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Showing 1-5 of 168 (next | show all)

Somewhat enjoyable but just a "formula" book.

askar | Nov 26, 2009 |

I have to say that there was so much hype about this book and I'm not sure it lived up to the hype. I enjoyed Brown's other books much better but that being said this book wasn't too bad. At some points I got really into and couldn't put the book down whereas at other parts I found myself wanting to skim through it. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. (

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meags222 | Nov 25, 2009 |

The Lost Symbol

I do not believe this is the best written novel on the planet, but I did enjoy it and I really enjoy Dan Browns ability to generate an interesting story that includes actual places and the conspiracy theories that go with them. I would recommend it. (

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ladyadora | Nov 25, 2009 |

Fascinating, Illuminating, Totally Entertaining…

I was already a Dan Brown fan and so was eagerly awaiting The Lost Symbol. This book absolutely does not disappoint. It takes place over the course of about twelve hours, and through its pages, unfolds deep mystery after deep mystery. It has some great twists and turns, and keeps the suspense high the entire way through. I like that it also has an unusual format – there is the climax of the main story, but then the book allows you to keep unwrapping mysterious treasure after mysterious treasure for some time afterwards. I was truly sorry the book was finished. I felt like I had been given passage into a world of revelations that I wanted to continue, until I knew all there was to know. But that is not this book’s job, that is now my own personal journey - to continue along the path that has been laid before me. And do so, I shall.

I actually found the story very inspirational and illuminating in its message and it presented some concepts, chief amongst them Noetic science, that I intend to keep studying. It is one of those books that can and does change the way you see and interact with the world around you. Dan Brown, in my opinion, is a master at telling compelling stories and teaching you all manner of incredibly fascinating things along the way. His books, The Lost Symbol, included, are loaded with information about some of the most mysterious and enigmatic parts of our history and culture. He presents ancient knowledge and myth in a new light and gets you thinking. He ignites interest in the past, in art, books, secret societies, scientific concepts and weaves all of those aspects into thrilling stories that are truly ‘unputdownable’. His tales tap into our imaginations and curiosity about the world around us. He says he writes stories that he finds personally entertaining and if the author is captivated and enchanted with what they are writing, that will come through in their work, as it does in The Lost Symbol.

There is nothing disappointing about this book, it is well paced, has great characters that are truly alive, and a mystery at its core that kept me completely enthralled. The Lost Symbol is highly engaging, thoroughly entertaining, and is most certainly time well spent. Let yourself be entertained and enlightened by this exciting novel. I hope it will grace the big screen in the not-too-distant future!

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands (

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RaiAren | Nov 25, 2009 |

The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown. 2009. This is the last hardback Dan Brown I will buy and may be the last one I will read. I might have found it more interesting if I had not had one or two questions a year concerning the Masons and conspiracy theories during my career as a reference librarian! The plot is exciting, but I had figured out who the villain was almost immediately and I knew a lot of the things about Masonic symbols in D.C. It is a good adventure story for those who liked his other books

judithrs | Nov 24, 2009 |

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Showing 1-5 of 168 (next | show all)

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In the end, as with “The Da Vinci Code,” there’s no payoff. Brown should stop worrying about unfinished pyramids and worry about unfinished novels. At least Spielberg and Lucas gave us an Ark and swirling, dissolving humans. We don’t get any ancient wisdom that “will profoundly change the world as you know it” — just a lot of New Agey piffle about how we are the gods we’ve been waiting for. (And a father-son struggle for global domination, as though we didn’t get enough of that with the Bushes.)

added by Shortride | editThe New York Times Book Review, Maureen Dowd (Oct 11, 2009)

There are moments of excitement in this skilfully edited, deeply implausible thriller. At times the suspense is prolonged rather than sustained, but the 500 pages turn steadily and the overall effect is entertaining and certainly family-friendly. The Lost Symbol is violent but remarkably chaste and devoid of profanity.

added by Shortride | editThe Age, Simon Caterson (Sep 19, 2009)

If you hate Dan Brown, you're going to hate this book.

It seems Brown has decided to irk his critics by repeating every flaw he's been accused of. ...

No, it's not Foucault's Pendulum. It doesn't even come close. However, if you liked Dan Brown's previous books you're likely to enjoy this one. There is some interesting trivia about the history of Washington, DC which is in fact true, which is an added bonus.

added by camillahoel | editRead And Find Out, Tom (Sep 17, 2009)

It’s true, his style is as baldly prosaic as legend, but there remains a heft to his potboilers that is hard to imitate. He is better at conveying claustrophobia and breathlessness than, say, the explosion of a top-secret lab (“fragments of titanium mesh . . . droplets of melted silicon” etc) but the latter will make a juicier scene come the inevitable Tom Hanks movie, and the author knows this.

added by Shortride | editThe Times, Andrew Collins (Sep 16, 2009)

As a thriller, "The Lost Symbol" is exciting, although readers of "The Da Vinci Code" will notice that some of the same stock characters and creaky plot devices pop up... As District of Columbia resident, I must say that Mr. Brown does a first-rate job of delivering a Cook's tour with duly sinister overtones of Washington's famous sites... It's when Mr. Brown interrupts his storytelling to deliver one of his many lectures on Christian intolerance—with pointed digs at the American religious right—that "The Lost Symbol" becomes a didactic bore.

added by Shortride | editThe Wall Street Journal, Charlotte Allen (Sep 16, 2009)

If the mystery at the center of "The Lost Symbol" never quite gets solved, it's still surrounded with exactly the kind of feel-good folderol that readers love in a bestseller... Pseudoscience could turn out to be even more profitable for Dan Brown than pseudohistory. It may not make for as good a story, but then again, that may be just one more thing that nobody cares about anymore.

added by Shortride | editSalon, Laura Miller (Sep 15, 2009)

The Lost Symbol works, albeit with reservations. It works because whatever mental alchemy Dan Brown needed to turn away from the noise and ramp up his creative signal, to stay away from distractions and focus on the story, takes hold with the opening utterance that "the secret is how to die."

added by Shortride | editThe Barnes & Noble Review, Sarah Weinman (Sep 15, 2009)

Writers envious of Brown's sales (who wouldn't be?) have devoted much ink to his deficiencies as a stylist. These are still in place. ("He could feel his entire world teetering precariously on the brink of disaster. . . . It hit him like a bolt from above. . . . In a flash he understood.") So is Brown's habit of turning characters into docents. But so, too, is his knack for packing huge amounts of information (spurious or no) into an ever-accelerating narrative. Call it Brownian motion: a comet-tail ride of short paragraphs, short chapters, beautifully spaced reveals and, in the case of "The Lost Symbol," a socko unveiling of the killer's true identity.

added by Shortride | editThe Washington Post, Louis Bayard (Sep 15, 2009)

The Washington setting may not be as alluring as the Vatican or the Louvre, but Brown extracts enough history out of his landscape to make this a fascinating ride.

And he squeezes in plenty of contemporary references too: characters run Google searches on their BlackBerrys, text on their iPhones and one jokes about the "Twitterati".

Such is Brown's visual writing style, the feeling as you close the last page is not that you've read only the novel, but that you've also just watched the film.

added by blackwood | editBBC, Tim Masters (Sep 15, 2009)

Too many popular authors (Thomas Harris) have followed huge hits (“The Silence of the Lambs”) with terrible embarrassments (“Hannibal”). Mr. Brown hasn’t done that. Instead, he’s bringing sexy back to a genre that had been left for dead.

added by Shortride | editThe New York Times, Janet Maslin (Sep 14, 2009)

It's hard to imagine anyone, after reading "The Lost Symbol," debating about Freemasonry in Washington, D.C., the way people did Brown's radical vision of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in "Code." That book hit a deep cultural nerve for obvious reasons; "The Lost Symbol" is more like the experience on any roller coaster -- thrilling, entertaining and then it's over.

added by Shortride | editLos Angeles Times, Nick Owchar (Sep 14, 2009)

Has it been worth the wait? Overall, yes. But that’s not to say that the book is without its shortcomings.

added by Shortride | editBookreporter.com, Joe Hartlaub

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Series (with order)

Robert Langdon (3)

Canonical Title

The Lost Symbol

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Washington, D.C., USA

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Important events

Awards and honors

New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2009)

Epigraph

To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.

Dedication

For Blythe

First words

The secret is how to die.

Quotations

Neckties had been required six days a week when Langdon attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and despite the headmaster's romantic claims that the origin of the cravat went back to the silk fascalia worn by Roman orators to warm their vocal cords, Langdon knew that, etymologically, cravat actually derived from a ruthless band of "Croat" mercenaries who donned knotted neckerchiefs before they stormed into battle. To this day, this ancient battle garb was donned by modern office warriors hoping to intimidate their enemies in daily boardroom battles.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0385504225, Hardcover)

Let's start with the question every Dan Brown fan wants answered: Is The Lost Symbol as good as The Da Vinci Code? Simply put, yes. Brown has mastered the art of blending nail-biting suspense with random arcana (from pop science to religion), and The Lost Symbol is an enthralling mix. And what a dazzling accomplishment that is, considering that rabid fans and skeptics alike are scrutinizing every word.

The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. To tell too much would ruin the fun of reading this delicious thriller, so you will find no spoilers here. Suffice it to say that as with many series featuring a recurring character, there is a bit of a formula at work (one that fans will love). Again, brilliant Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day. The setting, unlike other Robert Langdon novels, is stateside, and in Brown's hands Washington D.C. is as fascinating as Paris or Vatican City (note to the D.C. tourism board: get your "Lost Symbol" tour in order). And, as with other Dan Brown books, the pace is relentless, the revelations many, and there is an endless parade of intriguing factoids that will make you feel like you are spending the afternoon with Robert Langdon and the guys from Mythbusters.

Nothing is as it seems in a Robert Langdon novel, and The Lost Symbol itself is no exception--a page-turner to be sure, but Brown also challenges his fans to open their minds to new information. Skeptical? Imagine how many other thrillers would spawn millions of Google searches for noetic science, superstring theory, and Apotheosis of Washington. The Lost Symbol is brain candy of the best sort--just make sure to set aside time to enjoy your meal. --Daphne Durham

More from Dan Brown

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