Dan Brown Reviews at a Glance

Join Login Invite

Home
News
Dan Brown Reviews at a Glance

Of all the authors writing today, Dan Brown may be the one who polarises opinion the most. His latest novel, The Lost Symbol, has already broken adult fiction sales records worldwide, only days after its release. According to his official site, the new book is 'a masterstroke of storytelling--a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths'. Many, however, beg to differ. Look below for a diverse collection of the most interesting thoughts and views on Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol and The Da Vinci Code.

The Washington Post: 'Call it Brownian motion: a comet-tail ride of short paragraphs, short chapters, beautifully spaced reveals and, in the case of "The Lost Symbol," a socko unveiling of the killer's true identity.'

The Guardian: 'Played out within a space of 12 hours in 134 chapters of roughly three pages each, The Lost Symbol is a rollicking piece of tosh which turns on the double meanings of several terms, including "atonement", "apocalypse" and "hoodwink".'

Twitterer @ahmednaguib: 'Hate the fact that I'm finishing "The lost symbol" today, wish it was endless, Dan Brown is brilliant!'

Salman Rushdie: 'Do not start me on 'The Da Vinci Code ... A novel so bad that it gives bad novels a bad name.'

Bookslut: 'Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is now responsible for the downfall of the UK publishing industry, UK book retailers, the US book retailers, the sanity of Washington DC tour guides, the sanity of book reviewers up all night who then think it's okay to say Brown is "bringing sexy back" or is writing "Harry Potter for adults," independent bookstores, and all of contemporary literature. Just so you know where things stand.'

Bookarmy member Martinspooner: 'I've just read the first twelve chapters [of The Lost Symbol] in the bath and I think I'll get some solid entertainment from the GBP10 I paid for the book.'

Nelson DeMille: 'Dan Brown has to be one of the best, smartest, and most accomplished writers in the country. The Da Vinci Code is many notches above the intelligent thriller; this is pure genius.'

The Daily Mail: 'Every few pages, someone gasps ‘Of course!’ or ‘Oh no!’ or ‘It was so obvious!’ And a few pages after that (it’s calibrated for the shorter attention span) you

find out what it is that caused them to gasp, along with the teaser for the next gasp moment. On, with hectic jollity, it sails – and you sail with it.'

Twitterer @ke7in: 'I started THE LOST SYMBOL today and wouldn't you know I was going to read just one chapter. 24 chapters later, glad they're short.'

Bookarmy member FlirtyKitty: 'I'm not knocking [The Lost Symbol] and the intelligence with which it was written but the format is the same as all his other books.'

The Evening Standard: 'Without the word "so", Brown would be lost. His use of italics for emphasis, several times on every page, is perhaps most charitably to be understood as a form of highlighting for those who have mislaid their own Magic Markers.'

The Los Angeles Times: '[...] it's hard to imagine anyone, after reading "The Lost Symbol," debating about Freemasonry in Washington, the way people did Brown's radical vision of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in "Code." That book hit a deep cultural nerve for obvious reasons; "The Lost Symbol" is more like the experience on any roller coaster -- thrilling, entertaining and then it's over.'

Buy The Lost Symbol at Amazon.co.uk!

Related Articles