The Secret of Secrets

 I just finished Dan Brown’s 688-page latest novel The Secret of Secrets, a title his protagonist Robert Langdon explains just as the book comes to an end. Although I was warned by a reader that I trust that this was not Dan Brown’s best work, I must strongly disagree. This was a page-turner and I got little else done until I finished, including staying up late and getting up early to keep reading. While he does seem to slip in some supernatural material to which I would normally object, I thought this all flowed well with his main theme. The main idea he pursues is that a new understanding of human consciousness is coming, based on longstanding human beliefs as well as very new scientific findings, all of which is being delivered by Katherine Solomon, Langdon’s colleague who has enticed him to meet her in Prague for a conference in which she is the headline speaker.

The findings suggested by Solomon have important implications for psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience, religion, spirituality, and politics. As you begin to read, it would be helpful to look up the term “noetic,” and perhaps contrast that with “intuition” since that is the point that Brown uses to dive into this  story. Noetic medicine is an important trend in modern medicine. Quickly we learn that Solomon is in danger by forces that feel endangered by the release of her ideas, a danger that Solomon had never anticipated and one that Langdon did not immediately understand. As a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst, this reviewer found the author’s dive into psychiatric terminology and diagnosis to be accurate for the most part. The discussion of brain chemistry is woven into the story, and that’s well done (this coming from someone who has been prescribing psychotropic medications for more than 50 years). He describes the universal fear of death as being critical to the consciousness of all humans.

 

This is a murder mystery and love story that is laid out with great characters and a perfectly designed plot. I’ll give Dan Brown an A+ on this work. Finally, Brown ties together the main plot and subplots with a most satisfying and optimistic view of what the new meaning of consciousness has for the future of human life. Could my first book in 2026 be the best of the year? Could be.

Origin

Origin is Dan Brown’s latest novel, and this one is far different from The Da Vinci Code. In this book, he novelizes the concepts of Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who wrote The Singularity is Near, but Brown took it further in thinking about the implications for our societal institutions, especially the religious institutions. Kurweil predicted that the literal fusion of human beings and computers was close at hand as we humans lean on computers to do some functions that they can do so much more efficiently than we can. I thought I had reviewed Kurzweil’s book in this blog, but it’s not here. Oh, well.

Rather than looking into the past, discovering the secret behind ancient art works, in this novel, Brown looks to the future. He starts by introducing his new antagonist, Edmond Kirsch, a brilliant man who has made billions of dollars through his technical knowledge. Kirsch was an avowed atheist who attacked the myths of religion with undying and unyielding vigor. Kirsch claimed that he had discovered the answers to the most important questions about human existence: Where did we come from? Where are we going? Kirsch was friends with Brown’s best protagonist, Robert Langdon, who had been Kirsch’s professor and mentor at Harvard. Kirsch invited Langdon to a gathering at the museum in Bilbao, Spain, where he planned to reveal his discoveries to the world. Only days before his presentation, Kirsch chose to meet with the three most important and powerful religious leaders in the world to tell them about his findings which, once revealed would threaten the existence of their institutions.

I don’t want to be plot spoiler, so you’ll have to read the book. I found the first 1/3 of the book to be excellent for introducing characters and setting up the plot. The middle 1/3 was a bit draggy, but the final 1/3 was a hold-onto-your-pants, can’t-put-it-down, roller coaster ride. This one gets a five star rating, and you’ll just have to read it to learn more. I see some other reviewers were disappointed with the novel, but I don't get that unless Brown was effectively challenging their own religious beliefs. I loved it.

Inferno by Dan Brown

The intrepid Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is back, this time in Florence. Only he doesn't remember how he got there or why he is there.

He got shot in the head, grazed actually, and wakes up in a Florence hospital being treated by a British woman MD with a >200 IQ and her own unique backstory. A spiked-haired woman tries to take Langdon out, but our hero escapes with help from the doc.

A shadowy consortium has targeted Langdon because he has something their client, a reclusive Swiss billionaire, wants. Of course, Langdon has no idea what it is. So he and the doc are on the run, being chased through the various halls of Florentine art treasures, helped by the doc being fluent in Italian.

Around 200 pages into this book, I quit . . . for 3 reasons, one minor, one moderate, one major.

Minor: it I want a lesson in Italian, I'll get a phrasebook.

Moderate:  It I want a tour of Florence's art/architecture history, I'll get a guidebook or go there and hire a guide.  At least a book will have photographs instead of page after page describing what Langdon is seeing or looking for.

Major: Amnesia done well can be valuable plot point. Case in point: Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity. But when the plot/chase stalls and is conveniently moved along by a snippet of a recollection or something that just pops into one's head, I start to feel like I'm being jerked around because the writer couldn't figure out a more credible way to keep the story rolling.

I'll admit, like everyone else, I read The DaVinci Code and then read Angels and Demons (which I like far better). Also read Digital Fortress and Deception Point, both of which were decent. But I wasn't so enthralled that I rushed out to get The Lost Symbol. Now I know why I tend to shy away from mass-market best sellers so prominent on the racks at supermarkets. When my pile has Daniel Woodrell (of Winter's Bone fame) and the first 2 in the Zoe Ferraris trilogy (Kingdom of Strangers) waiting,  whatever I may be reading better be pretty damn good to encourage me to let those wait; this ain't it. Others may like it and Brown has legions of fans so I won't begrudge anyone, but I can't waste my time on what I saw as a lazy effort.

ECD

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Once again, Robert Langdon is the main character, and the plot for discovering the meaning of hidden symbols takes place in Washington, D.C., rather than Rome, like The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. The primary characters with whom Langdon interacts are a brother and sister, Peter and Katherine Solomon, who come from significant old money and political influence. The story revolves around the history of the Masonic Lodge and the fact that many of our founding fathers, including George Washington and Ben Franklin were Masons. According to Masonic beliefs, there are Ancient Mysteries that contain the knowledge of the ancients who knew all, but their knowledge was lost and forgotten by mankind or hidden by those who had kept the knowledge intact for the time when man was ready to know it. The good news about this book is that the first half was good in terms of holding my interest, and it will probably make a good movie. The bad news is that the second half of the book was uninteresting and too convoluted. Those who want to destroy the Ancient Mysteries in order to keep mankind from being enlightened do battle with Robert, Peter, Katherine, and others, including the CIA. Throughout, Brown lets it be known that some new information has been gleaned by the characters, but he holds out from delivering that information to the reader. My response was, once the information was revealed, was one of disappointment. The end of the book, for the taste of this atheist, had too much Bible and too much god. I would not have finished the book except for my OCD approach to most things. My advice – wait for the movie.

WC Don