Brown’s latest is full of clues, codes - and clichés

September 18, 2009|Chuck Leddy

Let’s begin with the obvious. Dan Brown’s new novel, following the epic success of “The Da Vinci Code,’’ will be a commercial triumph, a bookselling behemoth that should boost the tottering publishing industry. Nothing will keep the legions of Brown’s fans from spending late nights curled up reading the latest doings of his literary hero, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.

Higher book sales and more readers are certainly good things, but what’s less so in this latest adventure is Brown’s paint-by-numbers plot, his wooden dialogue, his dull prose style, his unintentionally comic narrative grandeur, and his two-dimensional characters. Even Brown’s most rabid fans don’t need a secret decoder ring to know that his prose is leaden (No editor’s alchemy could transform it into gold), and that his characters sound more like mouthpieces for the author’s off-the-wall philosophizing about the nature of God than they do real human beings.

Needless to say, New Hampshire resident Brown takes us on a winding search for mysterious and important truths. Professor Langdon is again our guide, and he moves the book’s quest forward by deciphering the meaning behind various secret codes, hidden maps, cryptic paintings, occult symbols, ancient books, concealed entranceways, and numerous inscriptions. Brown’s plot involves examining Freemasonry and moving his characters from one place in Washington, D.C., to the next, where they’ll find a hidden clue that leads them to another hidden clue. Meanwhile, Langdon explains the meaning of these mysteries in windy passages that feel like college lectures. (Some readers may find themselves wanting to take notes to prep for the final exam.)

Perhaps the most notable quality of “The Lost Symbol’’ is the breezy manner in which Brown’s characters and his narrative examine truth, God, and other grand topics. “Nowadays, eunuchs were shunned, although the ancients understood the inherent power of this transmutational sacrifice. Even the early Christians had heard Jesus Himself extol its virtues,’’ Brown writes. Readers are left wondering why “transmutational sacrifice’’ gets such a bad rap. “Great men throughout history have made deep personal sacrifices to protect the Ancient Mysteries. You and I must do the same,’’ one character tells Langdon, sounding much like a boss trying to convince an exhausted employee to work a weekend shift.