Posts Tagged: Dan Brown

Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

Fail: Search Engine Automation As Exciting Plot Hook

dan_brown_lost_symbolSome more random thoughts as I plow further into the novel:

A complete failure at making a search engine spider compelling. Trish, the search engine expert seems totally surprised upon learning that it works. As if she has never run a search before. Brown makes a serious mistake, grafting the reaction of the audience, who might be surprised, onto the character, who would be expecting it to work. He inner monologue is completely unbelievable.

Katherine Solomon is beyond stupid for believing that text message.

Another one of Dan Brown’s patented puzzles turns out to be ridiculously easy. I turned over the symbol and realized it was SBB 13 as soon as I saw it. It is clearly upside down roman numerals. Why wouldn’t world renowned symbologist Robert Landon have figured this out IMMEDIATELY?

Noticed my first instance of misogyny in chapter 27. More to come I’m sure.

Pages read: 118
Pages To Go: 391
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

M. Night Shyamalan And Dan Brown Share The Same Problem

dan_brown_lost_symbolLangdon realizes on page 104 that having been asked to bring the package was an important clue. Of course, in reality, he would have made the connection about 30 pages earlier, but we would not want to reveal too much too soon. A very clunky way of creating suspense.

I am reminded of Shymalan. He did such a brilliant job with The Sixth Sense. And with each subsequent effort, the story seemed a little more forced, the surprise ending more and more contrived. I feel the same way now. At least, with The Da Vinci Code, the historical information, and the symbols found in the various religious and artistic relics, it all made for a compelling framework. I learned a lot of interesting trivia. But how many times can you try and work the same angle?

Apparently, at least 3 times.

Pages read: 104
Pages To Go: 405
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

The Apotheosis Of Dan Brown

dan_brown_lost_symbolPerformed my second google search, for the Apotheosis of Washington, a painting on the ceiling of the Capitol, America’s version of the Sistene Chapel. Interesting stuff. Apotheosis is the transformation of a person into a God, and the ceiling of the U.S. Capitol depicts Washington ascending into heaven as a deity. Interesting implications both for the separation of church and state and our own Christian heritage.

The ongoing conversation between Ito and Langdon continues to grate. Moments after saying she has no time to waste, she allows Langdon to waste her time with a history lesson. We still have no idea why she is there or what is so important about her search for the perpetrator, so important that she has no interest in the severed hand discovered in the Capitol building or conducting a search for the man who left it there. How ironic that is the very man she is searching after.

Pages read: 84
Pages To Go: 425
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

Director Ito, Why Don’t You Believe Him?

dan_brown_lost_symbol80 pages in, and the story is already beginning to unravel. Director Ito’s character makes no sense. She rushes to the scene of the crime, looking for Robert Langdon, but does not actually know about the crime. And no one thinks this is strange. No one asks for an explanation for why she is there, or why she seems completely uninterested in solving the crime. She mentions, for unknown reasons, that she is intent on helping the confessed perpetrator of the crime to find the portal. She challenges Langdon every step of the way.

Her character is functioning as an obstacle for Langdon to overcome, an obstacle formed by the very institution that is supposed to be helping. She is no different from a skeptical police chief or a by the book investigator who keeps impeding the protagonist. As an added bonus, the questioning of Langdon serves as a way to convey more information to the reader.

It is all so transparently inane. Is it so hard to come up with thoughtful characters and compelling story arcs? If Dan Brown were a masseuse, he would have ball-peen hammers for hands.

Pages read: 81
Pages To Go: 428
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

Security Chief Trent Anderson

dan_brown_lost_symbolFirst there was Sherlock Holmes. Then Doc Savage. There was Batman. The Professor. MacGuyver. Pop culture’s list of great problem-solving geniuses is a short and illustrious one.

Introducing the fraternity’s newest member: Security Chief Trent Anderson

A severed hand has been found in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. Dried blood can be seen at the base. It has small, symbolic tattoos at the end of each finger. Let’s watch our great detective at work:

Anderson crouched down to examine the hand. It looked as if it had belonged to a man of about sixty.

Brilliant!

Security Chief Trent Anderson is officially my favorite Dan Brown character of all time.

Pages read: 66
Pages To Go: 443
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

I Love It. It Is Much Better Than Cats. I Want To Read It Again And Again.

dan_brown_lost_symbolI looked up noetics. It is a branch of metaphysical philosophy concerned with the study of mind and intuition, and its relationship with the divine intellect. I am not sure yet whether the Institute of Noetics Science is just a front for promoting The Lost Symbol or not. The sparse Wikipedia page does not inspire much confidence.

Of course, the Solomons have been sitting on remarkable scientific evidence that will change the world, waiting for the right moment to reveal the information that will change the course of humanity. I can’t wait to read more.*

Pages read: 61
Pages To Go: 448

*By the way Marge, I was being sarcastic.

Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

Who Needs Wit And Intrigue?

dan_brown_lost_symbolTook a little lunch break, but I’m back at it. I cooked enough food yesterday to get me through the day. Hopefully this experiment won’t last longer.

Some quick thoughts:

  • Dan Brown Characters always have a strong rapport with security guards
  • First intriguing tidbit I need to look up on Wikipedia: The science of noetics. What’s it about?
  • Chapter 8, when Langdon gets the phone call from the tattooed fanatic, reminds me of the opening scene from Scream, without any of the intrigue or witty banter.
  • Stupid literary device: Langdon sees the severed hand, but at first believes it’s a mannequin hand. We are treated to an explanation of a handequin as the realization slowly dawns on him that it’s Peter Solomon’s severed hand.
  • Prediction number one turns out to be correct.

The action is already starting to heat up. So far, I’ve read 10 chapters, plus the prologue. That’s less than 4 pages per chapter. Dan Brown likes to keep things moving.

Pages read: 41
Pages To Go: 468
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

The Demosthenes Sock Puppet

dan_brown_lost_symbolTo me, the most salient feature of a Dan Brown novel is the manner in which he ineptly inserts flashbacks in order to provide the reader with necessary background information. I suppose that Brown thinks he is livening up the information by presenting it within the framework of a former lecture. These flashbacks invariably entail unlikely enthusiasm on the part of his audience, including unbridled ejaculations of surprise.

The best example comes in The Da Vinci Code, when Professor Langdon is giving a lecture on the feminine properties of the Mona Lisa to prison inmates. That’s right! And during the lecture, the convicts enthusiastically react to his revelations, as if his visit is the best thing to happen to them since their incarceration.

Chapter 6 provides the first example in The Lost Symbol. During his first lecture of the year in his Occult Symbols course, as he introduces the hidden iconography of Washington D.C., students yell out “Awesome,” they hang on his every word, laugh at his every joke, and even recognize Masonic rituals when presented with slides.

These flashback lectures–I am sure there will be more of them in the chapters ahead–are so inauthentic as to border on the absurd. Robert Langdon has the charisma of a dirty sock puppet, yet in every situation, he is welcomed like a modern day Demosthenes.

Every one of these flashbacks is so awkward as to induce nausea. But I soldier on.

Pages read: 32
Pages To Go: 477
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

Maybe If This Book Were Set In The 80′s

dan_brown_lost_symbolUnbelievable Event Number One: The Redskins in the playoffs. Very wishful thinking. And playing in late January? Impossible.

Which brings up an interesting point. Why, when the NCAA is forcing every member institution to shed any name or mascot that might prove insensitive to Native American heritage, does no one make a fuss about the Redskins. Can you think of a more insulting name for a sports team? No wonder the team is cursed. Karma. Change your name!

Pages read: 20
Pages To Go: 489
Writing — No Comments
19
Dec 09

You Have No Idea How Long

dan_brown_lost_symbolThe formula is taking shape already: A mysterious ritual at an historical landmark? Check. A freakish, obsessive cult follower willing to murder anyone who gets in his way? Check. Awkward flirting between Robert Langdon and beautiful academic? Check.

We even have an obvious example of ominous foreshadowing: “A little extra caffeine this morning, he thought. It’s going to be a long day.”

It’s comforting to not have to think while reading literature.

BTW, it turns out that Peter Solomon was born into one of the richest, most powerful families in America. A fictional Rockefeller. He is now the head of the Smithsonian Institute. Of course.

Pages read: 17
Pages To Go: 492
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