Grant Newman- The Lost Symbol

Grant Newman
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown
Science/Historical Fiction
Just Right
P. 95

1. Right now, the main character, Robert Langdon is in Washington DC trying to figure out what is going on. He arrived in Washington D.C. that day by invitation of a very famous man named Peter Solomon. Solomon was a mentor to Langdon when he was younger, and apparently he wanted Robert to present a Keynote Address at a Smithsonian Gala in DC. Langdon was never actually contacted by Solomon himself, but by his assistant, named Anthony. His assistant told him that there was a plane waiting for him at Logan Airport, and Langdon arrived to find that there indeed was one. He flew down to DC to give this speech, and when he arrived, he was escorted in a limousine to the Smithsonian. He was running slightly late, so he had to jog to get there, but when he arrived in the room that he was suppoesd to present, no one was there. He then received a mysterious phone call from a person who would not give his name to Langdon. He said that he had Peter Solomon, and there was no actual address, just something he made up, and that he had Peter Solomon. Langdon was upset, and when the man hung up, he heard a scream from the room next to his. Rushing in to see what was the matter, he found a group of tourists huddled around a severed human hand, apparently formerly in Peter Solomon's possession, with tattoos on each of his fingertips. Langdon recognized the symbols to be an ancient symbol of an invitation to find out a certain set of mysteries that would give him knowledge. The man that contacted him said that Solomon told him that Langdon was the only person who could open a "portal" that the man wanted to open. Langdon, not sure about what's happening, is currently being interrogated by the head of the CIA. Meanwhile, Solomon's sister is trying to find out what is happening to her brother.

2. I like this book, along with the other Dan Brown novels that I've read. It's very good, and the story once again wraps you in like his others do. He starts out his stories filling you with uncertainty and speculation, and slowly begins to unravel the plot and the meaning of everything. Solomon's sister, Katherine, is discussing a field of science called noetic science, and she's explaining what it is as the book goes along. The book (so far) flips between three perspectives, Langon's, Katherine Solomon's and the villain's, named Mal'akh. The chapters are short, but they usually transition well in between these perspectives, always leaving a little bit of anxiety about what's going to happen to the character after that. He writes great suspense stories and his mixture of history and science is very interesting to read about. Katherine Solomon's field of science is about thinking that thoughts can have mass, and therefore effect things in nature and everyday life. It's a very curious subject, and provokes a lot of questions. I really like the book a lot so far.

3. A theme I've noticed so far is deception. The villain, Mal'akh's, main weapon is deception so far. He's posed as an army veteran to sneak a severed hand past security checkpoints and into a public area where it will provoke distress. He also led Langdon on this fake journey for his benefit alone to open his portal. He's a very smart person and led these very intelligent people onto missions solely for his benefit. All the characters are very perplexed right now about what is actually happening, and those questions aren't really answered yet. They're trying to unravel all of these lies and deceit. The theme is present throughout the novel, as he's actually influencing both sides of the story (Langdon's and Katherine Solomon's). I'm amazed he was actually able to do these things, and that he does these without scrutiny by one of the most heavily secured places in the country, Washington DC.

4. My favorite character so far is Robert Langdon. This isn't the first book I've read with him in it, so it's easy to relate to him because I already know his personality. He's a very intelligent person who uses his knowledge to help others and to solve the problems that the characters encounter in the book. A lot of what he does is interpreting and figuring out puzzles and clues and deciding what they mean, so his personality trait of being intelligent really helps what he does in the book. He has a decent amount of self-esteem too. Even when the director of the CIA corrects him when she interrogates him, he isn't distracted, and keeps thinking about what he knows and how that could help him. He's really helpful to all the other characters in The Lost Symbol so far.

5. My least favorite character is Mal'akh. He's the villain, of course, so he's not supposed to be thought of as a good person. Brown does a great job portraying him as a very intelligent person, but not one who helps people with his knowlege like Langdon does. He makes it very obvious to you that he thinks things through, but everything he does is really bad. For example, some of the things he does include cutting people's hands off, summoning people on fake journeys, and keeping people hostage from their family. None of these are good, and as said before, he relies on deception and trickery to get what he wants done. He's very good at it, but he's evil and doesn't do anything to benefit anyone but himself.

6. I predict somehow Katherine Solomon and Langdon will meet, and together try to find out what this portal is, and find out what actually happened to Peter Solomon. I don't know if they'll succeed, but I'm guessing it'll involve going around Washington D.C. and finding clues in historic monuments that are references to this portal.