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October 22, 2009

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Lost Symbol’ flawed, but fun

By Jill Keppeler

Who knew symbologists led such interesting lives?

After two prior adventures that saw symbologist Robert Langdon investigate trouble in Rome, Paris and London, Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” trots out the character that saw such abuse in “Angels and Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code” for yet another wild ride.

Without giving away too many details, Langdon is unexpectedly summoned this time by an old mentor (a prominent member of a Kennedyesque family and one of the leading Masons in the United States) to give a speech at the Capitol Building. Except that’s not really what’s going on.

Because, of course, there’s a bad guy. And secrets that should and shouldn’t be revealed. And much esoteric knowledge. And severed limbs.

The book, Brown’s first since the wild success of “The DaVinci Code” in 2003, was going to be a blockbuster no matter what (it topped 2 million copies for its first week of release in the United States, Britain and Canada).

That said, the book has its flaws. Any reader paying more than a little attention can see the “big surprise” coming more than a mile away (I figured it out about a quarter of the way into the book), and it has more than its share of “yeah, right” moments.

OK — far more than its share.

Somehow, though, it manages to grab the reader (this reader, anyway) and drag them through the rest of the book whether they want to or not.

And then what happened? And then? How are they going to get out of this one? What’s that puzzle mean? What’s the bad guy planning? Whose side is that person really on?

Is Robert Langdon really dead? (Hint: Brown’s no dummy.)

Brown also is willing to poke fun at his prior books and the furor they engendered — “You do enjoy putting the fox in the henhouse!” one fan gleefully exclaims as she recognizes Langdon, remarking that her book club read his last volume — and those occasional asides help a tendency toward a somewhat heavy, portentous atmosphere (an ill-timed Redskins game also plays an unexpected role in enabling the bad guy’s doings).

However, the prior books were at least partially successes due to that hot-button nature. This one purports to reveal secrets of the Masons — which it might — but those, for the most part, aren’t quite as hot-button as, say, claiming that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child. Any resulting Masonic or anti-Masonic furor has been far quieter than that for prior books, so those looking solely for controversy may be disappointed.

Brown does have a gift for imagery, and it seems like some moments just beg for the movie treatment — this book is the first one he wrote since his prior books hit the big screen. And that leads to what might be one of the book’s strongest suits.

“Angels and Demons” and “The DaVinci Code” were both set in Europe. “The Lost Symbol,” however, is in some ways a love letter to the United States — and Washington, D.C., in particular

If you can read this book and not feel a yen to go take another (or a first) look at the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Capitol Building or the Washington Monument, it’s a surprise. Brown also makes the book a testament to the willpower and dreams of the founders of the United States, that they created a country with so much promise toward equality and hope.

After all this — and the roller coaster ride that is the plot — the ending rather sputters to a halt. Kind of, “Huh. That’s it?” After all that furor, that’s what everyone was looking for? Seriously?

After everything, the book ends on a quiet note, and one readers may not be expecting. But maybe, after all, that’s the point.



IF YOU READ

• WHAT: “The Lost Symbol”

• BY: Dan Brown

• DETAILS: Published by Doubleday, 509 pages

• GRADE: B+

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