Skip to main content

Lost Symbol: Lost plot? Loss of ideas?


Finally, I got down to read Dan Brown's book 'The Lost Symbol', which I got as a birthday gift (? 2 years ago). Over the years, his books have degenerated from 'off the edge unputdownable' to 'readable' to 'he has lost it'! 'Da Vinci's Code', was a revelation of page after page of facts that satisfied the belly of every conspiracy theorist. In 'Lost Symbols', I did not find it anything new to be excited about. Maybe because it was predominantly American history in the limelight, which I know very little about, and about the symbols found in the American currency notes and landscapes, which are quite alien to me.

We have all heard about the conspiracy of the group of stone workers (The Masons @ The Lodge) who established secret symbols to communicate and hide the truth in their endeavour to rule the world. In this book, our hero, Prof Robert Langdon, is summoned (by deceit) to decipher certain symbols to rescue his mentor (Dr Peter Solomon, a Mason) from a raving madman. CIA comes into the scene as the madman may reveal certain information that may embarrass certain high-profile figures. The maniac is in pursuit of the true secrets of life, which are believed to be hidden and encrypted in symbols guarded by the Masons. The roller coaster adventure takes us all around Washington DC to the underground uncompleted pyramid, killing and miraculous escape of Langdon from an apparent drowning. As in all fiction, heroes never die. Here the author goes one step further. Just when you thought that there was no way Langdon was going to survive hours of immersion in water, the liquid turned out to be oxygenated perfluorocarbon, which makes oxygen exchange in the lungs still possible. Langdon's love interest is Dr Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, who is deep into Noetic Sciences (mind over matter field).

The madman turns out to be Peter's prodigal son, who was ostracized for going wayward into drugs and pleasures of the world. He faked his own death in a Turkish prison to avenge his family for not bailing him out. After realizing that Mason is privy to the secrets of the universe, he dwells on obtaining enlightenment through violence and gore. In the end, after the merry-go-round, he discovers that his sacrificial release of his soul from his body turned out to be his death, not the Truth he was looking for.
At the end of the day, what I understood from this book is that God is in our minds, and the mystery that made life on Earth go on is HOPE!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous31 January 2012 at 10:08

    Hope is our strength as MGR movies has this message and his songs too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. rifle range boy31 January 2012 at 10:19

      his hope was to be the chief minister of tamil naidu, which he was successful. but hope for its people dwindled as it slid down the scale from no 1 in GDP to no.13 during his tenure! RRB

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gory historic details or gore fest?

Razakar:  The Silent Genocide Of Hyderabad  (Telegu, 2024) Director:  Yata Satyanarayana In her last major speech before her disposition, Sheikh Hasina accused those who opposed her rule in Bangladesh of being Razakars. The opposition took offence to this term and soon widespread mob throughout the land. Of course, it is not that that single incident brought down an elected government but a culmination of joblessness and unjust reservations for a select population group. In the Bengali psyche, Razakar is a pejorative term meaning traitor or Judas. It was first used during the 1971 Pakistan Civil War. The paramilitary group who were against the then-East Pakistani leader, Majibur Rehman, were pro-West Pakistan. After establishing independence in Bangladesh, Razakars were disbanded, and many ran off to Pakistan. Around the time of Indian independence, turmoil brewed in the princely state of Hyderabad, which had been a province deputed by the Mughals from 1794. The rule of N...
Post a Comment
Read more

The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human... Gems of Gemini Ganesan L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan, Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari   and Dr Jaya Shreedhar.  ( Abs:  Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan) Seeing six of Ge...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chicken's Invite? (Ajak-ajak ayam)

In the Malay lingo, the phrase 'ajak-ajak ayam' refers to an insincere invitation. Of course, many of us invite for courtesy's sake, but then the invitee may think that the invitation is for real! How does anyone know? Inviters and invitees must be smart enough to take the cue that one party may have gatecrashed with ulterior motives, or the other may not want him to join in the first place! Easily twenty years ago, my family was invited to a toddler's birthday party. As my children were toddlers, too, we were requested to come early so that my kids could run around and play in their big compound. And that the host said she would arrange a series of games for them to enjoy. So there we were in the early evening at a house that resembled very little of one immersed in joy and celebration. Instead, we were greeted by a house devoid of activities and no guests. The host was still out shopping her last-minute list, and her helper was knee-deep in her preparations to ...
2 comments
Read more