Not so long ago I read the
latest book of Dan Brown „Inferno“. It is not a coincidence that
is named after the famous book of Dante since it is indeed the main
world that is explored through the book. Today I set forth on a
analysis of the contents of the book. The analysis, it is for all
intent and purposes not meant to spoil the fun to those who haven't
yet read the book, this means that an effort will be made to avoid
any major spoilers about the book and its plot.
I do not intend to label
the book with a number from one to ten, neither to give an evaluation
like if it were a product. I'll try to explore the interesting
aspects of the book, as well as those that were predictable or so to
say not very remarkable.
Not being the first book
of Dan Brown, it is somehow inevitable to compare it to his previous
works. Its more known being the da Vinci Code, a remarkable piece of
mystery with a great background that narrates the adventures of the
Harvard professor Robert Langdon as he becomes the receipt of a
message left to him by a dead man. Let us then start with what we
shall call the bad aspects of the book.
Recursion
It is immediately
noticeable that the components of the story are similar to those that
appeared before in the previous books of Mr. Brown, the elements to
no surprise are: a female co-protagonist, A country in western Europe
where the events unfold, Mr Langdon himself of course and of course
as well art. These elements are those that are found in all the
books, in this time though in a different maybe more dynamic matter.
The element that also repeats is the one of the secret societies or
organizations for that matter, that I guess, came to no surprise. The
role of the female co-protagonist is one that is recurrent as well as
necessary for the plot and in all cases acts as the counterbalancing
element to the personality and abilities of Mr. Langdon. In this as
it is in the previous cases is a woman with strong intellect and
interesting resources that takes them both out of the complicated
situations. Another common thing is that they all have a strong
affinity for science in some of its form, which like stated before
serves as counterpart to the skills of the protagonist.
Predictability
Although
this has already been stated, it must be mentioned again. It is
inevitable to compare Inferno with its predecessors, and although one
does not intentionally (or consciously for that matter) does it, one
can make a very educated guess about the ending as well as the fate
of some of the characters just by having read any of the previous
book and putting together two plus two. One noticeable example for
this is the death factor present in all the books. We may have
guessed that one or more of the main characters would end up dead. We
did not get disappointed, although I dare say that that was indeed
predictable. Another interesting element to be mentioned in this
section is the writing style, this is both predictable as well as the
signature style of Mr. Brown, it can be encompassed as predicable
since it is to be expected that after some tension in the plot with
certain character is created the chapter ends abruptly leaving us at
the edge of the seat and hoping to find out soon what happened, and
since the next chapter starts with some other character role in the
events, that indeed helps to keep the reader interested or at least
curious.
The
book itself is good according to my own opinion since it kept me
interested from the beginning to the end, as it awoke as well my
interest in the texts of Dante and the symbolism and the art that
inspired it and in the one the text inspired later on. Therefore I'd
like to cover the aspects of the book that I found special, some of
those might even fall in the negative categories discussed before,
but it is the dual nature of its content that gives the book life and
richness.
The art of the Italian
Renaissance
One
of the most remarkable things I found in the book is the art. Brown
does his homework well when it comes to the art involved in the books
and immerse us in its meaning and context through the eyes of the art
professor personified in Robert Langdon. Sculptures, paintings and
architecture are explored by the duo through the book. These
masterpieces alone are not what makes them worth of praise but the
company of its historical background and significance during the
Renaissance adds the necessary spice to make one feel immediately
related to them. The paintings in particular are worth of mention
since the strong descriptions make one feel captured by its
gravitational pull. I am myself not an art historian and my
appreciation of it is not at all educated, but I am of the idea that
when the right context is provided, the reasons for that something to
become interesting jump into our faces. History about this period of
Italy is the utmost characteristic that I found fascinating. The book
immerse us into the Renaissance of course but also with the context
of the event that devastated most of Europe during that century. That
event is no other that the black plague, object also of many
depictions and artistic works that portraits the horror suffered by
the people during that era.
The technology
There
is a statement at the beginning of the book that says that all the
technology and organizations presented in the book are real. Of
course not exactly as it is presented in the book but real indeed. It
is not to be forgotten that the reach of the technology in the book
might be out of proportion or better said, too far head of our time.
If we again recall the technology from angel and demos, it is easy to
see that although a technology such as the LHC (Large hadron
collider) exists it is not to be understood that had the capability
of isolating black matter as it was suggested in the book. Again,
black matter is a scientific fact (or more of a educated belief) but
it is to this day not possible by human means to harvest or collect
any. This same idea applies to inferno. The plot of the book spins
around the biotechnology and the advantages it poses for the human
development, to be more specific it does it around the genetic
engineering and its possible effects in the human race for good and
for evil purposes. The facts presented in the book are indeed
plausible but might be some years away from us now. Another
interesting aspect was the surveillance technologies presented in the
book. I liked personally very much the idea of the helicopter drone
that pursued Landon and Dr. Miller thorough the book. These machines
are as real as it gets, and with much higher military capabilities
than those portrayed in the book. We can also recently recall the
most recent espionage scandal that captured the attention of the
world media. A single man decided to face an entire nation into
exposing what he wholeheartedly believed to be of evil intent, he
showed the extent into which communications can be traced, and
analyzed, something we always know was possible but knowing it for
certain did indeed startled everyone at least a bit.
Summary
The
book offers a fresh new adventure of the Prof. Langdon and his Femme
fatale
co protagonist, while
maybe a bit predictable and framed in similar mechanics as its
predecessors it still manages to set the path for further adventures
of the charismatic professor of the mickey mouse watch. The story is
well researched, elaborated and with good elements that keep the
reader interested. The framework of the Renaissance is a great plus
that makes up for a good combination that proves to add a mystery
factor to the plot, not to forget that also presents history and
culture in a different form, maybe a bit diluted but still manages to
pull off the job of keeping it fresh and interesting. I recommend
reading the book and judging for yourselves. Whether you have read
before or not the adventures of Prof. Langdon, it is in any case a
book totally worth reading, with the necessary elemtns to make it
maybe not memorable but source of good entertainment and
conversation.
Dan Brown's Inferno – A review