Sunday, June 1, 2014

Book Review – Inferno, Dan Brown

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Think of Indiana Jones without his whip and scintillating daredevilry and that is Robert Langdon for you. This middle-aged art professor – yes, middle-aged – makes up for what he lacks in adventures with his extreme intellect and ability to remember and interpret art and history at will. Considered to be the author Dan Brown’s alter ego, Robert Langdon is appearing for the fourth time in Dan Brown’s works – the other novels being the most widely read ‘Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels & Demons’ and, the less popular work, ‘The Lost Symbol’.

The novel begins with one of the lead characters jumping to his death from one of the important landmarks in Florence, Italy. The next chapter begins with Langdon waking up with amnesia in one of the hospitals in Florence, with an assassin arriving to kill him. Langdon barely manages to escape with the help of the young doctor Sienna Brooks. Taking Langdon to the relative safety of her apartment, she informs Langdon about a strange object, a steel tube with biohazard symbol found inside his jacket pocket, and enquires about it. What follows then forms the rest of the novel.

In all his previous works Langdon was focused on saving individuals and groups, but this time he is launched on a journey to save the world from the evil machinations of a mad scientist. If I say anything more, it could spoil the plot for you. Better pick the book and read it for yourself.

You ought to give it to Dan Brown for his unmatched ability to weave a vivid tapestry of fictional works that include more than mere thrill and rush of adrenalin. Every book of Dan Brown, once you are done reading it, makes you feel wiser in terms of history, art, geography, science and architecture. Inferno is no different. Adding to the wonder of the plot is his genius of bringing one of the classics of world literature, 'Divine Comedy' of Dante Alighieri into play and constructing a brilliant plot around it.

If you are a bookworm that loves reading meaningful works of fiction and perfect thrillers, Inferno is the one for you. This is a book that begins as racy as it can, contains as many twists and turns in the plot as that of a Grand Prix race track and ends in a way that you cannot even imagine. Even Dante must be smiling from his grave at the way his magnum opus has been brought to life by Dan Brown and used to create mystery in the minds of the readers. Read it people. You won’t be disappointed.

Ashok Kumar

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