They do not use the same formula as the Langdon novels. I strongly recommend that you read his stand-alone works Digital Fortress and Deception Point which are excellent. He isn’t the most eloquent of authors but I do like the ways he puts together all of the research and the brisk pace he moves you through conflicts. For me, I just like to sit back and enjoy the ride. He is a very polarizing writer because of his formula and style. In my conversations with other readers, over the years regarding Browns’ work, I think either you love him or you don’t love him so much – no middle ground. The novel is narrated by Paul Michael who did a good job but a touch monochromatic for my taste. This time-lock story formula and lack of character depth places him at a significant disadvantage that he more than makes up for with interesting facts, plausible fibs and fast paced action. Langdon awakes in a hospital with a head injury, in Italy and without a clue to how he got there then the game is on. The problem with all Langdon novels is that they happen over such a short timeframe, you don’t get a chance for much character development and very little backstory. Brown uses the same formula for his new novel, Inferno, substituting the Bible for Dante. Robert Langdon of Di Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Has it been almost four years since the last Dan Brown novel? Yes it has! In his latest work, Inferno, Brown pulls out the unflappable symbologist Dr. A good pizza-read, and who doesn't love pizza? Paul Michael does a great job as narrator and tour-guide. You want another Dan Brown/Langdon-you got it. I also noticed Langdon has become a little snarky, taking pot shots at the turistas, poking fun at those guide-book toting Americanos, while he should have been paying attention to where he next placed his Italian loafered-foot on the cat-walk (oopsie! look out below). As a do-over, and if it was offered, I would do the *gasp* abridged version. More so than Brown's previous novels, I thought this was a bit padded (maybe that is because it seemed written for the silver screen, even to the point of describing the minutiae of the on-lookers, the horse-toothed girl getting her picture drawn near the Academe, etc.). If the formula has lost its luster to you, enjoy the new scenery and history, like I did (easily worth a star). Brown is nothing if not consistent so you get what you know you are getting better than Lost Symbol, not as good as Da Vinci Code a solid middle grounder. Both Brown and Langdon are in fine form here: Brown sends us on an almost scenic, fact-based excursion through the cathedrals, museums, and art hot spots, and Langdon dodges bullets, the Italian Polizia, untangling a sinister plot (with the prerequisite political statements ala Brown). Dan Brown has his formula, as do most authors, and there is no sign here that he is trying to fix what was almost broke with his last Langdon adventure (The Lost Symbol). Unless - like our cerebral hero Langdon at the opening of Inferno - we find ourselves suffering from retrograde amnesia, it's impossible to not be reminded of the previous Langdon installments when reading this latest clue-seeking romp through the art treasures of Florence and Venice or for that matter, comparing the previous 3 novels with Brown's latest. Paved with good intentions.hold the anchovies Brown's writing style is sloppy, and (remarkably) Robert Langdon remains under-developed and again appears as a "I have no life or personality" character who is marginally affected by the remarkable situations and events in the plot. The reader is treated to the same "lectures about things the world has not understood" - this time about Dante, Florence, vector viruses, and overpopulation of the world. This time Robert Langdon wakes up in hospital with amnesia, meets a beautiful woman-with-whom-he-does-not-get-involved, immediately witnesses a murder, and goes on the run with her to escape from people trying to kill him while he pursues the symbolism in Dante's Inferno to save the world from a deadly virus created by a madman. The best I can say is that Paul Michael does a good job narrating this sad, formulaic, trip down the same road traveled in Brown's prior books. I have just finished Dan Brown's newest book, Inferno, and can't tell you it was worth the time I spent slogging through it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |