The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown

Summary:

New York NY (July 7, 2009) 8:10 EST–Following much speculation about the content of the eagerly awaited new novel from phenomenal bestselling author Dan Brown, Doubleday today released the North American jacket of The Lost Symbol which will be published on September 15th.

For the first time, fans worldwide will discover the setting for the action and key themes from the forthcoming thriller. “Dan’s new novel is largely set in Washington, D.C., though it’s a Washington few will recognize,” said Jason Kaufman, Brown’s longtime editor. “As we would expect, he pulls back the veil– revealing an unseen world of mysticism, secret societies, and hidden locations, with a stunning twist that long predates America.”

Thoughts:

Let me begin by saying that I’ve never read a Dan Brown novel before this. Being a Tom Hanks fan (for the most part), I have seen the movies based on the first two Robert Langdon adventures, but this is the first time I’ve been exposed to the character in print.

I’m glad The Lost Symbol was the first Brown/Langdon book I read; I find the symbolism (symbology?) of Washington, D.C. and the Freemasons much more engaging than that of the Illuminati or the Priory of Scion. This was a quick read for me. It was hard to put the book down once I started reading, and I ended up finishing it in two days.

Even though I haven’t been exposed to the print version of Angels & Demons or The Da Vinci Code, I definitely sense a pattern to the way Brown’s stories unfold. It goes a little something like this:

• A knowledgeable old man is accosted, sparking events with Grave International Implications
• We are introduced to our robed antagonist, performing an ancient, perhaps slightly barbaric, ritual
• Robert Langdon is called/duped into action
• Langdon gets in over his head
• Langdon joins up with a dark-haired female that happens to be an expert in all the areas pertinent to the investigation that he lacks knowledge
• Hidden message decoding and espionage antics ensue
• The robed antagonist is foiled at the last possible moment in an immensely satisfying climax
• Langdon reaches a philosophical conclusion about humanity and all the secrets he just helped uncover

This is not to say Brown’s formula is a bad thing. The resulting stories seem to increase in complexity with each new application. The Lost Symbol feels like the most refined Langdon story so far. The plot kept me engaged and the plot twists took me by surprise, yet still seemed apparent and well foreshadowed in retrospect. The setting, along with all of its history and architecture, is meticulously researched and detailed.

The God Angle of course makes an appearance, but not in such an overt way this time. One of the main themes of the story is the fusion of disparate scientific and religious theories by way of new scientific breakthroughs (they weigh the human soul at one point, one of my favorite parts of the book). This scientific point of view, coupled with one of the most compelling and rational ways of interpreting the Bible I’ve ever heard, incorporates religion into the storyline in a way I found superior to the two previous stories.

If you’ve read the previous Langdon stories, you’re already a Dan Brown fan and you probably own a copy of this book. If you’re like me, though, read The Lost Symbol and you’ll finally see why Brown’s stories always seem to cause months of lively conversation and History Channel specials.

The Death of Bunny Munro – Nick Cave

Summary:

Twenty years after the publication of his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel, Nick Cave brings us the final days of Bunny Munro, a salesman in search of a soul. Set adrift by his wife’s suicide and struggling to keep some sort of grasp on reality, Bunny Munro drives off in his yellow Fiat Punto, Bunny Jr. in tow. To his son, waiting patiently in the car while he peddles beauty wares and quickies to lonely housewives in the south of England, Bunny is a hero, larger than life. But Bunny himself seems to have only a dim awareness of his son’s existence, viewing his needs as a distraction from the relentless pursuit of sex, alcohol, and drugs. When his bizarre road trip shades into a final reckoning, Bunny realizes that the revenants of his world—decrepit fathers, vengeful ghosts, jealous husbands, and horned psycho-killers—lurk in the shadows, waiting to exact their toll. At turns dark and humane—and with all the mystery and enigma fans will recognize as Cave’s singular vision—The Death of Bunny Munro questions the nature of sin and redemption, and lays bare the imprints that fathers leave on their sons.

Thoughts:

“Oh, Bunny … you fucking liar …” His wife’s last words to him, and a perfect summary of this book.

Nick Cave has written a truly twisted tale that manages to make the reader squirm and cringe, maybe even get a little sick to the stomach, yet unable to put the book down throughout.

Bunny Munro is a singular-minded, deeply flawed character, and this is made quite clear to the reader from the start. I kept expecting the book to turn into a story of redemption long before it actually did simply because of how fast Bunny and his son began falling. As I read I repeatedly found myself thinking it couldn’t possibly get any worse. But, oh no, it does. The redemption portion is reserved only for the last few pages.

The manner in which Bunny and his son’s situation keeps speeding downhill is very well-paced. Events and insight are placed at just the right moments, further revealing aspects of the characters and story. As the book progresses, so does the reader’s understanding of just how disturbed the title character is. The depths of his depravity continue to reveal themselves right up to the belated climax.

A few aspects of the writing style did annoy me though. The author overuses the phrase “or something,” placing it at the end of every thought his characters have that could be construed as even remotely insightful or certain. Along with that, we have an overuse of the word “and,” used to join separate actions or thoughts, often unrelated, into big, awkward, paragraph-length sentences. These quirks were most likely meant to emphasize the lost and disorganized feeling of the characters and their state of mind, but the story does a fine job of that on it’s own. Being beaten over the head with syntax and grammar to boot just felt unnecessary.

The writing may have came off as a bit mechanical and simplistic at times, but it did little to detract from the story and its moral. Overall, The Death of Bunny Munro is quick and easy, and seriously fucked-up. If nothing else, one thing’s for sure: after reading it, you won’t be able to look at Kylie Minogue, Avril Lavigne, or Big Macs the same way ever again.