Musings Of Two Creative Minds

     Today I’m turning the reins over to guest blogger Tanmay Jain, who has just finished reading another one of Dan Brown’s famous Robert Langdon novels.    Take it away, Tanmay…

Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

Book Review

About the Author:

     Dan Brown is an American author of thriller novels, most notably the Robert Langdon stories: Angels & Demon, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno and Origin. His other books include Deception Point and Digital Fortress. He is mostly known for the book The Da Vinci Code. Three of his books, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and Inferno have been made into successful films.

Plot Introduction:

     The story starts with Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor and art historian being called down to Switzerland by CERN Director, Maximilian Kohler, when one of his most brilliant scientists, Leonardo Vetra, has been murdered with an ambigram seared into his chest, ‘Illuminati’. Robert Langdon, being a specialist in the satanic group, teams up with Vittoria Vetra, the daughter of the deceased to stop a seemingly-impossible plan of the Illuminati to carry out the plan they dreamed of for centuries, the destruction of their biggest enemy, the Vatican.

Book Review:

     Dan Brown is no doubt a mast of his game. His books are laden with intricate and complex plots filled with detailed and accurate research. Angels and Demons is no less.

     As with the majority, I read The Da Vinci Code before Angels and Demons. While the previous was a pure masterpiece, the latter obviously did not meet its standards. This book’s beginning was no that interest-ingiting. The first fifty pages are a little bit of a bore. One has to go through those to reach the real fun that begins after Robert Langdon reaches Vatican City. Before that, the book does not resemble the page-turning flavor that is usually found in Dan Brown books.

     One great marvel about the book’s narration is what a collection of short stories it is. In between the main narrative, which itself is joined with a few other smaller story-lines, there are little stories strewn in. The background stories, Langdon giving a brief about relevant history as the plot progresses really increases the depth of the story and helps in connecting the reader to the characters. The books I also quite informative about art history which is its main theme. The workings of the Vatican, art history of the Illuminati, and certain masterpieces are brilliantly added to the narrative without making it tedious.

     While the main suspense about the plot, that is, the identity’s of the killer is kept until the end, many smaller surprises are revealed and many smaller questions are answered regularly to keep the reader hooked. The book quite easily inspires an unnecessarily loud ‘WHAT?’ from the reader.

     The characters of the book were well-written and deeply explained. While Kohler remained a big mystery and Janus and Hassassin’s character showed the much darker tone of the book. The merging of the multiple story-lines and similarly a single story-line being divided into two story-lines is radiantly maneuvered.

    The writing is filled with creative metaphors and similes, some of which, again introduce small stories of the character’s past. The plot of the book while deeply informative and thrilly is not as complicated as the other books. The ambigrams in the book were quite a delight and seem to be the main flair of its popularity.

     The title of the book is quite poetic and resemble the two different tones of the book, as aforementioned, that of Langdon and Hassassin’s. While the original cover was not available to me, I saw it on Wikipedia. The title was also an ambigram.

Plot – 7.5/10                                                 Research – 10/10

Narrative – 9/10                                         Cover – 8.5/10

Title – 9/10

Thanks so much Tanmay.  For anyone wishing to see more of Tanmay’s insights and writings, here are some links: