"The Lost Symbol"

by Dan Brown

One of the things that Dan Brown does well, this I even remember from ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ is that he knows how to end a book chapter with the reader wanting to read more.

In ‘The Lost Symbol,’ I think he took to heart some of the criticisms that he was anti-religion and wrote part of this book in response as if to say between the lines, “No I’m not!”

As everyone and their mother, brother, and dog are aware, ‘The Lost Symbol’ centers around the Freemasons and all of their degrees of masonry, particularly the 33rd level…and no, it isn’t a coincidence that Jesus was reportedly 33 when he was crucified. For someone like me who has very little interest in the Freemasons the book was quite ‘educational’. I was aware that many of the founding fathers of the United States of America were Freemasons and had incorporated their symbols into various things like American money and buildings in Washington D.C. If anything, one walks away from this novel with a greater appreciation for both American history and Washington as a tourist destination.

I liked the book. I thought it accomplished everything that it promised and lived up to the undertaking that Dan Brown’s name now inspires in literature. In fact, though I do not enjoy admitting this, there were some twists that I didn’t see coming. In one particular case, I felt I had been the audience witnessing a magician’s sleight of hand; while distracting me he was able to pull a coin out of my ear. Normally I’m not so readily fooled so all I can offer was that Brown’s twist was well-played.

Since Brown writes about symbols it is important that when he uses them in his storytelling they are easy for the reader to imagine. Throughout the book there are illustrations of certain symbols and even magic squares that allow a reader to keep on track; further Brown does a decent job in explaining things like a severed appendage kicking/crawling/pointing/spurting in/at/from a particular direction. I’m sorry for all the subterfuge, but I’m trying to describe what I enjoyed about the book without giving essential plot twists away.

Where I think Brown is very weak is in his portrayal of women characters. Sometimes I feel as if he went to the Home Depot and purchased a generic brand of female archetypes (well, all archetypes in a way, but he gives his male archetypes a little more personality). I’m sure I’m giving nothing away when I report one of the major characters is a female scientist who apparently is married to her job and romantically unattached. You see, once Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks in Ron Howard directed movies, cut his hair for ‘Angels & Demons’ after the hair-o-atrocity that was his ‘The Da Vinci Code’ do, he has been turning the heads’ of the ladies. Granted, he didn’t go very far with Jesus’ granddaughter, but I’m not going to reveal if he gets on better with the sister of a 33rd Level Freemason.

Besides the possible love interest there was also a character that reminded me of fashion/superhero suit designer, Edna Mode from the movie ‘The Incredibles’ – who in return reminded me of Linda Hunt. This woman has some health issues and because of that the biggest crack in the suspension of disbelief for me was a scene that required her to hoof it down to the Congressional basement; she seemed okay with all the dust and mold along with the physical exertion.
Overall, I would recommend ‘The Last Symbol’ even if it does have flaws because it works where it is supposed to work, and by its standing on bestseller lists I believe it has sparked conversation and interest. I don’t think it will have the impact that ‘The Da Vinci Code’ had, but as a film fan I hope that in the next year or two there will be a Ron Howard and Tom Hanks movie. Probably the best compliment I can give it is that it did have me thinking about things in some ways that didn’t before, and for that alone I thank Dan Brown.

Review by Lisa Westerfield