The Da Vinci Code - Robert Langdon #2

       This is one book that is truly beyond words, but I'll try my best. The plot is as follows: The curator of Louvre is murdered and the best suspect is the person who was supposed to meet him for drinks that night - Robert Langdon. The captain of DCPJ, Bezu Fache is sure that Langdon is the killer. Meanwhile the real killer is busy planning his next move as things are not what they seem. What appears to be the murder of a museum curator turns into a hunt for the most mysterious treasure of all time: The Holy Grail. And finally after a Dan Brown styled reveal, the secret is also uncovered.

                   Dan Brown's way of telling a story is very mature and even though it contains a lot of details and references to several real and imaginary books, it isn't like reading a text book. There is always a hunt. There is always the underlying sense of thrill in his books that keeps the adrenaline rushing till you finish reading it. His books all follow a certain pattern. First, there's a murder or death and then the scene shifts to wherever Robert is and how he is pulled into the scene of the crime. Then we are shown alternately what the hero and the secret  villain do. Finally there is a huge reveal and the villain turns out to be the most unexpected person. This might seem simple but hiding the identity of a person who is already introduced in the book is no easy task.

                   Finding a motive for a seemingly innocent person to turn into a villain is yet another feat that Dan Brown accomplishes every single time. For a guy like me, who knows only about Indian mythology, books about the history of Christianity is a refreshing change. For one, I didn't know anything about the rise of Christianity after Jesus's resurrection. And Wikipedia might be informative but it's definitely not interesting. So, you could say Dan Brown's books read like a very interesting and thrilling encyclopedia. The sheer amount of research that goes into each of his books is very easy to ignore as we get lost in the world of thrill that he creates.

                   The details and the thrill would be of no use if the characters were lifeless. But here they have more than enough life. From Leigh Teabing to Sister Sandrine, all the characters are all well explained. After reading a young adult novel that's all about sarcasm and comedy, this serious novel is a wonderful treat.

              Another great reason to like this book is the fact that this is probably the only book where an intelligent person is shown to be attractive. Maybe all the women that he meets are sapiosexual. In this book, the woman who steals the professor's heart is Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer with the DCPJ who just happens to be the granddaughter of the dead curator. 

                 This awesome book has also inspired one of the best authors in India, Ashwin Sanghi. He writes mythological and historical fiction. I can go on and on about him and his writing style for hours but I'll save that for the review of his latest book, Sialkot Saga that I am planning to re-read in the near future.

        Even though it was really difficult to get a few quotes without revealing any secrets, I have managed to do so and here they are:

Langdon nodded absently. Symbologists often remarked that France—a country renowned for machismo, womanizing, and diminutive insecure leaders like Napoleon and Pepin the Short—could not have chosen a more apt national emblem than a thousand-foot phallus. 

The smile that grew on Teabing's face was almost obscene. "Robert, you've brought me a virgin?" 

"That's all?" Teabing fired Langdon a scandalous look. "Robert, I thought you were a gentleman. You've robbed her of the climax!" "I know, I thought perhaps you and I could..." Langdon apparently decided the unseemly metaphor had gone far enough. Teabing already had Sophie locked in his twinkling gaze. "You are a Grail virgin, my dear. And trust me, you will never forget your first time."  

"Indeed." Teabing grinned. "The more penises you have, the higher your rank. Boys will be boys." 

Sophie felt the hairs stand up on her arms. "But how could a secret that big be kept quiet all of these years?"     

The rating is:

10/10 - Awesome