MobileRead (annex) Discussion: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (spoliers)

[maggie*]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

I think people are referring to the most common usage of the word "literature": writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.

Dan Brown's novels do not meet this definition of literature. They do meet the definition of "Fiction", hence their placement in "Literature & Fiction". Even the label "Literature & Fiction" implies that there is a difference between literature and mere fiction.

It's nothing to get your hackles up about. You can defend Dan Brown's literary prowess all you like, but no one's going to agree with you.

Thank you superlucky, you caught my meaning exactly. Both kind of books have it's place on my PRS, that doesn´t mean they are the same.

No need to get all worked up over a light discussion...

m*

[maggie*]

Originally Posted by amjbrown

(iii) Having read the book, the funniest thing I have read in the last three weeks is the UK Spectator magazines reveiw of it. For those of you that don't get it, here's a link...http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/535...ormation.thtml but comments like and gives you an idea where it's going (make sure you read all four pages!).

amjb

Thanks for the recomendation of the Spectator critic, it's hilarious...

I wish I was able to summarize things like that...

"But Brown’s attention is elsewhere, largely on writing paragraphs which the DC tourist board can reproduce unamended, and perhaps already has. (...) I wonder how much of the prose he has read in recent years has been written by estate agents. He certainly seems very keen on square-footage. ‘The Capitol’s massive footprint measures more than 750 feet in length and 350 feet deep.’ Two pages later, ‘The museum is a massive, zigzag-shaped edifice constructed of five interconnected pods … a six-hundred-thousand square feet alien world.’ Another couple of pages later, ‘The Capitol Visitor Center … reportedly provided over a half-million square feet of space for exhibits, restaurants, and meeting halls.’ By page 85, he is still at it: ‘The Apotheosis of Washington — a 4,664-square-foot fresco that covers the canopy of the Capitol Rotunda — was completed in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi.’ "

[mores]

Originally Posted by mwheinz

You need to bone up on your gnostic heresies.

Say what? English, dude, we speak english here.
*opens second browser window with wikipedia*
*finds out what the individual words mean yet fails to figure out the combination*

Originally Posted by mwheinz

In modern literature we talk about the "sub text" - the idea of hidden layers of meaning is a common one, and an old one. Thus, on the surface the story of Noah is straightforward. To a kabbalist (a jewish mystic) it raises questions: why was the ark exactly those measurements? Why a dove? Why a raven? What kind of twig did the bird throw down? What is the hidden meaning behind these symbols?

Ah, got it!

Originally Posted by mwheinz

I haven't looked at my Masonic bible in years. I'll have to dig it out and check it for secrets.

[mwheinz]

Ah, got it!

We tend to think that conspiracy theories are a modern thing - 9/11 truthers, Obama birthers, the JFK assassination and so on. The truth is that people seem to have a deep seated need to believe that there is a secret truth that will make their lives make sense - and that someone is hiding it.

[kalitara]

I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to. I'll wait until the price comes down.

After I read and loved The DaVinci Code, I read Angels & Demons. Same exact plot. Rather disappointing.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by mwheinz

You need to bone up on your gnostic heresies.

We have Archbishop Wake's collection of forbidden Gospels in our upload section. These are books that failed to make it into the final edit for the New Testament canon.
LRF:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18064
PRC:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18065
IMP:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18066

And if you wish to look at other Gnostic texts, may I recommend The Gnostic Society Library site:
http://www.gnosis.org/library.html
This has translations of the Nag Hammadi texts, the Dead Sea scrolls and other material.

[MickeyC]

I live near DC and it was a treat, after reading the chapter where the hand is found pointing to the top of the Rotunda, to drive into the city and take the tour of the Capitol. Also, I drive by King Street metro all the time.

But I thought the book was based on an oddly weak premise; that American security was in threatened by the release of video tapes that show Masons acting like, well Masons. If Clinton was able to engage in oral sex in the Oval Office and nothing disastrous happened; drinking wine from a skull seems pretty tame.

[Superlucky]

Originally Posted by cassidym

But I thought the book was based on an oddly weak premise; that American security was in threatened by the release of video tapes that show Masons acting like, well Masons.

Masons are not exactly great at keeping their rituals a secret. I'm pretty sure there's a YouTube video. Everyone knows about the weird practices of the Yale Skull and Bones society and (almost) nobody cares. Creepy rituals just aren't that scary in this day and age.

This is the main reason the book was so horrible. The supposed secrets have been out in the open forever, and there was absolutely nothing to be gained by knowing them.

[mores]

The Video was, I think, just the reason why the CIA got involved.

[mwheinz]

Masons are not exactly great at keeping their rituals a secret. I'm pretty sure there's a YouTube video.

Indeed. In the US, each the masons in each state are independent and some of them actually sell videos of their rituals. (Not mine, though - we're old school.)

Personally, I wish our rituals were a little more like the ones I saw in a British documentary - they looked seriously cool.

The supposed secrets have been out in the open forever, and there was absolutely nothing to be gained by knowing them.

Good point. I just googled the secret passphrase of a master mason and it took me to the Free Dictionary's page on Freemasonry.

Which is sad, really.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

How about running around town with a recently severed hand. I'm thinking the act of chopping off a hand sans anesthetic and then cauterizing the wound would result in shock (especially combined with the other trauma). If it wasn't cauterized, then he would have bled to death.

I FINALLY finished this wretched book,. It has taken me weeks... I had to force myself because I really was not enjoying it.

I was thinking the exact same thing about the severed hand, the repeated drownings in the deprivation tank, near total exsanguination, along with the revelation of who the bad guy really was and all the deaths of innocents. Why was everyone so skippy, talky and touristy at the end.

I thought Angels & Demons was a good story, The DaVinci Code a fun and fascinating romp but this one was just tedious.

[David Munch]

It was okay. TDVC was better IMO, and I probably won't be reading it again for the next 10 years.

[Rootman]

I kept waiting for a post script at the very end. Something like Langdon really brushing off all that he was told at the Washington monument and closing the door and

"little did he notice the faint etching beneath the spiral staircase that matched the (pick one - capstone, pyramid, ring). Little did he know how close he really stood to revealing the real secret treasure that laid hundreds of feet beneath the staircases last step, accessible only by (pressing / holding / turning the capstone / pyramid / ring) and removing the cover of the release mechanism that opened the access hatch to the real treasure. The Masonic treasure was still safe, that is until next time."

Good read, slow in the end, could of left off a few of the last chapters. Didn't see the antagonist's identity coming till it happened. Worth the $8 I paid but would not read it again.

[Raduz]

Lost Symbol...read it, hated it with passion at the end. It was absolutely worst read of 2009 for me. And I rather liked The Da Vinci Code.

[patomonk]

Originally Posted by Rodry

To those saying that "The Lost Symbol" is NOT literature: Would you tell us what is it, if not literature? Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all booksellers have placed this book under "Literature & Fiction". Are they wrong? Please write to them indicating the correct classification. Their staff don't include people as qualified as you. Help them, please.

Literature and fiction. Two categories: this is fiction, not literature.