The Lost Symbol

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Severed Hands

(Hey, kids, it's been awhile. I am going to be better about my blogging. Life has been crazy lately because I actually have a social life right now. Go figure. Enjoy this book review. Or don't. I don't care. haha!)

When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept [a] mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

As the world discovered in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown's novels are brilliant tapestries of veiled histories, arcane symbols, and enigmatic codes. In this new novel, he again challenges readers with an intelligent, lightning-paced story that offers surprises at every turn. The Lost Symbol is exactly what Brown's fans have been waiting for... his most thrilling novel yet. (courtesy of danbrown.com)

Before I say anything else, I have not read Dan Brown's other books. I've only seen the movies. I hear that those two are the better ones of the Langdon stories, but I find that I'm content with the movies which is rare for me. My friend, Kira, was raving about this book and she lent it to me, so I had to give it a try.

There were interesting factoids intermingled within the plot. I wanted to be able to get into it enough to want to look up what he was talking about just so I could have more of a frame of reference, but I wasn't that interested.

Noetics, the science in this book, is quite fascinating. It boasts the power of the human mind to change and alter our environment. That was my favorite part of the book.

As for Robert Langdon, he's so skeptical almost to a fault and it gets annoying. Just believe people sometimes, Rob! Geez. I understand he's a symbologist and a historian, so he's only interested in facts, but you'd think he'd have a little bit more of an imagination because of his profession. Just an observation. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a character flaw. If it was, kudos to Mr. Brown, but it was also something that made the story lag a little. Where I haven't read the others, I don't know if it was just more prominent in this book or if it is just Robert Langdon's character.

While we are discussing Langdon...Tom Hanks? Really? What were they thinking? Don't get me wrong; Tom Hanks is a great actor, but while I was reading this book I couldn't picture him as Robert Langdon. The jury is still out on who my personal casting choice would be.

Moving on. I found myself skimming. If this is a breathless thriller, then I must not be thrilled too easily because I felt like I had to speed things up. There was, however, a couple of twists at the end that I was not expecting so that was a nice payoff.

All in all, it's a decent read. I would like to go to DC and see all these places that were mentioned. I gave it 2.5 out of 5 Severed Hands.

Randomosity

It has been awhile since I've blogged, so here is an update on my life:

I went on a random trip to Utah this weekend and it was amazing. It was really nice to get out of town and not be in the same mundane routine.

I'm reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. So far, so good. I'm reading them backwards because I've never read his other two books, but now I really want to. You should see a review of this book soon enough although it's taken me awhile to get through for some reason.

The revision/rewriting process of my novel Befall is still very frustrating and still at a complete standstill. However, I do have ideas and I'm going to see if they work. Time to just bite the bullet and just write no matter what.

Operation: Fabio is coming to an end. The longer hair has been fun, but I think I am going to cut it short again. This time, however, I may try something a little different. My friend, Kym, will be able to tell me if I can pull it off. I was going to see if I could find a picture of it, but I think I will just keep it under wraps for now. My next haircut appointment is the beginning of June.

I am seriously considering going back to school now. This means I have to study for the GRE and then take the dreaded test and ace it and then find a school that will take me. This also means more debt and whatnot, but it also means my brain won't be turning into mush anymore. I'm very excited for the opportunities this presents for me, and I hope I can hack it. As far as schools are concerned, Utah would be great, but I would like to go somewhere different and new, get involved in a different place culturally. Ideal spots would be California (very expensive, but the beach is right there!), Denver (random, but I hear it is a great place), Seattle, somewhere on the east coast like Virginia or North Carolina, or head south to Florida again. As you can see, I have not narrowed it down very well, but I have plenty of time for that.

Still obsessed with Zumba. It really is a great workout. My kettlebell class is cancelled for the summer which is a huge bummer. I also want to see about certifying to be a Zumba instructor and/or a kettlebell instructor.

That's all I can think of for now which is probably a good thing because I need to go to work.

Peace out, ya'all!