Book Review - Inferno

Title: Inferno

Written By: Dan Brown

This review is sponsored by: http:/www.mysmartprice.com



About Dan Brown (Few lines from the book) –

Dan Brown is the author of The Da Vinci Code, one of the most widely read novels of all time, as well as two other international bestsellers featuring Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, The Lost Symbol and Angels & Demons. He has also written two stand alone thrillers, Deception Point and Digital Fortress. He lives in New England with his wife.

ISBN:  978-0593072493

Cover Price: Rs. 750.00

Rating:  4/5

Something about the book (from the book’s cover):

‘Seek and you shall find.’

With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Rober Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.

A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon’s knowledge of the hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.

With only a few lines from Dante’s dark and epic masterpiece, Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance – sculptures, paintings, buildings – to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat....

Set against an extraordinary landscape inspired by one of history’s most ominous literary classics, Inferno is Dan Brown’s most compelling and thought-provoking novel yet, a breathless race-against-time thriller that will grab you from page one and not let you go until you close the book.

Now for my View:

I think I was still in college when I first read Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code’. It was released in 2003 I think but it took me atleast 4 years to put my hands on it. I still remember reading it or rather being engrossed in it as I devoured it one page at a time. To sum it up, I loved it! When “Inferno” released I decided, I wouldn’t take another 4 years to lay my hands on this one and here I am with its review.

Brown’s Harris Tweed-clad professor cum world savior, Robert Langdon finds himself in a hospital bed in Florence, Italy. He has no recollection of having travelled there, not even an inkling of how he was injured. But before he could get these questions answered, he finds himself on the run in the streets of Florence with a blond doctor, Sienna Brooks. From Florence to Venice to Istanbul, Langdon races against time to save the world from a weapon of catastrophic proportions created by a mad scientist as an answer to over population. Does he succeed in saving the world? Well, perhaps he does in away. You’d have to read to find out, wouldn’t you?

Well, if I wouldn’t have read Da Vinci Code I wouldn’t have said this but as is always the case with Langdon, in this book too his side kick is an above average beautiful woman. So yes to a certain extent it is predictable but then after having read the entire book, I’d say it is truly insignificant. There are a lot of things I loved about the book. I’d simply give Brown a thumps up for sketching a plot around ‘Inferno’, the first part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy. Just thinking about it and writing a mystery thriller around it deserves some accolades, don’t you think?

If Da Vinci Code was ambitious, then Inferno would have to be a painting on a bigger canvas. Yes, that’s how colossal the plot is.

And then the details of Inferno, Dante’s works, Florence, Venice and the paintings are so vivid, that ignoring its brilliance would be impossible. I for one am filled with the desire to walk into those museums and soak in the magic of everything described in Inferno. Truly, Brown has not only evoked an interest in Dante’s works with his book but also created many future travelers to the beautiful cities he described in it.

The story, I agree, is a little foreseeable but then most stories are, aren’t they? It’s the way a tale is told that makes it appealing. I liked reading Inferno. I ran along with Langdon and Sienna following one clue after the other. I soaked in the beauty of Florence with him. I travelled through gardens, museums, and churches and savored the architecture of Florence, Venice and Istanbul through Langdon’s eyes.  I felt the anxiety and helplessness at not knowing what the weapon could be. Well, in a nutshell, I caressed every turn in the book and that for me makes a good read.

So if you are not too finicky and have no preconceived notions about Brown, do read Inferno, if for nothing else then atleast for the great works and cities described in it. 

***

A word about the great people from mysmartprice.com who made it possible for me to read this book. I am glad that I am part of their review program. They don’t just send you any book but the best books out there that one could get their hands on. You can find this and more amazing books on their website.

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