JONJ Does Not Recommend: The Lost Symbol

I'm stupid. I read "The Lost Symbol". I don't know why... Yakov and I co-wrote the this earlier this year, talking about our joint disdain for Dan Brown's books, yet I read "The Lost Symbol". Why?

Not only is it a carbon copy of the previous two novels, it's a washed-out carbon copy. Rome and Paris are replaced by a much less interesting Washington DC. Pages upon pages are wasted on circular dialogue, as Brown beats a point to death, then revives it only to beat it again. The major mystery is obvious from the moment a character is introduced (I won't spoil it for those dumb enough to attempt to read this dreck), but for 400 pages I was screaming "____ is ____, dumbasses! How stupid do you have to be!" And Robert Langdon, who -- I'll admit it -- makes the first two books somewhat interesting by solving their various mysteries, here struts along, deciphering one stupid pyramid throughout the entire novel, and then gets the final answer delivered to him (and you, idiot reader) on a platter. Meh.

Honestly, I don't see how Brown got 500+ pages out of this story. It's about three times as long as it should have been. Maybe that's his real talent.

JONJ Rating: 1 / 5.