A Book Review: The Lost Symbol

A Book Review: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Intro: Having finished reading renowned novelist Dan Brown’s latest installment, The Lost Symbol, I have decided to write a review for this novel. The Lost Symbol is Brown’s third novel featuring Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon who also appeared in ‘Angels and Demons’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code” (both were made into Hollywood blockbusters with Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon). Like the four other heart-racing thrillers written by Brown (Deception Point, Digital Fortress and the other two mentioned above), The Lost Symbol is also a fascinating and fast-paced read.

Plot: Well, the story begins with the protagonist Robert Langdon being summoned to Washington D.C. by his mentor Peter Solomon, who is a prominent 33rd degree Mason (aka Freemason) to deliver a lecture in the US Capitol Building. However, upon his arrival, it turns out that Solomon’s kidnapper is the one who summons Langdon to DC to help him gets his hands on the Legendary Masonic Pyramid in order to get access to the Masonic secrets (aka the Ancient Mysteries). With the assistance of several Masons, Langdon and Solomon’s sister Katherine who is a Noetic scientist manage to escape from the agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The encryption on the Masonic Pyramid is successfully decrypted by the pair and the information is given to Solomon’s kidnapper subsequently. In the end, the real identity of the relentless kidnapper is revealed, he is Zachary Solomon (he called himself Malakh), the long-believed dead son of Peter Solomon. The decryption leads Zachary to the House of Temple but he is later killed when the CIA arrives. The injured Peter Solomon (whose hand is cut off by Zachary in the beginning of the novel) guides Langdon and Katherine to the spiral stairway hidden in DC and it is revealed that the Bible holds the long-lost wisdom of the ancient. The Bible itself is the Ancient Mystery.

Pros: The Lost Symbol is no literary masterpiece, but it is definitely an entertaining novel by the great story-teller. I have heard of Freemasons from various sources (including a movie: National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage) but didn’t know much about the brotherhood. From this novel, I learn about their rituals, the degrees within the fraternity and so much else about Freemasonry, and now, I want to learn even more about them. Other than the fascinating facts about Freemasonry, Brown’s tantalizing and thundering style of writing makes the novel an extremely fun and exhilarating ride.

Cons: The Lost Symbol is a good read, but, not as good as the previous ones. Brown’s fast-paced writing style and interesting plot-development are the reasons why readers love his novels. His signature plot-twist is always unexpected, sending shocks to his readers upon revelation of certain conspiracy or the real identity of some prominent figures (Angels and Demons: the chamberlain turns out to be the pope’s son and he is the one who murdered the pope. Deception Point: the director of NRO who is the good guy in the beginning turns out to be the bad guy in the end.). The plot twist in The Lost Symbol is the revelation of Malakh’s real identity. It was suprising and unexpected, who would think that Peter Solomon’s long-believed dead son is still alive and he is the one who kidnapped his own father? The twist is a good one, but, a single plot twist isn’t adequate to satisfy the readers, given that his previous novels often had 2-3 plot-twists.

The character development is weak in this novel. Characters are under-developed and Robert Langdon appears to be skeptical in almost everything, which is annoying. He keeps on saying “I don’t believe this, I don’t believe that, this is not possible”, blah, blah, blah. In the end, everything he doesn’t believe in turns out to be a hundred percent true, making him look like a total dim-wit. Besides, the dialogue is lame and uninteresting. The conversations are repeated from time to time.

A few parts of the plot aren’t logical, for instance, the fact that Zachary Solomon (just got out of the Turkish Prison) went back to the Solomon Manor to steal the Masonic Pyramid when he could simply accept his father’s offer of receiving the “wisdom” (looking after the Masonic Pyramid) instead of the “wealth”. Other than that, Peter Solomon did not seem to be upset when his son died. Wouldn’t a father cry or even pass out when he sees his own son die in front of him? No, not in Peter Solomon’s case, he did not shed a tear when he lost his son and was still able to speak calmly and even guide Langdon and Katherine to the location of the Ancient Mysteries with no problem. In addition, the ending is rather dissatisfying and the revelation of the Ancient Mysteries doesn’t seem convincing either.

Conclusion: The Lost Symbol has its pros and cons. I’d rate it 3.5 over 5. Although it isn’t as good as the previous thrillers written by Dan Brown, it is still an entertaining novel worth buying.

Your Story entry~!!!

The drover ran as fast as he could. The lake! Jump into the lake and I’ll be safe. He turned abruptly and headed toward the lake. Shit! I can’t swim! He quickly changed his direction again and sprinted toward the farmhouse. Behind, the sound of footsteps was getting nearer, the ‘thing’ was nearing. The roof! I’ll be safe on the rooftop. He dashed toward a pillar and began climbing up. Faster! He was reaching for the crossbeam, when, all of a sudden, the ‘thing’ grabbed his feet. He panicked. The next thing he knew he was being pulled down violently.

David Villa

A school assignment~

If I were given a chance to be anybody, I would definitely want to be the Spanish striker and Barcelona football star David Villa. The reasons are simple, as a world-class footballer, I could gain fame, fortune and most importantly, reputation.

Football had always been my favorite sport since young, and now, as a professional footballer, I would play football not only for myself but also for my supportive family and my die-hard supporters. I would never let them down. I would lead my club Barcelona towards victory in the Spanish La Liga League and then we would get to challenge the European giants Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Having defeated the European’s best football clubs, we would finally receive the most prominent title in European football – the European Champion.

Being one of the best footballers in the world, sooner or later, I’d probably get selected as the FIFA World Player of The Year by the international football association. However, becoming the world’s best player would not stop me from making further improvements. I would keep on practicing to enhance my imperfect skills so that one day, I would be able to lead the Spain national football team to win the world’s most well-known and prestigious football tournament – the FIFA World Cup. Having achieved so much, I would undoubtedly become a famous and highly-respected footballer admired by millions of people around the globe.

Besides fame and reputation, as the world’s highest-paid football star, I would gain a substantial amount of fortune. With the fortune I had acquired, I’d buy a big and luxurious manor for my parents and also employ lots of servants and maids to ensure my mum that she would never ever need to worry about the troublesome household chores anymore. Besides, the money could be used for charitable purposes such as donating and providing aid to the poor. Moreover, I would also like to make the slightest contribution to the society by providing funds for the development of the community towards a better future.

If only I were given the chance to be David Villa, if only……

A Fiction: Exotic Pleasure

Blood spilt all over the ground as the man stabbed his victim on the waist under the faint moonlight. The man removed his bloody knife from his victim’s body, only to forcefully thrust it once again at the same wounded spot. The rhythm was continued for several more times, until the unfortunate victim fell to his knees. He unhinged his jaws, trying to moan, but not a sound came out, his strength was utterly drained away by the unbearable pain. Pressing his palm on his bleeding wound, slowly, he stopped struggling and collapsed entirely to the ground. The man went motionless; his gasping sound could be heard no more, lying lifelessly with his eyes wide opened on the cold pavement along the stark and desolated streets.

The murderer glared at the deceased body in front of him, at first he made no expression. He looked at his own hands with his soulless eyes, both of them stained with the fresh blood of his newest victim. Staring once again at the corpse he had created, he smirked wickedly. The man wasn’t his first victim, but he was unlucky enough to become the prey of this blood-thirsty murderer.

Criminals aren’t complicated, they always have plans, whether to earn an ill-gotten fortune, or to bring vengeance to the ones they resent. They are all schemers. But this man was no schemer; he was a man without plans. All he wanted was to kill, to watch his victims begging for mercy, to feel blood splattered all over himself and to enjoy the very last moments of his dying victims. Money wasn’t what he wanted; he was a descendant of a fairly rich family and had inherited a substantial amount of fortune from his parents when they passed away. He made no intention to make a fortune by stealing his victims’ money or jewellery, he didn’t even bother looking for their wallets. His life was extremely dull as he was living a luxurious life without any worries, pleasure was what he demand, the pleasure to kill. To him, killing was exciting and satisfying; he could obtain limitless satisfaction that nothing else could give.

The smell of blood gave him excitement, like a powerful vitality booster, making him wanting to search for his next victim. He stripped off an old metal crucifix hanging upon the chest of the dead body and stuffed it into his pocket. To avoid any unnecessary attention or eye-witnesses, he strode away quickly in quiet paces. The blood-stained knife was still in his tightly clench fist as blood was still dripping from the blade that had destroyed a handful of innocent and pitiful souls as he was pacing along the narrow alleyway.

Darkness started to fade away from the starless sky, dawn was slowly approaching, and the murderer knew that his joyful time was almost over. As he was wiping the blood away from his beloved murdering asset with a piece of ragged cloth in his limousine, he heard someone screaming in terror from the adjacent avenue, a wide and evil grin appeared on his face. Without any hesitation, he drove off satisfyingly with his newest prize in his pocket.

My Dream Story of Success

http://www.sunway.edu.my/mysuccess





Success, is merely a simple word, a combination of letters, but, the state of being successful is something everyone longed and desired for.

The definition of success may vary in the eyes of different people. To some people, success means fame and wealth or even social standing, while others may consider success as a great achievement in life such as running a rosy business, acquiring a blissful marriage, having a good job, getting a pay raise or even becoming a winner in the 3D lottery.

When I was young, success was something rather complicated and hard to understand. Once, I asked my mum and she told me that becoming a doctor or a lawyer is what we call success, but, from other people and other sources, I was given different answers. I was puzzled and I went through my entire childhood in total bewilderment.

But now that I've grown up, I have my own interpretation for the word "success". Being able to turn our dreams into reality and being able to make the impossible things possible after paying tonnes of hard work, determination and perseverance, that is what I call success.

For me, a so-called book-lover and an aspiring author, becoming a published novelist is what I aim for and what I hope to become in the near future(you'll probably see the name Bryan Tan as the author in some best-selling novels in the next decade).

Yes, I may confess that I'm a nerd as I was never active in sports. Some people say that I'm a boring person, but, the allegation of those dim-wits is utterly untrue. I may be inactive in sports, but I have a passion for writing. Besides reading, writing had always been my deepest interest since young. Whenever I showed my parents or teachers my works, they were often impressed. Their compliments were powerful, comparable to nukes, serving as great motivations and encouragements for me to carry on writing even better essays. They really influenced me a lot, without those praises, I wouldn't have become what I am today(a passionate writer).

Now, as a 17-year-old, apart from studies, I spend most of my time composing and writing various short stories during my past time. Writing is fun, nothing else could give me that much joy and satisfaction.

When I sit at my desk with papers and pencil, or when I sit before my computer with my fingers glued to the keyboard, the feeling is incredible. Writing or typing doesn't matter anymore as long as I can express my feelings through poems, create a surreal world full of adventures and make up an arousing story which may stun my parents and friends. The feeling is indescribable, whenever I write, adrenaline will flow through my blood violently and instantaneously not because I'm suffering from fear or heart attack but simply because of dire excitement. In theory, adrenaline rush often occurs to a person when he is excited or being frightened, but for me, Bryan The So-Called Nerd, adrenaline surges whenever I write!

Dreams come true if we act to turn them into realities. Becoming a successful novelist is my dream, and I'm going all out to achieve it. Firstly, I will finish my final year of high school, pass all exams with flying colours and major in both English and Creative Writing at a university. The double major will allow me to acquire an advanced proficiency in English and will also make me a much decent writer abundant of knowledge and creativity. Next, I will embark on an epic journey to become a professional novelist even if it takes years or decades of efforts to strive for it and finally, I will reach the peak and become one of the best in my field with various best-selling novels (thrillers, fantasies, or even fairy tales).

Being the best in one's field may be the ultimate goal for some people but for me, success is an on-going process, not a destination. There will be no ending line for my career as a novelist, being the best would not stop me from writing, instead, I will create more and more distinguished, fabulous and inspirational stories for readers who support me whole-heartedly.

As a successful novelist/writer, I will write to inspire the minds and souls of millions, for the world will always need an inspirational writer like me to keep their hearts cultivated and souls motivated for the development of a better tomorrow.

Keep that in your minds, never say never to your dreams even though people may mock at you or even laugh at you as they may think that your dreams are unattainable or you are merely a Dreamer. Remember, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

As for me, my dream serves as my life mission. No matter what happens, I will pursue my dream of becoming a successful novelist until the end of my life.

For writing is my life. Writing completes me.

What We Can Do To Save Our Environment

Earth, also known as the Blue Planet, is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist. Inhabited by millions of species including humans, Earth was created distinctively. The variety of life forms on Earth, its biological diversity is widely referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of animals, plants, microorganisms and the different ecosystems on the planet are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where every single species, no matter big or small, have an important role to play. Yet, the irresponsible acts of humans have greatly and gravely affected the precarious balance, thus, causing a serious problem known as biodiversity crisis. Humans, have caused pollutions of various kinds and as a result, habitats of animals were destroyed, precious natural resources were contaminated and finally global warming and climate change started to occur. These terrible repercussions are the main reasons why global biodiversity crisis is happening and as the inhabitants of this planet, actions ought to be taken by us to save our environment from destruction.

In today’s society, electricity is essential for us in our daily lives and more than 80% of electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. By burning coal or other fuels, green-house gases which will lead to environmental pollution, green-house effect and global warming are emitted. According to research, an average home powered by a coal utility will burn more than 10,000 pounds of coal a year and will cause about the same amount of pollutions as 2 fuel-powered vehicles. To save our environment, renewable energy such as water power and wind power should be used instead. By using renewable energy as the primary power source, the reduction of pollution per household would be equivalent to that of planting 400 trees.

Renewable energy produces minimal amounts of pollution and harmful gases and is infinite as it will never run out. One of the best and most reliable energy comes from the sun, which is the solar energy. By using solar panels, solar energy is captured and can be used to generate electricity and to heat water. Besides, wind power is also very sustainable and dependable as it could not possibly deplete. According to Chris Goodall, a prestigious environmentalist and also the author of a few popular science books, there are sufficient sites for wind turbines to generate 72 terrawatts of electricity, which is about thirty times the world’s electricity requirement. Apart from these two renewable energy, hydropower too should be widely used to generate electricity as rivers and streams are among nature’s most powerful forces. Moreover, biomass and geothermal energy which bring almost zero pollution are also great renewable resources that should be introduced to the public. Apparently, renewable energy has better efficiency and is also far more eco-friendly compared to fossil fuels.

In the 21st century, vehicles such as cars and vans are used for transporting and travelling. The conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) are used by the majority of people all around the globe. These vehicles use petrol or diesel as their power sources and are extremely “eco-destructive” as the emissions generated by them seriously pollute the environment. As a solution, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) which are commonly known as hybrids should be used instead as they give off less emissions into the air. Hybrids are vehicles designed for reducing pollution and also saving the environment. They rely on both the engine and the electric motors and so less fuel is consumed as electricity is also used. Each hybrid has an electric battery as its alternative power source and electricity can be captured and stored in it. These electric batteries could recapture significant amounts of energy during braking that are normally wasted as heat. This regenerative braking could actually supply quite a great amount of electricity that can be used to generate the vehicle without consuming much fuel. Furthermore, some hybrids do not even need a single drop of petrol or diesel as the power source as they use electric batteries as well as fuel cells(use hydrogen as fuel) only. Obviously, hybrid electric vehicles are way better compared to the combustion engine vehicles as they produce minimal or even no pollution.

Plastic is one of the most disastrous inventions ever created in the human history. The use of plastic should be avoided whenever we can as they are not bio-degradable and has led to the poisoning and death of many sea creatures. Instead of using the environmentally harmful plastic bags, we should use reusable shopping bags (some call it green bags and they are usually made of fabric) when we go to the supermarkets. Many people claim that they actually do re-use the plastic shopping bags but will still dispose them eventually when they get too dirty. By using the reusable shopping bags which can be washed easily, the use of plastic bags which will take forever to disintegrate could be avoided. Besides, reusable shopping bags actually require less waste of natural resources and less emission of carbon dioxide to produce than plastic bags. There is no doubt, reusable shopping bags are eco-friendly products which could help to save our environment.

Nowadays, continuous deforestation has become a serious problem. As all of us know, trees absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during photosynthesis to produce glucose. In recent years, the amount of carbon dioxide increases as many forests were destructed. The increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to green-house effect and also global warming. To stop this, the act of continuous deforestation ought to be stopped. The frequency of deforestation should be decreased to a reasonable extent and new trees should be planted immediately after deforestation is done. By doing these, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will surely plunge like never before.

To save the environment, individuals should start doing things that are environmental friendly in their daily lives. For example, one can organize a car pool for work or school with your colleagues or schoolmates to reduce the emission of green-house gases. By doing this, the destruction of environment is being delayed or even being ceased. As a responsible individual, we should cut down the use of electrical appliances. Being one of the most used electrical appliances, air conditioners are extremely destructive to the environment. We use air conditioning to cool our little micro environment, house, car, school, but by doing this we are transmitting the heat and harmful gases into the external environment, thus contributing to global warming. Other than air-conditioners, the use of lights should also be reduced to minimal during daytime to save energy. In addition, we should plug all of our appliances into a power strip in one particular area and turn the switch to “off” when finish using all appliances for energy conservation. By doing the slightest and simplest things, our environment could be saved.

Earth, is the only place with suitable temperature, gravity and atmosphere for humans to inhabit. As time goes by, the human civilization is getting more and more advanced, meanwhile, extinction started to be faced by more and more species. Is it just a co-incidence? Perhaps not. Humans are the ones who are causing biological diversity crisis, humans are the ones who are polluting their own environment, and humans, are also the ones who are devastating their own planet, their only place to live. Should we allow these horrible acts continue to get carried on? No, they had to be stopped, with the co-operation provided by the entire human race. Work together, and we shall drive the slightest possibility of environmental destruction out of our homes, out of our countries, out of our lives!