In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.
Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.
After
reading The Lost Symbol, I wasn't really expecting this to be good so I
didn't immediately read it after I got my copy. Honestly, if it weren't
for the reaction from some of our authorities here (seriously, let's
not be Taiwan)about something written about Manila, it would have
remained unread. In fact when I kept waiting for the part where Manila
is mentioned and it was just a couple of sentences although to be fair,
it sounded really bad, this is fiction so.. anyway.
As usual the incorporation of art and history was the book's best selling point. Here he introduces modern day medical breakthroughs while Dante and the Divine Comedy. The recreation of Dante's Inferno through a modern medical innovation helped bridge the two subjects nicely but I wished there was more of that. Among the three other books in the series this has the least history babble. Personally it made The lost symbol sound ore interesting because of the intricacy of the details and the mysteries and clues he had to check to get to the end.
This really felt like a different Robert Langdon though and I kept trying to figure out why. I thought it was because of the condition he was in (view spoiler) but later on I think it was because he sounded calmer and more in control in this one. It totally took away the thrill of the running and hiding. He was too composed for my liking.
I think the ultimate reveal was should have been a bigger deal than that. Don't get me wrong, it was a scary revelation but compared to the pictures he gave us while Langdon was trying to find the virus (death everywhere), it seemed tame. I was thinking of a black death 2.0 happening but nobody died and when they found out what the virus does, which would affect the world population forever... the book ends. Do you see how disappointing that is? The entire book was gearing up for the final reveal and when its finally out there nothing happens! Its like being dragged back to the time when I finished the lost symbol where I thought THAT WAS IT?
But putting that aside, I think Dan Brown deserves credit for addressing very current and important issues like overpopulation and implications of medical discoveries and genetic engineering. Biological warfare is a threat we do not want to ever have to deal with. And he always has a message or a challenge he throws out there in every book. In this one it encourages us to stop being in denial just because facing the truth scares us.
If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis... In dangerous times, there is no sin greater than inaction
As usual the incorporation of art and history was the book's best selling point. Here he introduces modern day medical breakthroughs while Dante and the Divine Comedy. The recreation of Dante's Inferno through a modern medical innovation helped bridge the two subjects nicely but I wished there was more of that. Among the three other books in the series this has the least history babble. Personally it made The lost symbol sound ore interesting because of the intricacy of the details and the mysteries and clues he had to check to get to the end.
This really felt like a different Robert Langdon though and I kept trying to figure out why. I thought it was because of the condition he was in (view spoiler) but later on I think it was because he sounded calmer and more in control in this one. It totally took away the thrill of the running and hiding. He was too composed for my liking.
I think the ultimate reveal was should have been a bigger deal than that. Don't get me wrong, it was a scary revelation but compared to the pictures he gave us while Langdon was trying to find the virus (death everywhere), it seemed tame. I was thinking of a black death 2.0 happening but nobody died and when they found out what the virus does, which would affect the world population forever... the book ends. Do you see how disappointing that is? The entire book was gearing up for the final reveal and when its finally out there nothing happens! Its like being dragged back to the time when I finished the lost symbol where I thought THAT WAS IT?
But putting that aside, I think Dan Brown deserves credit for addressing very current and important issues like overpopulation and implications of medical discoveries and genetic engineering. Biological warfare is a threat we do not want to ever have to deal with. And he always has a message or a challenge he throws out there in every book. In this one it encourages us to stop being in denial just because facing the truth scares us.
If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis... In dangerous times, there is no sin greater than inaction
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