The Lost Symbol is a Lost Cause

Dan Brown’s latest novel The Lost Symbol hit the shelves last week. It is the third instalment in Brown’s Robert Langdon saga. In the book Langdon, the professor of symbology (which isn’t really an actual word or profession) turned action hero, embarks upon yet another epic adventure involving age-old secrets that could undermine the the powers that be and upset the social order of the entire world, all in the span of 12 hours.
The release of The Lost Symbol has sparked a debate as to whether Brown’s work is quality fictional historical drama or low grade trash. Popular opinion says Brown is deserving of his good reputation, but the media and the educated elite aren’t so sure.
Everywhere you look mainstream newspapers are citing experts to clarify broad-spectrum historical assertions Brown has made in The Lost Symbol. Going even further, Britain’s Telegraph shamelessly picks apart Brown’s graphic writing style.
The paper ran a list of 20 of Brown’s worst phrases including such gems as “He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon – the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors.”
Brown insists that the historical trivia compelling the plot of his novels is fact not fiction. The Lost Symbol, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons all contained the disclaimer: “all organizations in this novel exist . all rituals, science, artwork, and monuments in this novel are real.”
Because of Brown’s self-accreditation, no one seems to be able to distinguish between the true factoids and the somewhat plausible conspiracy theories. You would think people would realize there is no way to prove for sure that Jesus had children with Mary Magdalene, or that secret societies have been hiding the secret to ultimate wisdom for thousands of years.
Still, the world famous American author deserves some literary acknowledgment. After all, he does boast a fantastic talent that enables him to enthrall millions of code-enthusiastic readers globally, with his overzealous use of drawn out adjectives and unnecessarily overwritten descriptions.
Sarcasm aside, The Da Vinci Code held the top spot on The Sunday Times bestseller list for more than a year after it came out; this is no small feat. Random House, who published The Lost Symbol, released five million copies, the biggest first run in the company’s history.
The popularity of Brown’s novels is comparable to that of the Twilight and Harry Potter series. But Brown’s novels are for adults. Should we be worried that millions of adults worldwide have fallen under the kind of spell usually associated with hormone driven vampire crazed teens?
Brown’s success lies in the addictive quality of his narratives, not their factuality. The pace at which his plots develop make his books almost impossible to put down. These books are not compelling literature, but rather they are guilty pleasures.
What’s more, in a time of distrust for government, stories that expose the religious foundations of Western society as lies work as a satisfying, though false, sense of comfort.
Brown’s novels should be recognized for what they truly are, garishly-written fiction that is exciting to read. They make for good dinner party banter, but are hardly worth any substantive debate.

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