its first day the book sold one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, making it the fastest selling adult novel in history. Since its release, it has remained at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction.

Info source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Symbol

[ Download Link ]

If email-gate at the Norwich, England-based Climate Research Unit at University of East Anglia teaches us anything, it’s that folks who believe the climate change science is compelling are equally dismissive of their critics as those who don’t.

I believe U.S. and European academies of science when they say the science is compelling.  That is not to say that I believe Lawrence Solomon and others who question man’s influence on the climate are wrong.  (On the contrary, I hope Solomon is right.  I have always wanted to run with the dogs in the Iditarod, but all that mushing seems so pointless if the climate modeling is correct.)

And why when you don’t agree with someone are they automatically engaged in a conspiracy ?   (To both sides) if your critics are a bunch of idiots, how could they possibly be pulling off a global conspiracy?  Please.  Have we all been reading too many Dan Brown novels?

The future is a balance of probabilities.  All we can say for sure is we have no idea what the future holds.   Wouldn’t it be better to learn what we can from our critics – and try to be civil about it?

Dan Brown’s new thriller is almost as riveting as The Da Vinci Code, and will send you Googling for more information about the Capitol Building, the Washington monument and other of our nation’s historical sites in Washington, D.C.

Robert Langdon is off on a wild chase to decipher an ancient code, solve the secret of the Masons, the revelation of which will change the world as we know it, and save his old friend from certain death. The CIA, a massive tattoed villain named Mal’akh, and a noetic scientist are all a part of the race against time.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but the “secret”, while not exactly as earth-shaking as you might have hoped (and surely you would have heard about it by now if it were, even without reading the book), is interesting and thought-provoking. It might even send you off Googling again.

–cary

O ateísmo é constantemente visto na literatura seja ele explicito ou implícito, como personagem principal ou secundário, de uma forma ou de outra ele está lá, impregnado. Mas o ateísmo em literatura pode ser considerado uma estética ou gênero? Quando se pensa na quantidade de autores ateus ou livros que falam sobre ateísmo dava até para acrescentar essa nova categoria, mas o ateísmo muito menos se insere na estética religiosa, simplesmente por não ser uma religião. O mais correto seria denominar o ateísmo como um tema literário, assim como é o amor, a homossexualidade ou a política.

São muitos os nomes de livros, autores e personagens de caráter ateístico. Entre alguns autores pode-se citar desde o fantasioso Philip Pullman, passando pelos filósofos Nietzsche e Schopenhauer, até os contemporâneos Richard Dawkins e José Saramago. Sem contar os livros de religiosos que abordam, mesmo que pejorativamente, o ateísmo, como é o caso do livro Não tenho fé suficiente para ser ateu dos cristãos Norman Geisler & Frank Turek.

É possível ainda listar inúmeros personagens ateus que fazem partes de diversos romances, seja no papel principal ou secundário. Só para citar alguns temos, a terrorista Dahlia Iyad do livro Domingo Negro do americano Thomas Harris, a arqueóloga Tess Chaykin no livro O Último Templário de Raymond Khouri, e ainda o agnóstico Robert Langdon dos livros O Código Da Vinci e Anjos e Demônios do também americano Dan Brown. Isso sem mencionar os vários personagens ateus do russo Fiódor Dostoievski, que apesar de ter sido um cristão fervoroso usava o ateísmo para caracterizar vários de seus personagens, ainda que usasse isso para determinar o caráter dos personagens como escórias sociais, eram sempre os assassinos, homicidas, adúlteros e por ai vai.

O ateísmo está quase sempre presente, seja no autor que usa ou não o tema em seus livros, pode ser citado aqui o brasileiro Machado de Assis; seja como tema principal do livro, podendo ser visto positivamente ou não; ou, seja nos personagens que podem ser tanto os mocinhos como os vilões. Vale destacar aqui a trilogia de Phillip Pullman, As Fronteiras do Universo (A Bússola Dourada, A Faca Sutil e A Luneta Âmbar) que usa a fantasia para escrever de forma metafórica um ateísmo pra crianças, segundo alguns puritanos Pullman é um exagerado e sensacionalista por escrever sobre tal coisa para crianças, mas há quem defenda que o contrário também é valido, não se deve impor religião para crianças.

Em suma, sendo estética, gênero ou tema, o que importa é que o assunto é bem presente na literatura podendo assim, permitir uma análise sobre a opinião de cada autor e como cada um ver o ateísmo, claro que não é algo massificado, o ateísmo não determina a personalidade dos personagens, autores ou dos próprios leitores, mas proporciona uma reflexão sobre a aceitação e de como essa opção pela descrença é normal e existe a muito tempo, nos mais diversos povos.

"What's the plot doing way over there?"

(Paramount) Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgaard, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thure Lindhardt, David Pasquesi, Victor Alfieri, Elya Basin, Rance Howard . Directed by Ron Howard.

Any institution that is around long enough is bound to acquire opponents, if not enemies. For the Roman Catholic Church, the oldest institution on the planet, those opponents are many. But, as they say, it only takes one.

The Church is mourning the sudden and unexpected death of the pope, considered a progressive and fair-minded pontiff, beloved by his flock. As the College of Cardinals gathers to elect a new leader for their church, two very disturbing events occur. The first is the theft of a small but significant amount of anti-matter, a substance manufactured in an experiment partially funded by the Church. The second is the kidnapping of four respected cardinals, all of them considered favorites for the papal election, or as they are known more commonly in the Vatican as the preferati.

The powers of the pope are invested in Patrick McKenna (McGregor), the assistant to the previous pope (or Camerlengo as the position is titled), and he is given further reason for misgiving when he receives a cryptic but menacing note, as well as a live cam feed that indicates that the missing anti-matter is somewhere in the Vatican.

To help in the investigation, Inspector Olivetti (Favino) of the Vatican Police Force recruits an unlikely ally – Robert Langdon (Hanks), the Harvard professor of symbology whose investigations in The DaVinci Code brought down the Opus Dei group and caused much embarrassment for the Church. He arrives in the Vatican along with scientist Vittoria Vetra (Zurer) who was working on the anti-matter project and whose father was gruesomely murdered during the theft. She reports that the battery-charged electronic cannister holding the anti-matter would eventually fail when the battery died; when it did, a sizable chunk of Rome would be vaporized.

Langdon determines that the note was written by the Illuminati, an ancient society of scientifically-inclined Catholics who underwent extreme persecution in the days of Galileo. Deciphering the note, he figures out that the plan is to execute the four cardinals, once every hour in four locations sacred to the Illuminati (each having to do with one of the four elements). Langdon must follow a variety of clues to discover where each cardinal is going to meet a grisly end and arrive there before said cardinals get an early opportunity to see God live and in Person.

He is opposed by Commander Richter (Skarsgaard), the head of the Swiss Guard who are kind of the secret service of the Vatican. To let you know how he feels about the situation, he growls in a voice dripping with disdain “What a relief, the symbologist is here” when Langdon arrives at the Vatican. Also conservative Cardinal Strauss (Mueller-Stahl) is suspicious of the openly non-religious Langdon.

This is a very slick-looking thriller that utilizes its Roman locations effectively (although the Vatican locations were all recreated on a set – as you might imagine, the Church refused to allow the filmmakers permission to film there). Howard is one of the best directors working today, and his skills are one of the movie’s outstanding features. The pacing is brisk and doesn’t give you time to think about all the implausibility in the script.

The script is one of the major downfalls of the film. Writers Akiva Goldsmith and David Koepp – both of whom have delivered some really well-written scripts in the past – aren’t entirely to blame for this. Dan Brown, author of the novel, is a talented writer of page turners, but sacrifices a lot of common sense for the sake of a good plot turn. Are you telling me that the combined minds of the Swiss Guard and the Vatican Police Force, who guard some of the most important people and treasures in the world, were unable to turn the note upside down to figure out that it was sent by the Illuminati?

The script is also rather talky. Hanks spends a lot of time cogitating and then delivering a pronouncement like an explanation point “Why didn’t I think of it before? The Church of San Whoever, patron saint of Earth Wind and Fire!” It’s not that Hanks does a bad job – he’s quite believable inasmuch as he can be as an academic who isn’t fazed by being shot at and have any number of murder attempts made on him. In some ways he’s more of an action hero than scholar, but Hanks makes sure the scholarly side is well-represented.

The international cast (with actors from Israel, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, China, Russia, Denmark, Austria and elsewhere) are solid. McGregor just about steals the movie as the pious Camerlengo. I like him as an actor more and more in every role I see him as. Zurer is likewise solid in a role that literally has no reason to be there – she’s eye candy, nothing more but she at least makes a credible attempt at being at least physicist-like. Skarsgaard and Mueller-Stahl, veteran character actors both, lend gravitas to their roles.

I’ve really spent a lot of time dwelling on the movie’s faults, and that’s a bit unfair. Granted, they are glaring imperfections, but quite frankly this is a solid summer thriller with plenty of mindless entertainment. The trouble is it kind of bills itself as a smart thriller which is a bit of a disservice. This is the kind of movie that if you think too much about it you’re not going to like it as much. Instead, just sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s a pretty good one.

WHY RENT THIS: A nonstop thrill ride that doesn’t pause long enough for you to catch your breath. McGregor is becoming a much more watchable actor than he was in the Star Wars prequels. Breathtaking sets, special effects (particularly one sequence in St. Peter’s Square) and use of Roman locations make this extremely watchable.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The script is full of holes and lapses in logic that detract from the action. While it bills itself as an intellectual thriller, it works better as mindless entertainment. Some egregious factual errors, particularly as to historical context and Catholic  

FAMILY VALUES: Some rather spectacular and gruesome murders occur, some of which may be too intense for children.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: While filming in Rome, the crew and equipment were blocking the passage of a bridal party on the way to a church for their wedding. Upon hearing about the situation, Tom Hanks personally escorted the party through the filming area and prevailed upon crew to move equipment so that the party might pass. The grateful family of the bride invited Hanks and director Howard to stay for the reception but their busy filming schedule prevented it.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: The Blu-Ray edition contains a feature on CERN, home of the large hadron collider and the world’s largest particle physics factory. The crew were permitted to film on the premesis (although not in sensitive areas) and the achievements of CERN are discussed in some detail.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: The Soloist

Ever since The Da Vinci Code was released all of Dan Brown’s new releases seem to have been met with good anticipation and lots of high expectation! I have to say that his newest book, The Lost Symbol, did not disappoint!

I just finished reading it yesterday and thought it was brilliant. Dan Brown is a very skilled writer and he manages to keep you in suspense the whole way through the book with so many different twists constantly happening. I love watching films and when I read this book, similarly with his others, I found it is almost as though I am watching them in my head as I picture everything that is going on.

Naturally, the books always create a bit of a stir because of what they say mainly about religion. In this book Brown actually tries to reconcile the two and show how science actually points towards religion, but of course there are some controversial statements and misinterpretations of the bible that are made but I wont post about them, rather about a great statement made about the reality of death.

When one of the characters, I wont mention who, feels that they soon may die, they say the following:

‘[The Character] strained to comprehend that these would be [their] final moments of life. Soon [they] would cease to exist… everything [they] were… or had been… or would ever be… was ending… In this moment, [The Character] realized [their] true insignificance in the universe. It was as lonely and humbling a feeling as [they] had ever experienced.’

Doesnt this seem to capture brilliantly some of the reality that we are not the be-all-and-end all in the universe. Actually there is One who is far above us, who is awesomely Holy and the only eternal God. I guess near death experiences or things of a similar nature really can give a harsh awakening to the reality of death, and the eternal things that await.

Copyright Dan Brown 2009 – extract taken from The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

¿Existe un secreto tan poderoso que, de salir a la luz, sea capaz de cambiar el mundo?
Washington. El experto en simbología Robert Langdon es convocado inesperadamente por Peter Solomon, masón, filántropo y su antiguo mentor, para dar una conferencia en el Capitolio. Pero el secuestro de Peter y el hallazgo de una mano tatuada con cinco enigmáticos símbolos cambian drásticamente el curso de los acontecimientos. Atrapado entre las exigencias de una mente perturbada y la investigación oficial, Langdon se ve inmerso en un mundo clandestino de secretos masónicos, historia oculta y escenarios nunca antes vistos, que parecen arrastrarlo hacia una sencilla pero inconcebible verdad.

Ver y descargar  libro: “El símbolo perdido”

Har kokat ihop en önskelista inför julen på grejer jag vill ha men undermedvetet är 100% säker på att jag aldrig kommer att få om jag inte köper dem själv.

Uppifrån vänstra hörnet till höger osv; Death Note Anteckningsbok, Manchettknappar i form av ormar, Umbrella Academy Paraply, Grant’s Whisky, Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille Parfym, Den Förtrollade Symbolen av Dan Brown, Morgonrock från H&M, It’s A Wonderful Life på DVD, Juicy Couture Dirty English Wax och slutligen en slips från Peckham Rye London.

Capa de "O Símbolo Perdido" e seu autor, Dan Brown (Reprodução)

Se você é fã do escritor Dan Brown, autor dos sucessos “O Código Da Vinci”, “Anjos e Demônios”, “Fortaleza Digital” e “Ponto de Impacto”, já pode ficar feliz: o mais novo trabalho do norte-americano, “O Símbolo Perdido”, será lançado no Brasil nos próximos dias.

A tiragem inicial para o mercado brasileiro é de 800 mil cópias… muito acima do que é padrão para primeira impressão de um livro no país, que normalmente gira em torno de 4 mil exemplares.

“O Símbolo Perdido” já é um grande sucesso no mercado editorial, tendo vendido mais de 2 milhões de exemplares nos EUA, Canadá e Reino Unido somente em sua primeira semana de lançamento.

O novo livro conta mais uma vez as aventuras do simbologista de Harvard, Robert Langdon, em uma trama que se passa em Washington e envolve segredos da maçonaria e símbolos ocultos.

Ao contrário dos livros anteriores, que foi visto como um ultraje pelo Vaticano e a Igreja Católica, “O Símbolo Perdido” foi bem recebido pela maçonaria, uma organização fraterna, datada aproximadamente do século 16 e com cerca de 4 a 5 milhões de maçons em todo o mundo.
Segundo Greg Levenston, grão-mestre da loja maçônica Unida de Nova Gales do Sul e do Território Australiano Capital dos Maçons, trata-se de um trabalho de um “romancista tremendo”. “Estamos muito satisfeitos. Não há nada neste livro que vá ofender minha organização. Isto nos proporciona a oportunidade de nos abrirmos um pouco”, completa.

Na cola do sucesso de “O Código Da Vinci”
O grande sucesso editorial de Dan Brown é “O Código Da Vinci”, que vendeu mais de 81 milhões de cópias desde o seu lançamento em 2003 e encabeçou praticamente todas as listas de ‘os mais vendidos’ no mundo.
Também foi adaptado com sucesso para os cinemas em 2006, em produção estrelada por Tom Hanks e dirigida por Ron Howard. O filme, mesmo sendo ruim, não decepcionou nas bilheterias e arrecadou quase US$ 760 milhões…

Mas, mesmo com tamanho sucesso, o livro foi apontado pela equipe do suplemento de literatura do jornal inglês “The Times” como o pior livro da década. Curiosamente, “O Código Da Vinci” também ocupa a 10ª posição na lista dos melhores livros da década.

A adaptação de “O Símbolo Perdido” para os cinemas já está em progresso…

Não é novidade que “O Código da Vinci” é um livro polémico e que as opiniões se dividem, mas daí a ser comparado ao “O Segredo”… Tenho algumas dúvidas acerca deste ranking, nomeadamente porque não são divulgados os critérios para realização do mesmo. Contudo, não é surpreendente que “A Estrada” esteja em primeiro lugar. É verdadeiramente imperdível.

Foi o grande ‘best-seller’ dos últimos anos, mas o suplemento de literatura do ‘The Times’ não fez concessões aos sucessos de vendas: ‘O Código da Vinci’, de Dan Brown, foi considerado o pior livro da década. O melhor é ‘A Estrada’, de Cormac McCarthy.

Em todo o mundo, ‘O Código da Vinci’ vendeu mais de 70 milhões de exemplares e catapultou para a ribalta o seu autor, o americano Dan Brown, cujos ‘thrillers’ se debruçam sobre temas que têm tanto de polémico como de esotérico. Há quem o considere brilhante, para outros não passa de um escritor banal. Para os críticos do The Times, ‘O Código da Vinci’, publicado em 2003, tropeça logo na introdução, que se assemelha a uma notícia de tablóide.

O segundo entre os cinco piores é ‘O Segredo’, ‘best-seller’ de auto-ajuda de Rhonda Byrne, que ensina a atingir o sucesso através do pensamento positivo. Mas o painel que o classificou considera que as referências a Jesus, Newton, Beethoven e Einstein tornam o guia “insuportável”.

Em terceiro surge ‘Being Jordan’, a autobiografia da modelo inglesa Katie Price; o livro é considerado influente, mas não da forma mais positiva. O quarto entre os piores é ‘Vernon God Little’ (‘Vernon Little, o Bode Expiatório’ em português) de DBC Pierre. Apesar de ter vencido o ‘Man Booker Prize em 2003′, o romance que tem como protagonista um adolescente sarcástico e procura reflectir a atracção e o medo que exercem os Estados Unidos da América não convenceu o The Times, insensível aos elogios feitos à obra.

A finalizar a lista, ‘Dylan’s Visions of Sin’, sem tradução para português, um livro do britânico Christopher Ricks, académico e crítico literário que analisa as letras das canções de Bob Dylan. O painel considerou que esta ‘carta de amor a Dylan é tão embaraçosa de ler quanto a de um adolescente, se não estiver envolvido na relação”.

No sentido inverso, a lista dos 100 melhores títulos da década é encabeçada pela obra de Cormac McCarthy, ‘A Estrada’, considerada uma “expressão perfeita dos terrores do início do século XXI”. Segue-se ‘Persepolis, um livro de banda desenhada que dá conta da infância da autora, Marjane Satrapi, durante a Revolução Islâmica no Irão; em terceiro surge ‘Dreams From My Father’, em português ‘A Minha Herança’, a autobiografia de Barack Obama que revela – segundo o jornal – que o autor “não é apenas um político ambicioso, mas também um escritor eloquente e pensador profundo”.

In Diário de Notícias, a 19 de Novembro.

In this blog post, I will be touching on the future of books and how I envision books will become in the future

Books. This is something that we have all grown up with, whether did we like it or hate it. We’ve all used textbooks before, read storybooks, and some of us will be quite familiar with that quaint smell of freshly printed books.

But will our future generations get the same experience?

The threat of E books and Online books

There are 2 main things that are threatening the existence of conventional books and they are Electronic books and Online books

Online books are books that were scanned and stored in a database for the use to read. An example of an Online book would be Google Books. E books are electronic books that are sold from a store (such as Amazon) and they require an E book reader (such as the Amazon Kindle) to operate.

There are many advantages of E books and Online books and in the future, they might very well take over the place of conventional books.

Lets talk about E books first. E books have the advantage of mobility and storage as an E book reader such as the Kindle can easily store up to 1500 e books. Imagine lugging 1500 hardcover books on board the bus! Another advantage that the E book has is the fact that there is the adjustable font size. If you are myopic but refuse to get a pair of spectacles of contact lenses, you are free to adjust the font size to your convenience.

But perhaps the biggest advantage the E book has over the conventional book, is that of price. Because Electronic books are sold in the electronic form, there is no need for the publisher to fork out extra money for printing, binding and publishing. This is why E books are so much cheaper, with most going for under USD 10 bucks. Lets take a look at Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol for example. The Amazon website sells the Electronic copy of the book for $9.99, whereas a local bookstore sells the hardcover book for over $40. Consumers get the chance to save a lot of money.

Online books are also very similar to E books but there is a fundamental difference. With E books, you can download the book and read it offline. Whereas you need to have an internet connection to be able to view Online books. With wifi and 3G networks being so readily available, many people will be able to surf and read such books on the go.

My stand

My take on this whole debate that is going on about the future of books is this: E books and Online books will eventually take over the use of conventional books (purely because there are so many benefits)

However, I believe that Conventional books will still remain, perhaps as a Collector’s edition or a Limited edition release.

What do you think? Leave your comments below

When you find yourself hoping and praying for a book to end, there is a good possibility that you could classify that book as one that sucks. Hear me out.

The Lost Symbol is a novel by Dan Brown, author of such works as Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. He has other not-so-well-known works such as Deception Point and Digital Fortress.  The latter two books are wholly unimpressive, but follow the Dan Brownian plot style: one of the main characters is actually a bad guy and is in some way involved with a conspiracy theory.

LS doesn’t necessarily follow that same plot style, but there are definitely a lot of reoccurring annoyances. For one, Brown (or his wife) does A LOT of research. Much of his research is unnecessary to his plot and comes off as just plain showing off his knowledge when sprinkled throughout narration.  He also often puts his character’s thoughts into italics.  Most of the thoughts are unneeded fodder that are reminiscent of Lt. Horatio Caine’s lines on CSI: Miami which are unbelievably lame.

Despite the things that annoy me about Brown’s writing, I was so excited for this book to come out. I loved A&D and DVC and was ecstatic about another high-speed, action-packed thriller that got the cogs in my mind working. I thought it was happening again in this one, but I got incredibly bored about 60% of the way into the book. I was literally begging for it to end and considering just flat out stopping. I also found Mal’akh to be a pretty superficial villain. DVC’s Silas and A&D’s Hassassin scared me so badly I had nightmares, and I just didn’t feel that fear for Mal’akh.

I was surprised by the inevitable twist (there’s always one when Brown is writing), but I was not impressed.

I don’t know, Dan! You made me wait this long, but left me unhappy!

The one thing I can say is that when The Lost Symbol film (due in theatres in 2012) starts casting, they would do well to cast NCIS: Los Angeles’ Linda Hunt (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001373/) as Director Inoue Sato.

H, out.

Couverture de l'édition anglaise du livre

Un petit article concernant le tout dernier livre du désormais célèbre Dan Brown et qui va sortir: The Lost Symbol, étonnamment traduit par Le Symbole Perdu dis donc

Après avoir découvert Paris et l’Opus Dei (dans Da Vinci Code), Rome et le Vatican (dans Anges et Démons), cette fois-ci le professeur d’histoire de Harvard Robert Langon, personnage principal de ces 3 livres, nous emmène à Washington (et plus particulièrement au Capitole) démystifier la franc-maçonnerie.

On retrouve d’ailleurs toujours un peu le même principe: un grand secret est conservé depuis des siècles par un petit groupe de personnes, et ce secret sera découvert à la fin du bouquin. Ter repetita donc (oui on voit que j’ai quelques années de latin derrière moi ), mais pourtant toujours aussi efficace!

Voici donc mon avis (si ça vous intéresse):

J’ai vraiment été tenu en haleine tout au long de ce livre, on peut essayer de “s’amuser” comme d’habitude à décrypter avec Robert Langdon certains codes (ou en tout cas suivre attentivement ce décryptage) cependant j’ai quand même quelques critiques à émettre: il y a dans ce livre une sorte de “double fin“, pas dans le sens où vous pouvez

Le Capitol Building à Wahington, lieu principal du livre

choisir votre fin, mais dans le sens où l’histoire se termine en 2 temps, ce qui fait que 150 pages avant la fin du livre, l’action a disparu, et je trouve ça vraiment dommage. De plus je trouve qu’il manque de codes cryptés, ce qui m’a vraiment étonné de la part de Dan Brown qui depuis tout petit est passionné par la cryptologie (pour l’anecdote, ses parents lui faisaient faire un jeu de piste dans toute la maison avec des codes cryptés pour pouvoir obtenir ses cadeaux de Noël ). C’est pourquoi je le classerais en e position de tous les livres de l’auteur, au même rang que Da Vinci Code, donc après Anges et Démons, et bien sûr après l’excellent Deception Point, mais évidemment avant Forteresse Digitale.

En résumé, un livre très bon dans l’ensemble, mais qui aurait pu être encore mieux avec une action plus présente vers la fin et quelques codes cryptés supplémentaires

Two days ago I got an email from Stephanie Frasco who is working on a project for the History Channel.  They are searching for lead investigators to host a tv series documentary on the topic of American symbology/iconography. It is called Decoded. She asked me to post this link in case anyone reading this blog post is interested to participate. They are looking for a real life Robert Langdon. If you are compatible with Dan Brown, you should contact them. As for myself, I am just a Deleuzian minded guy who attempts to circumscribe the overcoding of the signifying regime (the Dan Brown kind of iconographical analyzes). My decoding is of another sort than they are looking for. I attempt to show that there is no master signifier whereas Langdon is all about finding the master signifier.