Darth's Dark Dwellings

Book 3: An object of Beauty - Steve Martin

2011-04-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to read this book after seeing Steve Martin on The Colbert Nation. And maybe because I was curious about what sort of an author the actor/ comedian would make.

Well I know now- he is a pretty competent author. Maybe a bit more than just competent. I got the book home and finished in one sitting. It was a nice page turner and kept my interest throughout. Throughout the book are reproductions of works by great artist and an explanation of their claim to fame and a look into what makes them stand apart. What is interesting is the way this lesson is interwoven into the story of a go-getter Leacy Yeager.

An interesting book and a good read.

Book 2: All the Trouble in the World: P.J. O'Rourke

2011-04-07T20:35:00.001-07:00

I started to read the book after I had finished another of O’Rourke’s books for two main reasons – a. he is funny, and b. I don’t agree with him a whole lot and I wanted to hear the other side.

The book is all about the problems that he sees with the world. However, I think a rider is necessary – it is all the problems that the liberals dwell upon. No mention is made of the compulsive conservative obsession of the erosion of Christian state or the liberal agenda of empowering willful women bent on abortion. Though I think this might be because this book was written just before 2000, and I am not aware of the intensity of the feelings about the above two at that time. So I am going to cut him some slack, especially since I believe that even when I don’t agree – he seems to have a modicum of sense underlying his arguments.

So the problems that he says we worry unnecessarily about are overpopulation, famine, the environment, the environment and the environment (all categorized under a slight semantic variation), multiculturalism, plague and economic justice.

The one view I categorically disagreed with were his opinions on overpopulation. He slickly equates it to a kind of racism of the well off westerner not wanting more of the poor people on his piece of earth, or on any piece of earth. Fascinating as this view point is, I can’t help but think this is a spurious reasoning stated so that you can’t possibly object without appearing like a card carrying Ku Klux Klan member. But, I disagree with every sophist argument stated in this chapter. I understand there are parts of southern California with denser population than Bangladesh. But, he does not consider the infrastructure that is already present in SoCal which for Bangladesh to achieve would require a lot more money than is realistic. Also, he completely glosses over the micro economic effect – the fact that one person with $1000 has a far greater discretionary spending abilities than if that 1000 had to support five others. I think it is simple division that is overlooked. What are compromised in these large families in the third world are often education, savings, and basic comfort. All of which leads to a perpetual cycle that keeps the poor families poor. How is that racist to worry that a whole section of society is mired in such a situation?

After completely rejecting the first section, I was more open to the arguments about famine- that it is caused more often by inefficient, corrupt, closed governments than any true food shortage. I think that makes sense, even if it seems over simplified to state that better logistics and transparency would cure food shortages. After all if the Sudanese government had shown the least bit of humanity and common sense I don’t think the country would have been reduced to the state that it now is. However, he counters, and I agree, that the solution is not really a bunch of peaceniks running around trying to solve all the world ills through aid or donations.

The next three chapters deal with environment, ecology and saving the earth – all more or less the same thing. I think it is a refreshing change to read someone not go on about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket or how we are losing all the fish/ birds/ animals/ plants blah blah. There were two ‘facts’ tht he mentioned that tickled me pink, I haven’t had time to research if it is true, but I hope it is.

The first is this: “Making paper cups requires 36 times as much electricity as making a Styrofoam cup, and generates 580 times as much waste water.” And as far as biodegradability? He states that “biodegradables break down and form leachate and methane gas” which of course plastic and Styrofoam doesn’t.

The second: a study that states that “damages from even a horrendous splash of crude in the briny is relatively modest and as far as can be determined, of relatively short duration.” And a study of the effect of a ship Amoco Cadiz which ran aground in 1978 off the coast of France showed that “marshes where no attempt was made to remove the oil were restored by natural processes within 5 years, whereas in cleaned areas, restoration took 7 to 8 years” !!!

It made me wonder what of the effects of the recent oil well blow out in the gulf. Much as I would like to think that this was a bigger disaster and not comparable, I think that a lot was made of the spill. The first reaction one has is to think ‘oh my God! Look at the oil flowing into the ocean!” But, I think maybe the ocean is big enough to take care of itself. Look at all the studies now showing that there are oil eating bacteria that are cleaning the ocean beds.

All in all, I think I am a reluctant convert to his way of thinking – one that he mentioned throughout in the book “Eat the Rich” too. That capitalistic thinking concentrated on wealth creation creates enough wealth to spill over to the entire population, even the poor are getting richer. Not because of altruism, but because of working towards a better future for the self and there is no point in stressing about things that are beyond our control.

Overall I agree with this summary:
"The grave worries facing the world today mostly don’t have solutions. That is, they don’t have solutions outside themselves…. We have to accept the undramatic and often boring duties of working hard, exercising self control, taking care of ourselves, our families, and our neighbors, being kind, and practicing as much as private morality as we can stand without popping."

Calling for Suggestions

2011-01-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am creating my ‘must read and blog about’ 2011 book list. So think about it for a minute and let me know of any book that you love/ are inspired by/ think is a must read/ hate it and want someone to share your agony and let me know.

Right now this is what I have

1. Liar’s Poker

2. Elegance of the Hedgehog

3. War and Peace

Pretty sparse you will agree…

Book 1: The Uncommon Reader: Alan Bennett

2011-01-10T13:37:00.001-07:00

Another year another resolution - this time I am getting smarter, the aim is to write less than 50 book reviews a year. How easy is that? I have already reached my goal! Beat that all you lousy resolution keepers!

So my first project for the year was this book that caught my fancy during a book exchange that I went to. After all a book about readers and England and about the monarchy - what can go wrong? The answer? Nothing. It is a thoroughly enjoyable, funny and most important a very quick read.

Book 18: Intelligence- Susan Hasler

2010-08-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

Susan Hasler is an ex-CIA analyst - that was probably what interested me about this book. That and the plot - the book is about a CIA analyst who is dragged into a situation where the government is trying to build a case against attacking Iran and are using the CIA to provide the fodder.
The book has a nice plot, but the writing leaves something to be desired- I do not think any novel should be written in the present continuous tense if the narrators have to retain any credibility. It is so hard to empathize with a sleuth about the hours they put in, if you are feeling that they spend more time explaining what they are doing something rather than actually doing it. It probably would make a great airline book, but nothing more.

Book 17: The good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Phillip Pullman

2010-08-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

I was listening to an interview with Pullman on BBC and was drawn to what the author said about this book - which was this one made it to my reading list.
The book according to the cover is "a story of how stories become stories." A very apt description. The plot is thus- Mary has twins- Jesus and Christ. Jesus is the staunch believer- the one who believes completely that "the Kingdom" is coming soon. Christ is the weaker younger brother who is more a believer in organized religion. It was quiet interesting - but probably not as much as I thought I would.

Book 16: The Railway Children - Edith Nesbit

2010-08-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

I reluctantly got back to my Telegraph's list for this book - but with happy consequences. I think I should stick to Children's books from now on. They are an easy read and make an excellent match with my tastes.
The book reminded me a lot of the works of Enid Blyton- another perennial favorite. This one reminded me a bit of "The Family at Red Roofs" from Blyton. It is about this little family of five- I don't think they ever mention the family name who go through some hard times. The mother and the three kids move to a small house in the country- close to a railway line. So the kids have improbably adventures and pretty much save everyone. The book is typical of the age and genre- is written as a chatty narrative between a kid and a kindly granny, has little morals penciled in and random questions posed to the reader which would probably be great for an adult reading to a child.
And all this of course makes it difficult for me to write this- I really enjoyed reading the book.

Book 15: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

2010-07-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ok- another extremely nice book - worth the read and comes highly recomended. I am getting a little tied of writing what I think - the pressure to read my 50 books is getting to me. The pressure to have something to write about is even greater :-)

Book 14: The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

2010-07-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

I couldn't stay away from this book and picked it up right as soon as I finished the first part- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
So there are two school of thoughts- my mom's and mine. My mom thinks that it doesn't matter if you read this one first while I completely disagree. I think if you haven't already formed a bond with the leading characters in the first book, the second will make less sense and might also be not so interesting.
This book is more about Lisbeth Salander than the first one. While I am fascinated by the character, I am not really sure I feel all that charitable towards her. I think I am a little tired of the idea that a terrible childhood exculpates bad manners. I am also a bit tired of all the strong super-women characters who are so gifted.
Now you are expecting me to say that the book was not good right? Wrong! I really liked it - and found it a fascinating page turner. Definitely not as awesome as book 1 but definitely very very good.

Book 13: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

2010-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I started reading this book after I saw the Swedish movie based on the novel. I loved the movie but was debating about reading the book, for one thing because it was not part of my original list of books and another because I thought that the book might be too graphic for me. I am so glad I ignored both these ideas and read the book.
The story is about Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist whose reputation is in shambles because of a smartly played libel trap and Lisbeth Salander - the much tattooed social pariah, computer genius, hacker, and private investigator. The story has multiple threads all deftly woven. We have Mikael's fight to clear his name, Lisbeth's fight against tyranny by her court appointed guardian and in the midst of all these the two protagonists coming together to solve a decades old mystery.
The book is a poster child for all that I love about the world of fiction - it is gripping, transports you through time and space, and most of all has these three dimensional characters that you grow to know, love, despise, commiserate, fear... In short, one is vested in the outcome of the events, waiting to see what happens to the central characters and that wonderful sense of fulfillment and longing when the tale finally comes to an end.
A must read.

Book 12: The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett

2010-07-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

There is probably no need to get into the plot of this book- everyone probably knows all about this particular case of Sam Spade's.
I picked up this book thinking this is probably going to be a easy read and great to carry on an airplane. And, as usual, I was right. I haven't really seen the entire movie, but know enough of the plot for it to not be a nail biter. The book lived up to its image- a really good dark, smart talking, highly irregular super-man of a detective and his crazy case. What did surprise me is that the characters - the booze,the drugs, the women, the men, and most of all an easy reference to some of their sexual orientation. I guess I expected it to be more like Agatha Christie with maybe faint undertones but not really this easy matter of fact inclusion. Overall, a good book - maybe 3 stars but definitely not my favorite whodunit.

Book 11: Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss

2010-05-05T22:50:00.001-07:00

Love this book- who would have thought that a book about grammar would be so entertaining? Not me! But I am now one of the converts - can't wait to read all those books with the fascinating names - "Pause and effect" or "Usage and abusage" or "You have a point there" or best of all "Mind the stop". Fascinating! I believe grammarians must be the most innovative book-namers. When I write my book I shall enlist one to give it a fancy name.
Ok! back to the book - Lynne is funny, entertaining and so utterly delightful that when it takes her all the way till page #33 to explain what the book does, all one wants to say is "aw shucks love, take longer." However, now whenever I write I am petrified if I need to add a comma; or should it be a semi colon ? I don't know if I improved my punctuation, but I sure as hell had a good read.

Book 10: Eragon - Christopher Paolini

2010-05-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

This is not part of the list of books in The Telegraph - I just had to break my own rules and read a book that I already had. I don't remember when I got this book - but I must have bought it at some time, for some reason that probably escaped me as soon as the deed was done. No regrets though; all in all I enjoyed reading it - specially after my bout of boring books.
I think Dragons are my new obsession, suddenly everywhere I turn they are right there in front of me. I think it started from watching Avatar and now I am inundated with references to them. What does this have to do with the book you ask? Nothing whatsoever, I just feel like going of on a tangent- I reply.
Getting back to dragons, I think the prettiest was the green one in Avatar, the one in "How to train your Dragon" was a rather boring color although cute in its own way. Saphira, Eragon's dragon is Blue- the nicest, freshest blue - I think this is the one I want. Sigh! guess I am not getting one any time soon, instead I shall read the other two books in this series when I am done with the requisite 50 for this year. Can't wait

Book 9: The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

2010-04-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

I think there is a difference between Mystery and mystery. The former is exciting, nail-biting, cannot wait to figure out what is happening – feeling. The later is just something one doesn't know – who, what, when, why, where, how etc. The 'Woman in White' is unfortunately the later. Surprising; considering my penchant for mysteries, melodrama and Victorian England: Maybe, there really is something like too much of a good thing.

The novel was long, boring and at best ok - don't know what the hoopla about the book was all about.

Book 8: The Human Stain - Philip Roth

2010-04-21T14:03:00.002-07:00

Do not bother wasting your time reading this book. Words cannot explain how much I abhor this book. The biggest question was "Why?". Why did this book get picked in a top 100 listing? Why can I not find what it is that all the people enthused about? Why did I decide to even read this? Why can I not mildly bonk the author on his head? Why? Why? Why?

The book is supposed to be an attack on political correctness which alone would make one think that it would be an entertaining novel. Well, one would be WRONG. It is boring and monotonous and filled with one dimensional characters. There is something about the characters which seems so whiny and not at all someone you would like to sit next to on a long flight - or even on a short one.

To sum up - bah!

Book 7: The Warden - Anthony Trollope

2010-03-22T21:10:00.001-07:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I read The Warden. There were a couple of reasons I picked the book, first I was tired of reading Human Stain and wanted a break and thought a book set in Victorian England was exactly what this anglophile needed. In addition, I was feeling a little uncharitable towards organized religion and reading a little blurb about Trollope's Barchester Chronicles I felt it was what I was looking for.

I was under the assumption that it would be a scathing attack on the church- well I was wrong. But, I wasn't wrong about the Victorian setting hitting the spot. I liked the book- a little short of loving it. I will revisit Barchester and read the other books sometimes, but for now The Warden was a good introduction.

My only gripe was actually with the edition. The book came with a lot of informative notes at the back which explained the context and Trollope's allusions a lot better. However the text itself had no notation whatsoever about the notes at the back, I had to keep checking in the back whenever I came across something I had to keeping flipping back to check.

The book itself was a very kindly portrait of a clergyman caught in a scandal – to a degree of his making. But he is the typical case of the “more sinned against than sinning”. It is the story told from the point of a kindly well meaning clergyman who is vilified for taking advantage of his wards. Overall, it was an easy read but I wouldn't exactly put this in top 100 or even 200 books.

Anyway an interesting paragraph -

In former times great objects were attained by great work. When evils were to be reformed, reformers set about their heavy task with grave decorum and laborious argument. An age was occupied in providing a grievance, and philosophical researches were printed in folio pages, which it took a life to write, and an eternity to read. We get on now with a lighter step, and quicker: ridicule is found to be more convincing than argument, imaginary agonies touch more than true sorrows, and monthly novels convince, when learned quartos fail to do so. If the world is to be set right, the work will be done by shilling numbers (newspapers).

Someday someone will be referring to Twitter as the decorous art- wonder what will be the frivolous new alternative.. hah hah

Book 6: Songs of Innocence and of Experience - William Blake

2010-03-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am 3 weeks behind. Which is why the title has been slickly changed from a count of the weeks to books. I am back online thanks to my only follower- thank you- you know who you are :-).

I read Blake's book of poems 3 weeks ago so the details are a little blurred. The book is a collection of poems written at 2 different times of the poet's life. Songs of innocence is the more hopeful upbeat set while the songs of experience is darker and definitely less cheerful.

What shocked me the most was my reaction to them. Without reading much, I thought that I would like the songs of experience a whole lot better than the first part. Specially given my penchant for dark, dismal thoughts. Surprise surprise, I actually liked the first set of songs a lot better! Except for the The Tyger, that will always be my favorite Blake poem.

My one complaint? (or rather the one I choose to voice here) Blake has illustrated the poems so there are all these weird drawings and this makes the reading a little hard. I found myself searching for the poem online just so I can make out the words easier. Also, it was distracting because I was wondering how they produced multiple copies of this in 1789 /1794. Which probably goes to show how little I know about printing technology. But it was terribly distracting, I had to make a concentrated effort to not let my mind wander to the evolution of printing.

A quick summary?
The book came right in time for me to quote one of the poems very aptly.
Blake, you really need to find a way to write "ss" in another way, thank God for Google (Amen!) so I could find what you were trying to write.
Like Blake's imagery, not a fan of the drawings.
Blake seems to have an inexplicable fascination of the lamb - example?
"Little lamb,
Here I am;
Come and lick
My white neck;
Let me pull
Your soft wool;
Let me kiss
Your soft face;
Merrily, merrily, to welcome in the year"
I rest my case
Also, obsessed with Chimney Sweeps - though I dont have an equally delightful example, just take my word for it.
Fav lines - "Dear Mother, dear Mother the church is cold. But the Ale-house is healthy & pleasant & warm"; "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
Fav Poems - The Echoing Green; The Blossom; Laughing Song; The Divine Image; Infant Joy; The Clod & the Pebble; The Fly; The Tyger; A Little Boy Lost (experience); The School Boy;

Week 5: A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle

2010-02-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Charming book about a man's experience when he moves from London to a village in Provence. I selected it as a precursor to my trip to France. Now I cant wait to go and experience the food that the author talks about. Constantly. At least once every three pages. Did I say it was charming? Fascinating also.

Week 4: The Second World War An Illustrated History - A.J.P.Taylor

2010-01-28T23:29:00.003-07:00

This week's book was a selection from the history section. WW II has always fascianted me and was looking forward to reading this.

Things that could have been improved – I found some of the author's sentence structuring a little hard to follow. One of those where you have to read twice to get it right. Another aspect is that there is a lot of reference to WWI or prior events- almost in a casual name dropping way. For someone with sketchy, at best, knowledge of WWI, I had a little difficulty keeping up.

Having said all of that, I think the book is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about the World War II. The book gives a good account of the leadership of the 4 major leaders – Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, and the events that shaped the war. Overall good book – just wish I had more time to soak it all in.

Week 3: Foundation - Isaac Asimov

2010-01-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is what The Telegraph had to say about the book "'Great Galaxy!' It is not for literary brilliance that one approaches the first in the Foundation series, but rather for the sweeping grandeur of Asimov’s epic universe-wide tale of the decline and fall of empires. Once you've finished this, 14 novels and countless more short stories await."

Yes, there is grandeur - the book is about the downfall of the 'Galactic Empire' and how one mathematician Hari Seldon- foresees this and sets up a sanctuary for the men of science to act as curators for all knowledge. He calls this the "Foundation"- hence the name. The concept of an empire failing and another one 'blooming' is quiet the setting for a sweeping epic. But somehow, the futuristic setting didn't really appeal to me all that much. Most of the time I was left thinking 'what makes this book so great?'

There were some interesting parts- his treatment of religion as a political gambit. The fact that there is no single 'hero' – the book is a collection of crisis which shapes the future of the Galaxy and the Foundation. The key players change with time – though there is some reference to the previous characters. However, there really isn't much to bond one with the characters. The dialogues are also stilted and rather predictably 'sci-fi-ish' like the way they exclaim 'by space' or 'by galaxy'. Overall a passable book, it made an interesting (somewhat) read but am glad I can move on to the next one.

Week 2: I, Claudius - Robert Graves

2010-01-14T21:59:00.001-07:00

Absolutely loved this book! I must confess that when I decided to base my readings on a list of 'best books' I was a little apprehensive. I have never been overly fond of 'intellectual' books. Give me a good bestseller any day. Nothing like a good murder or evil plot to get the juices flowing. Anyway, I didn't expect to come across an awesome book so soon in the game. Maybe it is not much of a surprise that I will like a book filed under the historical fiction category. But less about me and more about the book.

It is a fictional autobiography of the emperor Claudius who ruled Rome from AD 41 to 54. It starts in the reign of Augustus till the crowning of Claudius. Claudius is the family fool- deformed , stuttering, drooling – which in a strange way is his ticket to not only life but also success. His infirmity undermines his intellect in the eyes of his enemies letting him survive two crazy emperors – Tiberius ,the crazy and Caligula , the insane. He is the sole survivor of his family – surviving by a combination of being underestimated, playing the fool, being inconsequential, intellect, and most of all by not being ambitious.

Claudius makes a very engaging narrator and Rome in its imperial days an equally fascinating story. My favorite characters were Livia and Caligula. Livia, is a central character in the story. Claudius' grandmother and wife of Augustus; she is a snaky, villainous, ruthless woman with a single minded devotion to further Rome and herself. Or should it be herself and Rome? Anyway I just love the way she poisons pretty much everyone who comes into her orbit. I wonder if there is any truth or maybe just fictionalized? I want to believe that she was really that evil- much more interesting that way.

My second favorite character was the downright insane Caligula. He loves his horse Incitatus so much that he made the horse a citizen, a senator and a consul. He would invite the horse to his dinners. Again, I am not sure if this was true but I completely believe it, because I want to. It is a wonder how Rome maintained its empire being ruled by such crazies. Maybe I will discover that when I read the other books in the list – like Twelve Caesars?

Week 1: Murders in the Rue Morgue - Edgar Allen Poe

2010-01-07T22:20:00.001-07:00

This is the first of my weekly book review. I started reading "I, Claudius" but switched to Murders in the Rue Morgue because of the time crunch. I will review "I, Claudius" next week. I downloaded the book onto my new iPhone (which was the primary cause of my time crunch- wasting time exploring my new phone) using the Stanza app. More than the book I think I was more enamored by the application - I loved the ability to make notes, and add bookmarks. What I am not so pleased with is the dictionary. If you are reading a book on Stanza and want to look up a word use the browser, it is too slow and times out often. another disappointment was the quality of the book itself. There were numerous typos and grammatical errors - and it is a sorry day if even I can notice it.

As far as the story it is an unraveling of a murder mystery told by an unnamed narrator- much in the mold of Holmes' Watson or Poirot's Hastings. Dupin is the civilian -detective who unravels the mystery through his stunning deductive abilities while the narrator provides the foil of being the appreciative follower. A lot of times I felt I might be reading Doyle instead of Poe. I never realized how much Doyle must have been influenced by this story. Or was it a type of coincidence decried by Dupin as the excuse used by people who do not understand the law of averages? Well in any case, my personal feeling was that Sherlock Holmes was a very polished version of Dupin. The ending is not surprising and more so by the hideous cover- really if u are designing a cover for a mystery novel can you NOT put the reveal in the picture? Now who approved that cover is the true mystery in the book.

Mudbound- Hilary Jordan

2009-11-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the book a couple of minutes ago and am thinking if I need some more time to form my thoughts-maybe read what otherpeople are sayingabout this, think about the characters, what I want to write down here for when I want to remember this book...
First - I should keep a lookout for other books by Hilary Jordan- for her first novel, she has done an excellent job. Using different characters to tell the story works really well with the plot- though I must admit I am a little partial to this story telling method.
Second - the characters are really memorable. The main narrators are Laura- the city girl who marries at an older age to a guy she likes but still learning to love. She is forced to move with him to a farm which she nicknames as 'Mudbound' in the Mississippi delta. Henry- is her husband the strong, good man who is following his passion of the land. One who is always striving to do what he thinks is right. Jamie- Henry's laughing- aviator-scared-boyish-dealing with war experiences- younger child craving for father's approval-brother. Ronsel- the one I liked the best- black- ex soldier who fought for his country and has just found out he cant take being treated like a 'negro' almost slave. Florence- his mother and probably one of the strongest characters in the book. and Hap- her husband, a preacher. I am probably not doing justice to Hap but hey- this is my review.
The story is set a couple of years after the end of WWII and starts off with the death of Pappy - Henry and Jamie's father and an annoying man. It moves back from there and then works its way to the funeral. One thing I liked about the book was that it was not just about the civil rights or treatment of blacks in the south, but balances out with the troubles of Laura a 'city girl' adjusting to the farm and Henry and his love of farming etc. A nice rounded human interest story. It also does not have any 'hero' figures that somehow makes it more believable. Even the decent folks - like Henry and Jamie- are still racist but you can somehow understand them and look past that. Ofcourse what I liked the best was that the ending is nicely satisfactory- that somehow all - well almost all- find their footing and everything is tidied up.
Which is what I need more time to think over- is this what stops it from being a great book? There is no longing, no craving to meet up with the characters again, no turmoil, and no great heartbreak- just a slight wistfulness and a satisfactory acceptance.

The Lost Symbol

2009-11-01T19:52:00.003-07:00

Having spent an entirely enjoyable weekend reading Dan Brown's Lost Symbol, I am now ready to tear it to pieces. All my positive comments first though- it is a typical Dan Brown book with all the right ingredients- you learn a great deal of Etymology, Issac Newton's cryptic doings, buildings with more skeletons than a serial killer, ancient works of art and literature which would have saved a whole lot of lab space if only they were clearer, and codes which have more layers than Matryoshka dolls. All in all a nice page turner.

Now if only there were about 100 pages less to turn, it would have been all the more enjoyable. If you fall asleep towards the end don't worry, nothing happens in the last 20 pages except a whole lot of pontificating and lecturing - YAWN! Which is probably what the editor was doing when proof reading the book, there are so many parts that could have been edited out that I wonder if DB is some kind of a diva or the editor is totally spineless. Our much tattooed villain is almost comic book - if his evil plot included stealing all books or something it would have been a whole lot more frightening than his lame ass scheme. Although I must say I like the idea of a completely tattooed villain- now I want one too- a tattoo, not a villain. I am thinking of the snake eating its own tail (and in true DB fashion it can be a a tribute to my fav cell phone game).

Another thing I didn't get, other than the evil plot, was why there was not a single character who was relate-able. While I was left feeling dizzy just with Robert Landon seeing everything with dazzling clarity at every 15th page and being confused 5 pages after - all the senior citizens in the book where annoyingly chirpy after being mutilated, praying all night, running around and tackling professional security men. Sigh! No wonder I have never been a heroine in a book. Final say? DB is way more cool bashing the church than eulogising Freemasons; As thrillers go, it is perfectly enjoyable; I am already tired of all people going on about Noetic Sciences, and Freemasons; This book would make a better TV series than a movie (every other episode can end with Landon having an epiphany); Whatever DB says, the Washington Monument still looks like a red eyed devil to me!