Book 7 and 8

Stevenson Under the Palm Trees - Alberto Manguel

SUTPT is a novella about Robert Louis Stevenson's final days in Samoa. Best known for writing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson moved his family to Samoa due to his ill health. This little piece of fiction is called a psychological thriller. Psychological, yes. Thriller? Naah. It could have reached that point with a little more action and probably another 100 pages (the book is only about 100 pages in all) but for me it ended up just being a little book about nothing. Maybe I missed some subtle nuances to the writing, but over all it just wasn't that exciting.

What Manguel did VERY well was paint the picture of Stevenson's Samoa. I could almost taste the tropical humidity.


The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Our good friend Robert Langdon is back and apparently can't keep himself out of trouble. Isn't he getting too old for these shenanigans? Langdon's good friend in Washington asks him to fly out to give a speech at an event he's hosting, but it's a bit rushed - Langdon has to hop on a jet to arrive that evening as the arranged speaker had to back out last minute. Langdon is such a good guy he agrees and hilarity ensues. Oh, that's not right, of course there's no hilarity! There's mystery, codes to solve, murder, and a race around Washington. So, typical stuff for Dan Brown.

If you liked The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, you'll probably like the Lost Symbol. Although the read went quickly for me, it isn't as easy to immerse yourself in, and I found it a little difficult at first. There are some parts that drag and I've heard some people even call it "bloated" but I don't know if I'd go that far.

The "BIG HUGE SHOCK" at the end is no big huge shock and I actually had it picked out right at the beginning. And the end of the book really is longer than it needs to be.

My big complaint is this: How many times do you need to say "esoteric" in a book, Dan? In one part he used it twice in the same sentence! Get a thesaurus, man.

I did enjoy the Lost Symbol, but not nearly as much as Angels and Demons, by far his best book of tree. I'm glad I own Angels and Demons, and I'm glad I borrowed The Lost Symbol.