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.

angels and demons- download

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The Lost Symbol

Author: Dan Brown

Price: $30 (Rs 700)

Publisher: Doubleday (US)

Transworld (UK)

Bantam Press (India)

Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Boredom

Dan Brown has penned down an international bestseller

Bestsellers are not always good.

Dan Brown is back. And so is Robert Langdon. In another “fast-paced” thriller. The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown is known to almost the entire world. He happens to be the best-selling author of the very famous The Da Vinci Code, though I thought his finest work was Deception Point. The Lost Symbol is based in Washington D.C this time, in contrast to his other novels which are based in Spain, Vatican City, The Arctic and Europe. Langdon is summoned to DC by a mysterious caller, who seems to impersonate his friend Peter Solomon’s secretary. Langdon has to decipher a large number of clues (including a lone hand) and unveil the Ancient Truth of Freemasonry, the society around which this book is based upon. Sadly, although the plot seems promising, the book is too long in various parts and is such a big bore, that you’d be surprised that you’re not reading from an encyclopedia.

The plot is ingenious and also quite gripping. But the problem is stuff like this is very, very old now. It’s that typical Langdon+Scientist-cum-chick-cum-love-interest+Assassin+Ancient-Brotherhood formula, which Dan Brown has tried and tested for two books. It may successful once, like in The Da Vinci Code, but not always.

Also, half the stuff is almost entirely unnecessary. Instead of simply stating “Langdon suffered from claustrophobia”, Brown goes on to give a full and long, detailed explanation of how he got it. Even though he already has mentioned it in his previous books. And even more stuff on him doing fifty laps in the Harvard pool, and him wearing a Tweed coat. Its boring now. Really. I know it may be for the first-timers but come on now. It’s too much. Have a look at the Harry Potter trilogy. Rowling just gives a sweeping mention of Harry’s past and gets down to real business. Now Brown. He wants to write a big novel. He knows that he can keep you gripped to it. This is exactly the place where the book succeeds. It is addictive. Excessively. In fact, my curiosity had arisen to such a great extent, that I sat up at even one-thirty in the night to read it.

But it really is those cliched verses which frustrate you till eternity. Picture this conversation between X and Y

X- Have you heard about Z?

Y- Of course. <five-line long history on Z follows> …and its known as <this> by the Mayans, <that> by the Hindus, <whatever> by the Greeks and — <stops short>

X- What happened?

Suddenly is was crystal clear. Everything was falling into place. It was in front of us all the time, and yet we didn’t catch it X thought. How ingenious.

<end of chapter>

That happens almost every two chapters. Plus, the book is full of descriptions of rituals and acts of crime, which are really not relevant to the plot at all. They’re just… there. There are too many words such as “odd”, “bizarre” and, especially “double take” that are used too often.

In the end, The Lost Symbol turns out to be a good experience, but it is also a really, really boring book. Read it only if you’re love the Dan Brown style, although it is quite old now. It is nowhere near as good as Deception Point, which, I feel, is Dan Brown’s greatest book yet.

Rating: 5.8/10 (So-so)

Dan Brown é um escritor norte-americano considerado pela Revista Times uma das 100 pessoas mais influentes do mundo, filho de mãe musicista profissional e pai professor buscou inspiração em Jean Pierre Santiago para começar a escrever.

Dan Brown teve seus livros publicados em mais de 50 idiomas.

Estamos em novo endereço, venha conferir e baixar os e-books das obras de dan brown. Basta entrar no link abaixo para ver o restante de conteudo deste post.

http://www.poemasepensamentos.com.br/2009/09/25/dan-brown/

Word Cloud generated from my review of Dan Browns' The Lost Symbol.

Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol. Released September 15th, 2009.

Spoiler Free.

EXT. Washington National Cathedral.
Two characters approach via the shadows. They know they’re being tracked, but they have to reach their target. The fate of the world hangs on them successfully reaching their target, and finding that which must remain hidden…

New National Treasure Film? A rejected line from James Cameron’s Spider-Man screenplay? Or something potentially far, far worse…

By now you’re probably left in no doubt that there’s a new Dan Brown book out. For the last few months, stores have been enticing you to “Pre Order Your Copy” for weeks now, online retailers have been competing to undercut each other, and offer readers the chance to get our hands on the book for as cheap as possible, and Guardian newspaper readers (of which I’m one) have been busy practicing their sneers, ready to pounce on any poor sap who dared reveal they were considering buying a copy of the book.

Well now the wait is over – The Lost Symbol was finally unleashed just as summer vacations are finishing (which seems a little bit strange, given Browns previous books, especially The Da Vinci Code, were popular “Beach Books”), and now curious readers are finally able to read the book, a full 2-3 years before Tom Hanks, and more worryingly, Tom Hanks’ hair, show up in the inevitable film adaptation.

The Lost Symbol is Dan Browns follow-up to the 2003 Monster hit, The Da Vinci Code, which followed Harvard University Professor, Robert Langdon (originally described as “Harrison Ford in Tweed” – as opposed to Tom Hanks with a weird hair style.) as he’s caught up in a centuries old quest to protect The Holy Grail. This time round, the Harvard Symbologist is caught up in yet another battle between the forces of good and evil, and, yet again, he’s ideally suited to uncover secrets that have been hidden since the time of Newton. This time round, however, he’s not up against The Illuminati through the streets of Rome, or battling Opus Dei around parts of far-flung Europe – this time it’s the streets of Americas Capital, against, seemingly, a group of people who were heavily involved in the actual founding of America – The Free Masons. The usual mix of cutting edge science (this time around it’s a branch of Science called Noetic Science) remains, as does the sense that, for a University Professor, Robert Langdon seems to handle himself pretty well in these situations.

The Da Vinci code was a huge commercial success, going on to sell over 80 million copies around the world. Fans of the book, eager for to read further adventures of the Harvard Symbologist, turned to one of Browns’ previous books, Angels and Demons, which follows the character, as he attempts to uncover the secrets of the Illuminati, and stop the potential destruction of Vatican City. As a result Browns older books enjoyed a sales bump, and eventually Angels & Demons itself received a film adaptation, though Ron Howard & co. changed the events of the books, so that it takes place after the events of The Da Vinci Code, as opposed to prior.

Not long after The Da Vinci codes’ release, Dan Brown announced that he already researching the background for his next book, which would also feature the character, and that an announcement would be made shortly. Fans waited, and waited, and waited.

Eventually, the name of Browns book was announced – The Solomon Key, and more importantly, it’s release date – 2006. I guess it goes without saying Mr. Brown was more than a little bit late – but was it worth the wait?

To save time – here’s three statements. Click the statement that’s closest to your opinion of Dan Brown & or his previous books, and you’ll magically jump to the review that’s right for you.

* The idea of reading a Dan Brown book makes my eyes bleed.
* The Da Vinci Code? – Yeah, I remember reading that – I’ll check this book out.
* Are you kidding – The Freemasons, a holy quest, in Washington DC – I’ve lived this book.

Or, of course, you could just read it all

It’s a straight forward question, but it’s not exactly a straight forward answer. Firstly, there’s the economy to consider (stay with me, it’ll make sense). Back in 2003, when The Da Vinci Code was first released, times weren’t quite so tough as they are now. The world wasn’t in the grip of a recession, running a car didn’t require you to sell body parts every few months, and more importantly, comic books didn’t cost $3.99 an issue – so the question is, comic books or The Lost Symbol? Luckily, I’m here to attempt to supply you with the answer – comic books, of course! – less pages, more pictures, and quicker to read

Joking aside, although the discounts offered by retailers mean that you can pick up the book for virtually free, the question remains – is it worth picking up – after all, it’s over 500 pages long, so that’s a commitment of at least 10 hours to read through it – time’s valuable after all.

Are you kidding – The Freemasons, a holy quest, in Washington DC – I’ve lived this book.

In short, if you’re a fan of Browns previous books, and just as importantly, if you’re a fan of the 100s of similar books that publishers quickly rushed to publish following the success of The Da Vinci Code, then the answer’s Yes. Stop reading this review, and when you think about it, order a copy of the book, safe in the knowledge that you’ll like it – Spidey gives it two thumbs up

he Da Vinci Code? – Yeah, I remember reading that – I’ll check this book out.

Dear reader – A Question. Is it safe to assume that you liked Browns previous books, but weren’t to impressed with the seemingly endless supply of similar books, complete with “better than The Da Vinci Code / Shows Brown how to write a true thriller / Look, there’s a symbol on the cover, you gotta buy this” tag lines? If that’s the case, then read on…

In short, I’d recommend the book, however, from my own personal point of view, it doesn’t “flow” as smoothly as either his previous Robert Langdon books, or indeed his other books (Digital Fortress & Deception Point). Part of that, in my opinion, comes down to the sheer amount of information that Brown tries to cram into the book – information that doesn’t usually come from his central protagonist.

Perhaps the biggest reason why The Da Vinci Code captured peoples imaginations, and went onto to sell the number of copies that it did, is because it managed to balance elements of fact and fiction, in a way that kept people entertained, and more importantly, guessing. Reading the book for the first time, back in 2003, I think it’s safe to say that most people weren’t all that familiar with names and organisations such as Opus Dei, The Priory of Sion, etc, etc. The reason why the book worked, or to put it more specifically, the reason why I liked the book, when I first read it, is that it managed to perfectly mix three of the key ingredients that I personally look for – interesting characters, doing interesting things, in an interesting way. The characters in The Da Vinci Code were, to me, quite interesting, they were involved in an interesting plot, and the fact Brown peppered the book with references to “real-life” historical events, and facts, made it all the more interesting.

The Lost Symbol sees Brown again attempting this, but for me, he veers to far into the “facts” side of the equation, and focuses less on the actual story. Where as in The Da Vinci Code, the historical information that Brown references, either outside of the main story, or through his central characters helped the central story, this time round it stopped the story from progressing. The following comment on Amazon sums this up perfectly:

“…The refreshing mix of fact and fiction left me feeling refreshed and exhilarated for The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, but in The Lost Symbol, I feel that the amount of fact in the novel, and therefore the amount of Langdon’s explanations, was too much, and so it blurred the lines between fact and fiction and almost became a sequence of facts, linked together by Langdon’s narrative and the situations created in the plot. One wonders if Dan Brown is a fiction writer or someone who has an excellent researcher whom he has relied upon a little heavily in writing this book. Obviously, following the sheer success of the previous book, there must have been a large amount of pressure to make it bigger, better, more complex. He’s done this, but sadly, the narrative is strained by all the factual explanations to the point where the reader is aware they’re being lectured…”

It might also be true, that Brown, in response to the sheer number of people who complained about the historical accuracy of his previous books, perhaps focused too much of his attention on getting the facts to back up his story, as opposed to focusing on the actual story. It’d explain the 3 year delay in getting the book published.

So, to summarize – Would I recommend picking a copy of The Lost Symbol? Definitely. Although not being as entertaining as the previous books in the Robert Langdon series, it is worth a read – just don’t expect anything that’ll rock your world.

The idea of reading a Dan Brown book makes my eyes bleed.

If the concept of reading another Dan Brown book, or indeed a Dan Brown book, makes your eyes bleed, and the fact the book sold 1m copies during its first day of release, including 300,000 copies in the UK, makes you weep for Humanity, then there’s not really all that much anyone can suggest, least of all me, that’ll change your mind. It’s a fact of life, especially on the internet, that the more popular something is, the more vocal the criticism against it, even if it’s only emanating from a small minority. Harry Potter, Twilight, Jar Jar Binks, etc, etc all elicit a passionate response, both positive and negative, and Dan Browns book, in particular The Da Vinci Code, are no different.

Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that goes without saying. However, I’d like to end this article review by briefly (because I’m conscious of the fact that I’m already approaching the 1800 word mark) addressing one of the more common complaints that’s made against his books – they’re not “real books”, or they’re not worthy of being classed alongside works by <<Insert Your own Favourite Author here>>.

At the end of the day, it’s the same argument that’s made against J.K. Rowlings’ wonderful (my opinion, obviously) Harry Potter Series – “How dare they put it on the school syllabus, with works by William Shakespeare.”. I don’t think anyone would suggest that the quality of JKs books are anywhere near the level of Shakespeare’s, however, from my own personal point of view, a good book doesn’t have to be a wonderful piece of literature. To my mind the reason why books such as the Harry Potter books, and The Da Vinci Code have sold the number of books they have, obviously isn’t because of the quality of the writing, but the quality of the story. To my mind, JK Rowlings Harry Potter books, when looked at in their entirety, are every bit as good, and worthy of praise, as some of the so-called “Classics” – not because of the quality of the writing, but because of the way the books grab you.

The characters, the storylines, the sense of adventure – being transported to another time, another world, experiencing an event through the eyes of someone we’re not – these are what most people are looking for when they read a book, not the books literary value. That, to me, is why authors such as Dan Brown, Lee Child, James Patterson, and company, sell millions of books each year – because they allow people to experience these very emotions.

As for the question of rotting the soul? I’ve always had a simple way of summing up the question this raises. These so-called “Event Books” (i.e. books by the afore mentioned Dan Brown, Lee Child, etc) are perfectly fine. In short, they’re no different from summer blockbusters, or 800+ calorie desserts – if consumed in limited dosages they’re perfectly fine, and good for you – but if consumed on a regular basis, it’s a different story.

Typing about a different story – I promised the review would be spoiler free, so I won’t go into plot specifics, but what I will say, is that Chapter 44 honestly made me laugh out loud – I’m not quite sure if Dan Brown wrote that chapter deliberately, or if it was “suggested”, but I definitely liked it.

Last week I picked up a copy of the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, it was £7 in Tesco and I thought, hmm, I shall get a copy and see how it goes.

Dan Brown (for the Essex girls that don’t know)  managed to offend the entire Catholic church with the Da Vinci Code when he released it, which was a bit silly as it gave him heaps of publicity.

Deception Point and Angels and Demons are better than the Da Vinci Code in my opinion, but Da Vinci is a character that we all know from our history and lots of people (did I mention the Church?) went out and bought it, some even read it…

The Lost Symbol, well to put it quite bluntly is a recruiting tool for Freemasonry, whether they wanted it or not. He paints them so honourably, in such a positive light that the Masons will have paths beaten down to their doors and their lodges bombarded with applicants – thankfully they don’t let women in so I consider myself very lucky to have escaped the recruitment drive.

Now instead of preparing a defence of what they call “their gentle Craft”, they could well be stockpiling application forms as readers see the society in a kinder, gentler light, because in The Lost Symbol, the Masons are – wait for it – the good guys.

Ed McCracken, Herald Scotland

See, am not the only one who thinks it… Ed McCracken does too.

I must be the only person that buys a book to read the story, because I really don’t like the Robert Langdon character and I notice subtle shifts in his attitude in this book, I thought he was becoming rather like Tom Hanks portrayal of Robert Langdon, rather than the man in the first two books.

The book describes waterboarding in some detail. No, I have to admit I didnt understand the how and why of this type of torture before now. If in real life it is a fraction as brutal as it is in the book, then it should be outlawed immediately by the United Nations. I hope someone takes the Government to task if they allowed this in UK airspace. It’s barbaric and … well words do not describe what anger I feel that one human being feels that they can do this to another. So perhaps something good will come from the Lost Symbol after all.

Noetic Science is now bought into the public consciousness and no doubt a trillion google searches on it have now been carried out. Now I happen to believe that science and religion are highly compatible, some of the best scientists have had a strong belief in God and Noetics seems to be a science form that supports this. Who knows for sure? on this, only time will tell.

2.5 out of ten for actual storyline as it was wholly predictable with the exception of the waterboarding part, that wasn’t predictable at all.

If someone has a copy and you fancy reading it, it’s worth a borrow. Or wait until it’s filmed maybe the Hollywood scriptwriters will give it the zest it needs

Sarah

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• Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol finally arrives amid ferocious price war
• Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol review
• Masons anticipate Dan Brown book

Hello. The release for Dan Brown’ new novel The Lost Symbol has arrived so for a little bit of speculative fun here is Dan Brown’s 20 worst sentences that have appeared in his 4 novels (note none from Digital Fortress). Original article by “The Telegraph”. If you have any sentences that defy linguistic or grammatical beieve comment. Many more I’m sure. Enjoy.

20. Angels and Demons, chapter 1: Although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year-old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an ‘erudite’ appeal — wisp of gray in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete.

They say the first rule of fiction is “show, don’t tell”. This fails that rule.

19. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 83: “The Knights Templar were warriors,” Teabing reminded, the sound of his aluminum crutches echoing in this reverberant space.

“Remind” is a transitive verb – you need to remind someone of something. You can’t just remind. And if the crutches echo, we know the space is reverberant.

18. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon – the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors.

Ah, that familiar tang of deionised essence.

17. Deception Point, chapter 8: Overhanging her precarious body was a jaundiced face whose skin resembled a sheet of parchment paper punctured by two emotionless eyes.

It’s not clear what Brown thinks ‘precarious’ means here.

16. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: A voice spoke, chillingly close. “Do not move.” On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly. Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the mountainous silhouette of his attacker stared through the iron bars. He was broad and tall, with ghost-pale skin and thinning white hair. His irises were pink with dark red pupils.

A silhouette with white hair and pink irises stood chillingly close but 15 feet away. What’s wrong with this picture?

15. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: As a boy, Langdon had fallen down an abandoned well shaft and almost died treading water in the narrow space for hours before being rescued. Since then, he’d suffered a haunting phobia of enclosed spaces – elevators, subways, squash courts.

Other enclosed spaces include toilet cubicles, phone boxes and dog kennels.

14. Angels and Demons, chapter 100: Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers glorified the four major rivers of the Old World – The Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio Plata.

The Rio de la Plata. Between Argentina and Uruguay. One of the major rivers of the Old World. Apparently.

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 5: Only those with a keen eye would notice his 14-karat gold bishop’s ring with purple amethyst, large diamonds, and hand-tooled mitre-crozier appliqué.

A keen eye indeed.

13 and 12. The Lost Symbol, chapter 1: He was sitting all alone in the enormous cabin of a Falcon 2000EX corporate jet as it bounced its way through turbulence. In the background, the dual Pratt & Whitney engines hummed evenly.

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 17: Yanking his Manurhin MR-93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office.

Oh – the Falcon 2000EX with the Pratt & Whitneys? And the Manurhin MR-93? Not the MR-92? You’re sure? Thanks.

11. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: Captain Bezu Fache carried himself like an angry ox, with his wide shoulders thrown back and his chin tucked hard into his chest. His dark hair was slicked back with oil, accentuating an arrow-like widow’s peak that divided his jutting brow and preceded him like the prow of a battleship. As he advanced, his dark eyes seemed to scorch the earth before him, radiating a fiery clarity that forecast his reputation for unblinking severity in all matters.

Do angry oxen throw their shoulders back and tuck their chins into their chest? What precisely is a fiery clarity and how does it forecast anything? Once again, it is not clear whether Brown knows what ‘forecast’ means.

10. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow.

Did they hit him with the kaleidoscope?

9. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 32: The vehicle was easily the smallest car Langdon had ever seen. “SmartCar,” she said. “A hundred kilometers to the liter.”

Pro tip: when fleeing from the police, take a moment to boast about your getaway vehicle’s fuel efficiency. And get it wrong by a factor of five. SmartCars do about 20km (12 miles) to the litre.

8. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 3: My French stinks, Langdon thought, but my zodiac iconography is pretty good.

And they say the schools are dumbing down.

7 and 6. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 33: Pulling back the sleeve of his jacket, he checked his watch – a vintage, collector’s-edition Mickey Mouse wristwatch that had been a gift from his parents on his tenth birthday.

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 6: His last correspondence from Vittoria had been in December – a postcard saying she was headed to the Java Sea to continue her research in entanglement physics… something about using satellites to track manta ray migrations.

In the words of Professor Pullum: “It has the ring of utter ineptitude. The details have no relevance to what is being narrated.”

5. Angels and Demons, chapter 4: learning the ropes in the trenches

Learning the ropes (of a naval ship) while in the trenches (with the army in the First World War). It’s a military education, certainly.

4, 3, and 2. The Da Vinci Code, opening sentence: Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.

Angels and Demons, opening sentence: Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own.

Deception Point, opening sentences: Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. Geologist Charles Brophy had endured the savage splendor of this terrain for years, and yet nothing could prepare him for a fate as barbarous and unnatural as the one about to befall him.

Professor Pullum: “Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic opening sentence”.

1. The Da Vinci Code: Title. The Da Vinci Code.

Leonardo’s surname was not Da Vinci. He was from Vinci, or of Vinci. As many critics have pointed out, calling it The Da Vinci Code is like saying Mr Of Arabia or asking What Would Of Nazareth Do?

Every now and then an author comes along and creates a literary phenomenon. Think Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and more recently the Twilight saga. Thriller writer, Dan Brown, is just such a force. Best known for his 2003 novel, The DaVinci Code, Brown’s most recent work The Lost Symbol launched last Tuesday and sold more than 1 million copies its first day out. Any author or aspiring writer can tell you that this level of success is extremely rare. And if you haven’t been paying close attention, it might appear that it all happened overnight for Brown. But the truth is, his path was long and winding.

After graduating from college Dan Brown’s passion was music, not writing novels. He set out to pursue his musical interests, experimenting with synthesizer effects and creating a children’s CD called SynthAnimals, which sold a few hundred copies. He continued to dabble in music and release albums until he was 27 years old, when he decided to move to Hollywood to become a singer-songwriter and pianist. He taught at Bevery Hills Preparatory School to support himself and continued to produce CDs in his free-time (one of which was called Angels and Demons, a title that he later used for one of his novels).

It wasn’t until he was in his early thirties that he discovered his desire to write fiction. Inspired to outdo Sydney Sheldon’s The Doomsday Conspiracy, Brown took a serious stab at writing. The result was his first book, Digital Fortress, which was published when he was 34. Deception Point and Angels and Demons followed over the next few years. Sales for all three books were relatively low until his fourth book, The DaVinci Code, became a break-out bestseller and created huge demand for his earlier works. His success has soared from there with millions of copies of his books sold and two adapted into major motion pictures.

When we think of the Dan Brown we know and love today, it’s hard to believe that it took pursuing an entirely different career and writing three books before truly hitting his stride. Brown is a great example of the importance of not only following your passion but adapting your dreams as you go.

Dan Brown is the author of numerous bestsellers, including The Da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, and Deception Point.

The Lost Symbol is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s No. 1 international phenomenon with 81 million copies in print worldwide and the UK’s biggest selling paperback novel of all time, and it will once again feature Dan Brown’s unforgettable protagonist, Robert Langdon.

The Lost Symbol book’s narrative takes place in a 12-hour period, and from the first page, Dan’s readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape.

The Lost Symbol is a brilliant and compelling thriller. Dan Brown’s prodigious talent for storytelling, infused with history, codes and intrigue, is on full display in this new book. ‘This novel has been a strange and wonderful journey’, says Dan Brown himself. ‘Weaving five years of research into the story’s 12-hour timeframe was an exhilarating challenge. Robert Langdon’s life clearly moves a lot faster than mine’.

Landmarkonthenet.com providing the Lost Symbol book with 35% on price which is very lesser than comparing to the competitors. Know more about the Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol at: http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/Books/The-Lost-Symbol-(Pre-Release–Sep-15)-Dan-Brown/9780593054277

this is another author whose books are really a breathtaker to read. full of suspense.
download by clicking on the book names

angels and demons
da vince code
digital fortress
deception point

Hello everyone and welcome to the Wonderful World of Words! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know this particular word, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 13 – portentous

Corky heaved a portentous sigh (Brown, 2001, p. 99).

Brown, D. (2001). Deception Point. New York: Pocket Books.

Do you know what ‘portentous’ means? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time!

An addictive tale, full of everthing that make it a bestseller

In our course of life, we come across a lot of Deceptions, in some cases we can see the real picture, in most cases we can’t. Look around you, there are deceptions everywhere the padosi aunty, the Badmash Neta, your boss, your best friend ( i dont write this coz i am pessimist, itz just coz its true!!!). To come over them, one has to have an obstruction free vision and patience.
Leaving the mysteries of life, lets move on to the DECEPTION POINT, Mr Brown has once again targeted an intelligence agency ( I wonder why security agencies indulge in all this!!!).
The individuals who are chosen to make our life a little easy to live and to make it complication free, who have all the brains in the world, who are sworn under some oath to protect us and all..i think all of this is a deception.
The honesty and modesty of all the Nation’s Security Pillars are out in the open, and indeed has always been a hot topic of debate.
So, the book deals with a rock falling on our motherearth somewhere where it is too icy.And goes down deep and stuff.
Another intelligent girl ( I wonder why Mr Brown loves idealism) is sent in the chilling winter so as to take a peek at that big rock(poor darling), she is our HERIONE. Now when she goes there, where some geeky people have set up the whole shabang, the warm Jacuzzi, a multi- cuisine restaurant, a pool table and ya the less important  Chota sa lab to do research on that rock.Considering it’s a research facility, its certainly well equipped.
Now, while people were just busy having their share of fun , some bad guys ( Can’t have a life without them,and also with them ) who just did not enjoy such facilities and were somewhere   in a tent(in the killing cold), JASOOSING on these people ( Whether they were just being envy, or were actually serious is still a mystery). When the research is going all hay-wired and all the geniouses of earth are not able to figure out a tinne winnee thing, BANG , the Holiday resort turns into a Mortuary, in a watery massacre ( Read the damn book and you’ll understand why watery) our crew was hunted down, seems not everyone was a good swimmer,so not everyone survived(Acha hain, i didn like all of them, just too intelligent). Oops did i mention the Hero , he is some oceanologist thing ( the term maybe wrong, but you get the thing right??) we also have the chamcha (the spoon).
While they are just having an underwater dinner (our Crew), we have the highly paid boss, in his AC cabin with his secretary ( was it the secretary or somethinn else makin him sweat ).And man, the secretary was damn hot, i mean i read the page with her description 5 times, Mr Brown indeed knows who to cast and who to kill ( the boring intellects).
Now, when we have a huge debate that whether the slimy creatures on the rock, are  the children of mother-earth, a drunkard’s imagination, or ET Species ( Extra Toasted ooopps again Terrestrial), the intelligent girl comes out with the best dialogue of the book , somethinn like ‘ Have you seen all the slimy creatures of the planet, its a big god damn planet you know, not your backyard’ (Ohk so not exactly that but …samajh lo yaar), Ha ,right back at you , what do you think now Mr I-Know-Everything.
As the story unfolds, and after the intelligent girl ( its too long to type, lets call her exhibit A) aka exhibit A spills the beans and lets them know the nation’s deep dark secrets (auright, its not some nex gen chocolate,bad girl) , they start seeing the bigger picture(  about time).
And down there, in the big city far far (far very far actually) from the action, the hot secretary ( lets remain with that, i don’t mind typing that..) is rocking the world with her right-back-at-you capabilities.
So, after they get over all the deceptions, the big villain uncle is weeping(awww poor kid,should’ve thought that earlier) in a dirty smelly jail for doing baddy baddy things and messing with the wrong people, the secretary with her unique and standing out TALENT is having a better time, and the HERO and HEROINE are back in the Jacuzzi.
And the lived or rather (…..) happily ever after.

P.S.: Just to let all of you know, the hot secretary was not the HEROINE, she cudve been if i were the author but i guess you always don get  what you want, maybe in AGLE JANAM, i suppose i’ll be the hero and shell be a the heroine( Courtsey Mr Dan Brown)

Hello everyone and welcome to the Wonderful World of Words! Whether I am reading for pleasure or for research, I sometimes come across words that well, make me go, ‘Hmmm, I wonder what that could mean?’, and so I’ve decided to post those words here online as a sort of notebook to remind me of such words. I would also be interested to know how many of you out there in cyberspace know this particular word, or if you, too, scratch your head sometimes in your explorations of the wonderful world of words!

Word 12 – effusive

He and Gabrielle were greeted inside by a pot-bellied CNN producer who wore an effusive smile (Brown, 2001, p. 84).

Brown, D. (2001). Deception Point. New York: Pocket Books.

Do you know what ‘effusive’ means? Let me know if you do or don’t.

Until next time!

Alkuperäinen nimi Deception Point 2001, suomentaja Jorma-Veikko Sappinen

Dan Brownin kolmas romaani Meteoriitti, on viimeisin lukemani kirja kyseisen herran tuotannosta. Pokkariversio tarttui käteeni, koska pidin Da Vinci Koodista ja etenkin Enkeleistä ja Demoneista.

Kirjan tarina alkaa kun yhdysvaltain avaruushallinto Nasa julkistaa tehneensä löydön arktiselta jäätiköltä, löydön joka tulee mullistamaan maailman. Yhdysvaltain presidentin lähettämä puolueeton tutkijaryhmä, mukanaan kirjan päähenkilö tiedusteluasiantuntija Rachel Sexton, havaitsee kuitenkin yllättäviä seikkoja jotka kyseenalaistavat löydön todenperäisyyden. Näin Sexton joutuu pakosalle mukanaan kuuluisa tutkija Michael Tolland ja astrofyysikko Corky Marlinson. Samaan aikaan Rachelin isä käy valtataistelua pyrkiessään Valkoiseen Taloon, aseenaan Nasaa kovasti kritisoivat tukijat. Kuka on löydön takana ja mitkä ovat sen tarkoitusperät? Kuka vetelee salaliiton naruja?

Pidän Dan Brownin mukavasti “soljuvasta” kirjoitustyylistä. Joku voisi kutsua sitä vähemmän haastavaksi, mutta huvilukemisen kuuluukin mielestäni olla helppolukuista. Tapahtumat etenevät sujuvasti ja yllätyksiä tulee pitkin matkaa. Romaanin monet “tieteelliset” kuvaukset ja korkea teknologia ovat mielestäni mukava lisä vaikka tietokirjallisuuden faktatasoa romaani tuskin saavuttaa. Henkilökuvaukset ovat riittäviä ja päähenkilöt saavat sympatiat puolelleen. Loppuratkaisu yllätti ainakin allekirjoittaneen, toki täytyy myöntää että en yleensäkään ole se joka keksii murhaajan ensimmäisten sivujen aikana.

Meteoriitti oli mielenkiintoinen teknotrilleri, joka tuli ahmaistua parissa päivässä. Ainakin genren ystäville kirja täyttää varmasti odotukset.

Kirjatoukka-arvio 77/100

Deception Point (2001) is a scientific thriller novel by Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and the upcoming The Lost Symbol.

Plot summary

Intelligence Analyst Rachel Sexton is in her mid-thirties, is single, and works for the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office). Her father, Senator Sedgewick Sexton, is a popular presidential candidate surpassing the incumbent President of the United States Zachary Herney. The President sends her to the Arctic as part of a team of experts to confirm and authenticate findings made by NASA deep within the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA’s new Earth Observation System (EOS), a collection of satellites constantly monitoring the globe for signs of large-scale change, has found an extremely dense spot in the Milne Ice Shelf. NASA discovers a very dense meteorite. In it are fossils of bugs very similar to–but not the same as–species on earth. NASA claims this as proof of extraterrestrial life. This find is something NASA needs desperately, as the agency’s success rate on other fronts has put it in a bad light. Senator Sexton uses this as an example of government overspending and failure to further his campaign. Meanwhile, a Delta Force team is observing the discovery, monitoring the NASA staff for an unknown commander. When one of the four civilian scientists observes an irregularity with the pit the meteorite was found in, the Delta Force team ‘takes him out’ using their miniature spy bot, leaving his body in the pit far below the water where he will not be discovered. When another civilian scientist sees the irregularity, he shares it with his friends Corky and Rachel. They report it to Norah, who confirms that there is sea water in what should be a closed area with only freshwater. The four go outside to scan the ice from a distance. The scan shows Ming’s body and a frozen section of ice where the meteorite was drilled up into the shaft, and sea water sealed the gap. Upon discovering this, the four are attacked by the Delta Force team. Norah is killed, shown as an accident. Rachel, Mike and Corky escape and are picked up by the Navy submarine USS Charlotte. The Delta Force team believes them to be dead, leaving them a chance to tell the President’s advisor and Rachel’s boss at the NRO about their discovery, Ming and Norah’s deaths and about the attempt on their lives. Rachel’s boss, William Pickering, has them airlifted from the sub to a chopper which escorts them away from the meteorite discovery site.

A group of four civilian scientists have already been studying the find and have confirmed NASA’s claims. It is only hours before the President and NASA plan to go public with the discovery.

Download

http://www.uploadjockey.com/download/9446962/Deception-Point_pdf.zip

Deception Point adalah sebuah fiksi pendebar-jantung yang terbaik. Ketika satelit NASA yang baru menemukan bukti dari sebuah objek amat langka yang terkubur jauh di dalam lapisan es Arktika, lembaga ruang angkasa yang sedang mengalami kesulitan itu mengumumkan sebuah kemenangan yang amat dibutuhkan … kemenangan yang berimplikasi besar bagi kebijakan ruang angkasa Amerika Serikat dan pemilihan presiden yang akan datang….

Download Disini

Kalau sesuatu di kehidupan nyata –seperti keluarga, teman, atau sekolah– masuk ke mimpi kita, itu memang hal yang biasa terjadi, karena memang sehari-hari kita bergaul dengan kehidupan nyata tersebut. Tapi kalau sesuatu yang fiksi terbawa sampai ke mimpi dalam tidur kita, wajarkah?

Sampai hari ini, ada tiga hal fiksi yang pernah terbawa masuk ke dalam mimpiku. Satu untuk film, satu untuk novel, dan satu untuk game. Captain Tsubasa, Deception Point, dan Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Series (Gyakuten Saiban). Yang masuk ke dalam mimpiku tidak hanya karakter-karakternya, tapi juga jalan cerita dan kondisi di sana. Mungkin lebih tepat kalau dibilang, justru aku yang masuk ke dalam dunia fiksi tersebut.

Captain Tsubasa
Oh oke, jangan tertawa. Dulu, aku penggemar berat anime yang diputar di TV7 ini. Tidak pernah ketinggalan satu episode pun. Kalau tidak salah, itu ketika aku kelas 4-5 SD, ±7 tahun yang lalu. Karakter favoritku adalah Genzo Wakabayashi. Yang masuk ke dalam mimpiku adalah bagian saat ada satu tendangan yang tidak hanya menjebol gawang Wakabayashi, tapi juga menghancurkan tangannya, dan aku masuk ke dalam tim menggantikan posisinya sebagai kiper.

Decetion Point
Aku paling suka buku Dan Brown yang ini, entah kenapa. Padahal sih, karena aku sudah membaca The Da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress, dan Angels and Demons sebelumnya sehingga aku mulai bisa mengenali pola-pola plot karya Dan Brown, aku sudah dapat menebak pelakunya di pertengahan cerita. Tapi ada satu hal istimewa yang sulit dijelaskan di dalam Deception Point ini. Bagian yang masuk ke dalam mimpiku adalah saat Corky, Mike Tolland, dan Rachel terjebak di antara hiu-hiu kelaparan, yang dapat mencium bau setitik saja darah dari jarak bermeter-meter jauhnya.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Series (Gyakuten Saiban)
Sumpah, game ini KEREN ABIS! Aku belum pernah kecanduan dan tergila-gila main game separah ini! Game ini terdiri dari empat seri, tapi yang tokoh utamanya Phoenix Wright ada tiga seri: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phonix Wright: Justice for All, dan Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. Setiap seri terdiri dari 4-5 kasus yang harus diselesaikan. Yang paling menarik dan luar biasa dari game ini adalah, dari seri pertama sampai ketiga, semuanya berhubungan, membentuk satu cerita yang utuh dan padu. Bener-bener serasa novel dengan alur yang mengejutkan dan ending tak terduga. Di dalam mimpiku, aku menggantikan Wright sebagai defense attorney untuk kasus terakhir, kasus penutup dari ‘novel’ ini, Bridge to the Turnabout. Nanti deh, kapan-kapan aku bikin review yang lebih lengkap tentang game ini.

ONLY THE TRUTH WILL SAVE YOU NOW

 Just finished Digital Fortress, the third Dan Brown book I read.  I read The DaVinci Code and Deception Point.  I haven’t read what would be his most popular book, Angels & Demons, which is actually showing in theaters as I write this blog.

As is Dan Brown’s signature style to have a race against the clock thriller, overall I enjoyed the pace of the book.
Not to give away any spoliers, here are a little more comments I have on the book:

The whiz programmer, (or cryptologist as the book refers this profession), hailing from Japan, his name is Ensei Tankado….
Can that be a real Japanese name or is this a convenient name to move the plot along?  I did a casual check on the name, and I think it’s a highly unlikely name.

Maybe I am getting used to Dan Brown’s writing, but it was easy to figure out the twist early in this book, compared to his other books.

I was perplexed by how these so-called top echeleon code-breakers, could not figure out the meaning behind  NDAKOTA@ARA.ANON.ORG. 

I had a chuckle with the top brains from the powerful NSA making a frantic check using NETSCAPE as the web browser….

Overall I did enjoy the book, the chase around Spain and how  the characters tie-up quite neatly.  I felt sorry for pretty much all the innocent bystander casualties.

Throughout the book, there are certain areas I was reminded of other random stories for some reason, these includes:

• Obviously Star Wars with Jabba as a character.
•  ”Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” or in the  The Watchmen – “Who will watch the watchmen?”
•  Some very loose adaption from WarGames 1980’s flick.
•  And for some reason, a brief Romeo and Juliet moment.

My overall rating (3.5/5)

이번 여름방학때는 클래스도 안 듣구, 일 끝나면 나랑 놀아 줄 사람들도 다운타운에 마땅히 있지도 않구.. 정말 그동안 읽고 싶었던 책 읽기에 딱 좋은 시간이 아닐수가 없다아~~

Deception Point by Dan Brown. 사실 이 책을 읽을 생각은 없었다. 그냥 교수한테 추천서를 받으러 학교에 갔다가 잠시 시간이 남아서 Barnes&Noble에서 좀 둘러보다가 그냥 눈에 딱 띄길래 샀을뿐.. ㅋㅋ

긴긴 주말이라고 노느라고 바빴던(?! ㅋㅋ) 나의 스케줄에도 불구하구, 이틀만에 책을 끝냈다ㅋㅋ  하지만 보고난 후의 나의 소감:  뭔가 아쉽다. 그냥.. 그렇다-_-  비록 내가 책을 빨리 끝내긴 했지만.. 그만큼 중간부분엔 긴장감이 들구, 얼렁 끝이 알고 싶은 마음이 들게끔 잘 쓴 부분도 있지만.. Dan Brown의 다른 책들에 비해서는 너무 모자란 느낌이다.

주제는 맘에 들었어. 과학, 권력, 탐욕, 잘못된 애국심, 돈, 로비 등 정치쪽의 이야기는 항상 흥미롭다. 요즘 한국도 노무현전대통령이 죽고, 북한이 미사일도 쏘고.. 경제가 안좋아서 더욱 관심을 돌리는것들이겠지. 정치란 정말 머리가 복잡하고도 복잡한것같다. 그리고 이 책을 보고서 느낀건 어느 나라를 가나.. 정말 corrupted된 정치인들이 있는건 사실이야- 아 머리아프다@_@ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

아무튼, 다시 책으로 돌아가서.. 내가 실망했던 이유중에 하나가..  반전을 내가 예상했던 반전이라서 그랬던것같다. It was like an expected twist. 다른책들과 너무 스토리가 똑같구.. 그냥 캐릭터와 주위의 상황만 조금 바꾸어 놓은 듯 했다. 특히 천사와 악마..

Dan Brown의 책들 4개중 이제 3개를 읽은건데.. 나의 rating은 이렇다: Angels&Demons>DaVinch Code>Deception Point.  근데 Dan Brown의 책들은 전개가 빠르구, 긴장감은 있긴있어서.. 책을 읽는데 속도는 잘 붙는것같다ㅋㅋ

–자. 이제 나 무슨 책 읽지?  Any recommendation?!

I’m way excited for Angels and Demons to come out this Friday. I read this book about 2 or 3 years ago so I don’t remember the whole thing, but I do remember it being my favorite book written by Dan Brown, and I’ve read all his books. The story is far better than the Davinci Code so I’m sure the movie will be better than the Davinci Code film too.

It’s featuring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon again of course. Something that doesn’t quite meet my approval since he’s way too famous to be in a part like this. When watching the Davinci Code all I saw was Tom Hanks, not Robert Langdon. Oh well, no movie is perfect, right? Well except of course Edward Scissorhands.

Check out the latest trailer if you haven’t yet. This movie should be great!

A new book hits shelves at the end of summer.  From the author of the best seller “DaVinci Code”, “The Lost Symbol”.  Dan Brown has added another novel to the mix.  Soon to release on September 15th.  I just pre-ordered my copy.  Only 5 million on initial print.  The “DaVinci Code” sold 81 million copies making it the most sold adult novel in history.  With the “Angels and Demons” coming to theater soon, I know this will sell out quickly.  Click the image below to reserve your copy at Amazon.