Issues, like laundry, are best taken out in the open.

I'd rather hang out with people who wash their dirty linen in public than to be with those who refuse to admit that they soiled their own clothes.

Libelous lips and strychnine smiles

It amazes me, you know. How conceited humans can be. I guess we can never really fathom how much evil our race is capable of.

You call yourself "friend" to our faces but lash obscenities about us when our backs are turned.

You provoke us yet hide behind the safety of anonymity.

You speak of your rights so much and how we have violated them yet you deprive others of theirs.

You pride yourself in being a rebel for a cause yet fight for nothing but your own gain.

You aim to lead but resist to follow.

You accuse us of being liars while spewing baseless allegations.

You encourage people to join your revolt but reject and ridicule them every day.

You besmirch our family yet you refuse to leave.

You keep your friends close but endanger their welfare and being.

You claim to know the truth but you delude yourself from it.

You beg people to trust you but discourage them from believing in others, even in themselves.

You want us to value your ideals but you are far from being supportive of ours.

You ask for so much but are grateful for so little.

Had you known how to truly love, you would not speak of rights. Had you loved others more than you do yourself, you need not worry about rights for you have already showered them with everything that a soul would need in this world and in the next.

Had you learned how to hold your hands open to receive, you need not grasp too tightly the fragile fortress that you've built around you that is your reputation. It is not as impenetrable as you would like to believe.

I think you're forgetting that I belong to the same race. That we are capable of the same evil. You failed at keeping your enemies close. You have brought about your friends' downfall and your own destruction. From being the man in the crowd who cast the first stone, you are now the cowering figure about to be spit on, thrown at and kicked and driven face-first into the mud.

You have brought forth the demons you have willed into being.

Behold your greatest enemy. YOURSELF.

The Lost Symbol

I know, I know.

It was released long ago and I'm waaay behind the times.

So what? ^^"

Honestly, I wouldn't have gotten this book if it hadn't been for the company blog contest that we had last June. I won a Gift Card from Powerbooks and headed straight to the store after work.

After much deliberation, I decided to get Dan Brown's latest: The Lost Symbol.

I got this one for the following reasons:

1. I'm fond of trying to figure out who the perpetrator is as events unfold.

2. I am fascinated by how Brown uses reality and transforms it into something more interesting.

3. I love how his works stir controversy, encouraging exchanges between people (which no longer happens often in this world).

After reading, though, I can't seem to put my finger on how I TRULY feel about it. I can't say I hate it because there are a lot of things about it that I love. Neither can I say that I love it since there were stuff about it that I was kind of disappointed in.

Let's list them down, shall we?

What I like:

☆ Toying with conspiracy theories.

Don't we all love this? ^^ It gives you a different way of seeing things. Brown takes something that's commonplace and/or plainly seen (such as Freemasonry) and taps all of the controversies surrounding it. He feeds our inherent desire to debunk preconceived notions about anything (and with that I mean ABSOLUTELY anything!).

☆ The Twist

Although the twist had less impact on the plot itself in this story (as compared to his previous work), I have to admit that I did not see it coming. ^^" I just can't tell if it was cleverly guised or I just did not pry well enough. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed that bit!

☆ The "Connect the Dots" tendency

Yeah. I fall prey to this when I read Brown. Always. I guess I enjoy the exercise. I don't have to be right all the time. I just take advantage of opportunities that encourage me to exercise my mental faculties.

☆ The Amazing Race Effect

Forgive me for the lack of a better term. Ha ha! Well, what else can make you try and catch your breath, your heart beat faster, keep you tuned in and feel that you're about to burst? The Amazing Race, right? The book had me at the edge of my seat.

On the other hand...

★ It was all too familiar.

Langdon gets "tricked" into being in the thick of the action the moment it happens. Big shots are involved, thus the CIA/Feds/Vatican are getting their hands dirty in trying to suppress a major blow on the human race. A really attractive and incredibly smart woman with an impressive family tree is accidentally on the run with the ex-distinguished gentleman, now-fugitive Robert Langdon. And the list goes on...

I would have to say that Brown did not outdo his previous glory with this new novel. He tried, but ultimately failed, to come up with something new.

★ Dragging explanations.

It was nice that there were explanations for the many unfamiliar elements in the story- but they got really tedious at some points! I actually forgot where the characters were and who they were talking to. I'm amazed that Brown was able to keep track of himself while putting the manuscript together.

★ The "national crisis" idea blew up in my face.

Ugh. I thought I was going to witness something new here. That would've made up for the predictable formula of Brown's plot. Boy was I mistaken.

He built up the tension so much that when the cause of the crisis was revealed, instead of a loud bang, it came out like a spurt of air from an inflated rubber balloon (which, in reality, sounds a lot like a fart).

★ The denouement was....

...plain terrible. Honestly, it went on for five to six pages. Nothing exciting. Nothing that the reader wouldn't have figured out by then. It was just so the book would go on for 506 pages or so. He could've given us something more interesting.

Too much information on some key scenes and concepts in Masonry. Plus, it was like the author was trying to imply some sort of possible romantic involvement between Langdon and K. Solomon, but couldn't quite make up his mind about it. REEAAALLY, now.

It would've been much better if he just left his readers hanging. (-_-")

Well, there you go. I couldn't really say that it's a good read. But it isn't so bad, I guess.

I enjoyed (reading) Deception Point and The DaVinci Code, but like I said, it was too familiar. I guess that's what killed it for me.

A realization

Although my blog's title is "Thinking out loud", I haven't written anything since signing up for this.

Does that mean I can think quietly now.... Or am I not thinking at all??!

*scared look in eyes*