The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Well - I guess this is the first time I'm writing about a well-known book.  Interesting.  Dan Brown: people certainly have opinions about him!  I picked up The DaVinci Code when it first came out and before it was all over the news and I loved it.  I then read Angels and Demons and enjoyed that too.  And now, finally, I've read the newest one.

I have to say - his style is certainly a page-turner!  Short chapters that end on a mini cliffhanger make you want to keep reading.  "Just one more," I said to myself on several occasions.  The suspense kept me going, and I liked it!  Part of what I like about his novels is the blending of fact and fiction.  And it's the facts that, for me, make it the most interesting - well, the facts and what he does with them.  Reading about the symbolism, the Freemasons, the architecture in Washington DC, the things that are there that we don't even realize, or whose significance is lost on us...It's really interesting, and that's the part that I liked best.  The actual plot was okay...There was a twist at the end involving the bad guy that I did NOT see coming at all, and I thought that that was very well done.  The involvement of the CIA - that part didn't stand up as much for me.  But it was necessary.

I also liked the inclusion of Noetics...I've heard about this before, and it fascinates me.  I like how he blended/paired it with ancient and religious teachings.  I don't know if that part is fact or fiction, but it makes for interesting thinking.

So my quote - there was definitely one paragraph that stood out.  And here it is.

From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to American politics - the name Jesus had been hijacked as an ally in all kinds of power struggles.  Since the beginning of time, the ignorant had always screamed the loudest, herding the unsuspecting masses and forcing them to do their bidding.  They defended their worldly desires by citing Scripture they did not understand.  They celebrated their intolerance as proof of their own convictions.  Now, after all these years, mankind had finally managed to utterly erode everything that had once been so beautiful about Jesus.


Wow.  Wow.  I'm sure there are a lot of conservative Christians who would flip out about that paragraph...but I think it's very powerful, and very true.  Not that I was around 2,000 years ago to have known Jesus, but still.

An interesting read.  A fun read.  A thought-provoking read, if you want it to be.  I recommend it.