Inferno by Dan Brown (Originally Reviewed on 10 July’13 on goodreads)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Inferno, as one can guess from the name, revolves around Dante’s The Divine Comedy. It is the fourth book by Dan Brown which portrays Robert Langdon as the protagonist. Here, the book starts with Robert finding himself in a hospital bed in the beginning, having forgotten all the events of the previous two days because of the retrograde amnesia.
And then as usual follows a fast running tale into another world where there is a conspiracy, there are officials, some good and some bad and our hero is running to stop a catastrophe(in this case, plague) within a single day. You then get to travel to certain culturally-affluent locations to solve the riddle, which is necessary for the mission. In simple words, the plot line of this book is very similar to that of other such creations by Dan Brown.
Positive Points:-
1. The author took a slightly different turn in the starting.
2. The writing-style is quite good. The book indulges the reader to continue till the very end.
3. There were certain good thriller and suspense parts.
4. There are no brutal murders of priests/scientists in the book.
Negative Points:-
1. It is nothing new; it is now quite boring to read through the usual general plot.
2. The symbolic references in the book are very rare. This was one aspect I was looking forward to in the book but I was disappointed in the end.
3. Robert Langdon’s character sketch has really gone morbid.
4. The female lead of the novel is a worthless character. Her attributes are not at all clear.
Overall, it was not a bad read. But again, it was nothing new. The story was alright but there were many things that a reader could easily figure out even before the conception of related events in the story. I would recommend it in case you are impressed with Dan Brown’s writing skills and particularly for those who haven’t read other books by the author; I guess they will enjoy it.
I was soooo disappointed in this book. I found it difficult to read for the fact that it kept repeating itself and often took me far from the story to relate historical facts. I felt cheated when I discovered Langdon’s head wound wasn’t real – it just seemed like a dishonest way of going about getting the reader to feel sympathy.
I would have felt myself generous for giving it 2 out of 5 stars…
It was great to have another opinion that coincided with mine. 🙂
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🙂 I don’t know why I was generous in reviewing this book. Otherwise I am quite ruthless.
The character of Robert Langdon isn’t left with the same qualities.. and even the adventure component has declined since after Angels and Demons.
Still, I found it better than The Lost Symbol and that is saying something. 😀
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I didn’t read The Lost Symbol, but I did hear good things about it. The only books of his that I’ve read are Da Vinci and Angels and Demons. … and of course Inferno. I thought Langdon was lacking in personality in this one as well. It was like Brown had already described him as much as he was ever going to and didn’t bother this time at all.
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The Lost Symbol is um.. sorry I have no words because I didn’t like that book at all.
Yes, I guess Dan Brown must move ahead with some new protagonist now. And the worst thing about Inferno is that we did not get to read much about symbols or solve exciting riddles, which we enjoyed in The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.
I have read other two novels of the author which do not feature Langdon and they are mediocre at best.
I guess that is why he is clinging to Langdon.
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I actually wondered if he was simply under contract and HAD to write more Langdon. He certainly didn’t seem to put much effort into it.
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That may well be the reason.. Langdon has become a sale commodity. People buy because they are interested in his next adventure.
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I won’t again… you?
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I didn’t buy it even this time.. hehe.. I found a free e-book. 😀
don’t tell Mr. Brown.. 😀
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You’re lucky. I paid full price for mine.
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oh..
let’s hope we find a really good one, next time we go book shopping.. 🙂
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I’m reading “22/11/63” by Stephen King right now. So far so good. Only 3,000,000 pages left to go. haha
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true..his books are so lengthy. 😀
he is releasing another one soon.. right?
How does he write so many books!? I wonder…
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He’s just that good. Yeah, there’s a sequel to Salem’s Lot either coming out or recently out… 35 years later…
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I’ve read Salem’s Lot.. creepy! 😀 And I was left a little baffled by the end of the book..
I have read only a few of his works, among which, I liked The Dead Zone, the best.
Which one do you like the most?
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Toss up between Salem’s Lot and The Stand. I started reading him when I was about 14 years old. …yes, close to the time he started publishing… 😛
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that’s great.
I just started reading him last year. 🙂 earlier I hated him without even reading any of his work.. because everyone would say his writings are better than that of Sidney Sheldon.. and the latter one was my absolute favorite..
you know… 😀
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I have to admit it’s been so long since I read Sidney Sheldon that I don’t remember which ones I read.
Hey, maybe I’ll read him next! 🙂
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good idea.. I am no longer a mad fan.. so do tell me how do you like them… 😀
I’m right now reading the remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro.. quite interesting so far.. may be I’ll review it after having read it. 🙂
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Yes! I want to know how you liked it. I read “Never Let Me Go” by Ishiguro and I loved it.
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I liked it as well.. I especially like his writing-style. It is interesting how the protagonist loses himself/herself in the memories and those memories last for a whole chapter sometimes. Reading him is like reading a journal. You get to learn much about the protagonist that way.
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It’s captivating!
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This sounds like a good one to read in the car on a road trip where distractions aren’t going to ruin the book if you’ve read Brown’s others.
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I’ve read all the published works of Brown. You wouldn’t have to pay as much attention in this one, unlike others. Yes, I guess it would make a good read while travelling.
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For me the book was very nice, I read it so fast and I’ve created a Blog with the places of Inferno. Although is in spanish, there is a translation tool in the webpage to read it in any language: Places in Inferno of Dan Brown.
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