The cashier at Jashanmal bookshop in Seef Mall had replied 66. And it had been barely a week, or maybe two since the book was released.
So, I immediately knew that - like me - there were a few in this island country of Bahrain who wanted to quickly learn about Robert Langdon’s latest escapades.
This fifth book featuring the fictitious Harvard Professor of Religious Iconology and Symbology - but the seventh book, written by Dan Brown – starts with an important meeting at a monastery; at a Benedictine Abbey, on the mountain of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain.
Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire inventor, futurist, and atheist, tells the world’s three great religious leaders - a Roman Catholic Bishop, a Jewish Rabbi and an Islamic Imam - that he will make known to the world, a new discovery. He tells them it “will not shake your foundations. It will shatter them”.
The tight suspense takes a very long time to loosen itself; mainly, because of the author’s somewhat needless longish prose. But, as a reader, I did not mind it, because of the delectable concoction into which I was thrown.
As in all the four earlier books, we see Robert Langdon unravel clues and uncover secrets, giving us an entertaining and educational tour as we scramble through the pages, with him.
And, as in all the four earlier books, we see him in the company of yet another beautiful and brilliant young lady.
In fact, this time, she is the Director/Curator of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. And, our story becomes more intense as we learn that she is also the future queen of Spain; after her recent engagement to Spain’s Crown Prince.
Now, one of the most fascinating things about any Dan Brown story is the way it is woven around art and architecture, philosophy and literature, and even science and technology. In fact, it is on the latter that this book’s plot revolves.
And it follows the typical Dan Brown pattern of giving us mindboggling information.
From the poetry of William Blake to the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, from the Miller–Urey experiments on evolution theory to the growing application of artificial intelligence, from apostasy in the Catholic Church to the new phenomenon of online fake news, he covers it all.
No wonder Edmond Kirsch’s car, a Tesla, has on its number plates these words: “And the geek shall inherit the earth”.
In a television interview I saw on YouTube, Dan Brown admits that Edmond Kirsch’s character is a blend of real-life futurists Ray Kurzweil and Elon Musk.
Those interested in Evolution Theory and its effect on the theological world, those interested in the growing application of Artificial Intelligence to everyday use, those interested in the architecture of Catholic Spain, and those who love to read a thriller, will certainly enjoy the book. Though at some points it may appear like a drag.
Anyway, for some strange inexplicable reason, even more than ‘Da Vinci Code’ and 'Origin', my favourite will always remain ‘Angels and Demons’.
In ‘Angels and Demons’ it was the Vatican City, in ‘Da Vinci Code’ it was Paris and London, in ‘The Lost Symbol’ it was Washington DC, and in ‘Inferno’ it was Florence, Venice, and Istanbul. This time, in ‘Origin’, it is Madrid and Barcelona.
And like in all the other books, we learn a lot about these cities and their history.
One thing is certain. Dan Brown’s research and storytelling skills can never be brushed aside as mediocre.
I loved the book. But I have come across some reviewers being very rude in their criticism (Especially a Washington Post review). But I attribute it to the ‘sour grapes’ attitude of reviewers who cannot stomach the fact that, unlike them, Dan Brown has already sold millions of books.
Their reviews will, anyway, not stop the ‘Origin’ from being on the ‘New York Times’ bestsellers list’. It has already been on it for 16 weeks!
The erudite Robert Langdon will, hopefully, be remembered for years to come. Perhaps, on the lines of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
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