The Lost Symbol (2009)

by Dan Brown

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Robert Langdon (3)

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Symbologist Robert Langdon returns in this new thriller follow-up to The Da Vinci Code.

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Showing 1-5 of 630 (next | show all)

Formulaic, but fun. (

)

medwyn1066 | Nov 28, 2023 |

The 3rd Robert Langdon story, set in Washington. Very similar to the previous two books with a lot of running around. This time Langdon has been invited to Washington to give a lecture at the Smithsonian by his friend Peter Solomon, only to find his friend has been kidnapped and it was the kidnapper that had lured him there to decipher a Freemason's pyramid to find the location of the Lost Word, buried somewhere in the capital. In the meantime, the kidnapper has attracted the attention of the CIA, who want to avert a national crisis by cooperating with him, whether that helps to rescue Peter Solomon or not. Katherine, his sister, is also targetted as the kidnapper tries to destroy both her and her work on the Noetic sciences. Katherine and Langdon manage to solve the secret of the pyramid together, as they dart around the city, whilst avoiding the CIA. With a couple of interesting twists near the end, disaster is averted and all is eventually revealed. Despite the formulaic style, I enjoyed this fast-paced historical tour of Washington and the peek into freemason philosophy. I also found the ending to be more satisfying as time was taken to explain the meaning of the ancient mysteries. (

)

LindaLiu | Sep 19, 2023 |

I am returning this (overdue)book and will revisit it when my life and my home are less chaotic (

)

Kim.Sasso | Aug 27, 2023 |

Oh dear. I have casually enjoyed Dan Brown's other tomes; however, The Lost Symbol didn't even have that brain candy charm. Tense scenes were frequently interrupted by several page long asides of dubious relevance. The so-called science was hilariously awful and the end of the book suspense revolved in part around the fear that someone would exsanguinate through a "medical needle" placed in a vein in the antecubital fossa (i.e. venipuncture.) Luckily, that part was so ill-paced that the character was saved before I had to waste too much time screaming about how infeasible it was to be killed by an IV.

The core plot -- many important men in Washington are Free Masons, a group that has left hidden symbols all over Washington DC and celebrates human life -- was far less intriguing than Brown's other books.

Overall -- this was in SORE need of an editor and a fact checker. (

)

settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |

The Lost Symbol was another great read by Dan Brown!

I found this novel not to be as good as Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code, but I still really enjoyed it! This book felt slower and a little more boring until I got half way into it, but I still felt the need to read it and be hooked onto Dan Brown's story.

I enjoyed this book! The twists and turns were great (even if I guessed some of the plot twists that occurred). I can't wait for more Dan Brown!

He is almost untouchable for problems in the story. I didn't see much wrong with the story or plot or characters.

Good book!
Five out of five stars! (

)

Briars_Reviews | Aug 4, 2023 |

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Showing 1-5 of 630 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

14 reviews

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thingScore 66

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 SimonLarsen | editBBC, Tim Masters (Sep 15, 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)

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)

Den Braun je ovog puta odabrao da svog junaka, profesora simbologije sa Harvarda Roberta Lengdona, pošalje u Vašington. Tamo bi on trebalo da održi predavanje na poziv svog mentora, direktora centralne americke naucne institucije Smitsonijan instituta, visokog funkcionera vašingtonske masonske lože Pitera Solomona (masona 33 stepena). Narednih 12 sati, koliko traje radnja romana, Lengdon otkriva da je Solomon kidnapovan, pošto je u sali gde je trebalo da se održi predavanje našao ruku nabijenu na kolac. Na ruci su istetovirani odredeni simboli, a tek na osnovu prstena on prepoznaje da je pripadala Solomonu. Stiže mu poruka da ce njegov mentor biti ubijen ako ne pronade gde se nalazi tajna masonska piramida u Vašingtonu. On, takode, mora da sazna kljucnu rec koja daje neslucenu moc.

added by Sensei-CRS | editknjigainfo.com

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

added by Sensei-CRS | editknjigainfo.com

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (62 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Dan Brown	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Andersson, Leo	(Övers.)	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Boldrini, Alexandre	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Conde, Claudia	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Defert, Dominique	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Drolsbach, Marion	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Feberwee, Erica	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Janssens, Pieter	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Ligterink, Yolande	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Michael, Paul	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Nimpoeno, Ingrid Dwijani	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Pereira, Carlos,	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Robert Langdon (3)

Is contained in

Angels and Demons / The Da Vinci Code / Inferno by Dan Brown

Angels & Demons / The Da Vinci Code / Deception Point / Digital Fortress / The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code / The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Digital Fortress / Deception Point / The Da Vinci Code / The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Robert Langdon Series Collection 7 Books Set By Dan Brown (Angels And Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno, Origin, Digital Fortress, Deception Point) by Dan Brown

Dan Brown's Robert Langdon Tetralogy Hardcover Set: Angel's & Demons / The Da Vinci Code / The Lost Symbol / Inferno by Dan Brown

(show 1 more)

Angels & Demons / The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Is abridged in

The Lost Symbol [abridged audio] by Dan Brown

Has as a reference guide/companion

Secrets of the Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind the Da Vinci Code Sequel by Daniel Burstein

Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons: Sacred Mysteries, Rituals and Symbols Revealed by Jean-Louis de Biasi

Behind the Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Guide to Dan Brown's Bestselling Novel by Tim Collins

Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol": The Ultimate Unauthorized and Independent Reading Guide by Alex Carmine

(show 2 more)

33 Keys to Unlocking The Lost Symbol: A Reader's Companion to the Dan Brown Novel by Thomas R. Beyer Jr.

The Guide to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol: Freemasonry, Noetic Science, and the Hidden History of America by Greg Taylor

Has as a study

Decoding The Lost Symbol by Simon Cox

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol by Nigel Tomm

The Occult Myths of the Lost Symbol: Examining the Spiritual Claims of of the Dan Brown Bestseller by Dave Roberts

The Lost Symbol: Found: Unauthorized Analysis of Dan Brown's Novel by Graeme Davis

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Delete Key Award (Grand Prize Winner – 2010)

Dublin Literary Award (Longlist – 2011)

Distinctions

Best-selling books according to Pro-books.ru (2010)

LiveLib Rating (2009)

Notable Lists

NPR Top 100 Killer Thrillers (89)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Original title

The Lost Symbol

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2009-09-15

2009

People/Characters

Important places

Washington, D.C., USA

Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., USA

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., USA

Important events

Related movies

The Lost Symbol (2012 | IMDb)

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.

The Secret Teachings
of All Ages

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.

The only wrinkle was the bloody black-clad heap in the foyer with a screwdriver protruding from his neck.

It was no coincidence that Christians were taught that Jesus was crucified at age thirty-three …

Thankfully, this particular crypt contained no bodies. … The entourage hurried through, without even a glance at the four-pointed marble compass in the center of the floor where the Eternal Flame had once burned.

His hips and abdomen were the archways of mystical power. Hanging beneath the archway [sic], his massive sex organ bore the tattooed symbols of his destiny. In another life, this heavy shaft of flesh had been his source of carnal pleasure. But no longer.

(show all 6 items)

Last words

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

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Kaufman, Jason

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Kuberakolam

The Lost Symbol

▾Book descriptions

Symbologist Robert Langdon returns in this new thriller follow-up to The Da Vinci Code.

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Book description

Známeho harvardského odborníka na ikonografiu Roberta Langdona nečakane pozvú prednášať do washingtonského Kapitolu. Pozvanie mu cez sprostredkovateľa zašle jeho mentor, filantrop, historik, vedec a slobodomurár Peter Solomon, preto Langdon rád vyhovie. Lenže prednášková sála zíva prázdnotou... Hrozný nález odťatej ruky so zlatým prsteňom a s tetovaním dokazuje, že Solomona uniesli a jeho život je v Langdonových rukách. Musí vyriešiť jednu z najväčších záhad ľudských dejín, ktorá však môže otriasť samotnými základmi kresťanskej viery. Nejde však len o tajomstvo z dávnych dôb slobodomurárstva, ale aj z nedávnej minulosti a Langdona na konci jeho cesty čaká jedno z najprekvapujúcejších odhalení, s akými sa doteraz stretol.

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