I'm still waiting for my library to get copies in but The Lost Symbol was published today. Anyone pick up a copy yet?
The Lost Symbol (Spoilers) Discussion
- Thread starter Admiral_Young
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I picked it up from Asda yesterday for a whole £5 (which according to The Bookseller means they're losing £4 on every copy sold...) It's only the second Brown I've read in full, the first being Digital Fortress, which I thought was absolutely abysmal.
This was better (it would have been hard for it to be worse), and I have to admit it was a page-turner - I finished it in two hours and 40 minutes. I thought the Ultimate Secret was a bit "meh", and the Terrible Threat To The Free World was a joke, but the latter was probably because A: I have a generally low opinion of politicians of any stripe, and B: I'm not an American and therefore didn't care. (Note to non-US editors: it's worth changing occurrences of "our nation" in expository description to "the United States". It gets annoying after a while.)
Anyway, who wants to know the Ultimate Secret(s)?
There's also a genuinely funny joke involving a blind priest, and a Twitter reference that will be as dated as "I'm Rick James, bitch!" by the time the paperback comes out.
This was better (it would have been hard for it to be worse), and I have to admit it was a page-turner - I finished it in two hours and 40 minutes. I thought the Ultimate Secret was a bit "meh", and the Terrible Threat To The Free World was a joke, but the latter was probably because A: I have a generally low opinion of politicians of any stripe, and B: I'm not an American and therefore didn't care. (Note to non-US editors: it's worth changing occurrences of "our nation" in expository description to "the United States". It gets annoying after a while.)
Anyway, who wants to know the Ultimate Secret(s)?
All organised religions have conspired to conceal the TRUTH - that we are all part of God and can influence the universe with our minds just by thinking really hard! The eschaton is coming, soon-ish, probably! Freemasons really do run the world, but that's okay because they're all awesome and would never do anything to gain power for their own selfish benefit as they're such wonderful people!
Also, the 'lost symbol' is really the 'lost word', as in the Word of the Bible (or Torah, or Koran, or Upanishads, or whatever, since they're all of equal value) which has been forgotten because people take them literally rather than carefully analysing them for secret reality-warping meanings. So now you know.
Also, the 'lost symbol' is really the 'lost word', as in the Word of the Bible (or Torah, or Koran, or Upanishads, or whatever, since they're all of equal value) which has been forgotten because people take them literally rather than carefully analysing them for secret reality-warping meanings. So now you know.
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I abandoned Digital Fortress about a third of the way in. Abysmal is a good description, I think.
Just got it on audio CD myself and have been working through it. As an FYI, the "Masonic Ritual" in chapter 1 is a mish-mash of all three degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, Master Mason) with some Templar stuff sprinkled in for good measure and some completely non-Masonic flourish. I literally had a hard time trying to figure out which "initiation" the book was referring to, as he seemed to be jumping between "initiate" (the first degree) and "master" (the third degree) and >poof< all of a sudden he's a 33rd Degree! Made absolutely no sense whatsoever. That does NOT happen unless either one of two things occur:
1) You work your ass off in the Scottish Rite (the appendant body that actually has a 33rd Degree) for a MINIMUM of 10 years (5 years to get the KCCH - red hat, 5 additional years to get the 33' - white hat). That's in the Southern Jurisdiction. I have no idea what the Northern Jurisdiction does. IIRC, I think they're on a points system, but it can differ from valley to valley. Anyways, this includes recruitment from the blue lodges, taking part in the degree casts or stage crews, being officers in the four concordant bodies within the Scottish Rite (Lodge of Perfection, Chapter of Rose Croix, Council of Kadosh and Consistory), etc.
2) You contribute millions - and I mean MILLIONS of dollars to Masonic - particularly Scottish Rite - philanthropies.
But, then again, the average person on the street doesn't know any of this, so I guess it makes for "good" storytelling. Just kinda pissed me off, really. Hoping for better as the book progresses.
1) You work your ass off in the Scottish Rite (the appendant body that actually has a 33rd Degree) for a MINIMUM of 10 years (5 years to get the KCCH - red hat, 5 additional years to get the 33' - white hat). That's in the Southern Jurisdiction. I have no idea what the Northern Jurisdiction does. IIRC, I think they're on a points system, but it can differ from valley to valley. Anyways, this includes recruitment from the blue lodges, taking part in the degree casts or stage crews, being officers in the four concordant bodies within the Scottish Rite (Lodge of Perfection, Chapter of Rose Croix, Council of Kadosh and Consistory), etc.
2) You contribute millions - and I mean MILLIONS of dollars to Masonic - particularly Scottish Rite - philanthropies.
But, then again, the average person on the street doesn't know any of this, so I guess it makes for "good" storytelling. Just kinda pissed me off, really. Hoping for better as the book progresses.
In fairness, it's later revealed that Mal'akh did exactly this. But then, revealing vital information to the reader long after the fact seems to be Brown's thing.
Like explaining that Langdon didn't drown in the coffin because Mal'akh filled it with the same oxygenated fluid as seen in The Abyss for, er, some reason.
Yep. Just got to that part last night. Right on...
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
I picked it up here in Taiwan yesterday...on page 120 now.
I like the hidden mysteries stuff and all that as a story. Good pageturner, as Brown is like Jeffrey Archer and leaves you wondering what the last sentence of the paragraph was hinting at.
I just can't stand the people that act like Brown's books have lead to a decline in culture or something. It's a cheap way to try and make yourself look intelligent. Like people that mention they don't have a TV at the drop of a hat.
Just see his books as mass-market thrillers like many other authors we see at the bookstore.
I like the hidden mysteries stuff and all that as a story. Good pageturner, as Brown is like Jeffrey Archer and leaves you wondering what the last sentence of the paragraph was hinting at.
I just can't stand the people that act like Brown's books have lead to a decline in culture or something. It's a cheap way to try and make yourself look intelligent. Like people that mention they don't have a TV at the drop of a hat.
Just see his books as mass-market thrillers like many other authors we see at the bookstore.
[snip]
Are you SHITTIN' me? I wondered whose religion Dan Brown would attack this time. I never thought it would be ALL of them!
I hope he throws the book INTO the sea when he's done.
Oh, no. That would pollute the ocean!
I hope he throws the book INTO the sea when he's done.
Oh, no. That would pollute the ocean!
Good point...
Do you have any pets? Their litterboxes may need lining...
Nardpuncher
Rear Admiral
Well, I finished it.
I kept thinking about how they'll turn it into a movie.
Nobody else read it or just not admitting to it?
I kept thinking about how they'll turn it into a movie.
Nobody else read it or just not admitting to it?
Well I failed and it turned out I'd been waiting all this time for the audio book so I'll have to take a listen.
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