Lost Symbol. Truly Lost.

What a book. That's what i told myself after i finished the book in 4 hours and 25 mins. However, its so not the same 'What a book' i had told myself after the Da Vinci or Angel n Demons or even Deception Point for that matter (i did not find Digital Fortress as enticing as the rest). Mr Brown is now getting repetitive. Langdon is contacted by the bad guys who have middle men. All the bad guys want is to get Langdon to decipher some symbols, words in Greek, Latin, Egyptian. And in all probability what Langdon will get at the end is something that will 'enlighten' the world. But now is not the time. As told to Langdon by the good guys. So now begins the tug of war between the good guys and bad ones. Alternate rounds are won by either sides. But like a Bollywood script, all ends well and the world is no more wiser about the Universe, its beginning, the ocean, the mystery that shrouds its depth. Sigh.




The book will probably get the D.C in habitants really interested. Those who have visited these places (Washington Monument, Capital Building, National Mall,  Reflecting Pool , Lincoln Memorial) as part of their class excursions, field trips or by those who work in theses places every day for the last 20 years and didn't know about the story behind The fresco on The ceiling. Da Vinci and the others had a more universal aapeal..everyone has seen at a Madonna at some point of time.. a Last Supper..read so much about them, about Da Vinci in school books, renaissance books, about Mary Magdalene, Vatican and so on. So probably my limited knowledge about D.C is the main reason i couldn't relate to Langdon's excitement and trepidations and what not. Despite being a science student, Katherine's work hardly made any sense to me (however, the hydrogen-fueled semi dark lab was interesting)
Anyway, there is this one thing i found more intriguing...(did some research of my own..)
  At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the world; it remains the tallest stone structure in the world.It is still the tallest building in Washington, D.C.; the Heights of Buildings Act of 1910 restricts new building heights to no more than 20 feet (6.1 m) greater than the width of the adjacent street. (There is a popular misconception that the law specifically states that no building may be taller than the Washington Monument, but in fact the law makes no mention of it).  (Source: Wiki)


And all Langdon says is that there is an ancient rule that no building can be constructed taller than the Monument itself.  Or may be I do not remember correctly.


Anyway, i do admit that i have not done full justice to the book, never bothering to refer to any pics or stats on the net (like i did for the others). So half the things were left to imagination. Now when such a thing happens, I'm definitely not okay with the freedom i'm getting as a reader to defrom and disfugure and dimensionally and geometrically change famous monuments which i hope to see sometime in the future. 
So for lazy readers like me, can Mr Brown provide pics and maps (like Tolkien does..haha..what a comparison!)? That would make it easier to understand the plot and the sub-plot and all those subtle hints that strike Langdon and not us. I fell so left out by the end of every chapter!




Oki on the whole...will give it 2 out of 5( two cause I'm a Manson fan :) )
Running short of time..need to finish 6 numericals of thermodynamics before 4..then make a dash to the dept. for clearing all the doubts (which is like about the whole of the syllabus)..Ciao..till next time...