[REVIEW] Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons (Unabridged) Author: Dan Brown Narrator: Richard Poe Unabridged fiction - abridged edition available here Audio Length: 18 hours and 15 min. This is a prequel to the Da Vinci Code (I listened to this unabridged as well, though it had a different narrarator - I don't blame him if he didn't want to spend another block of his life doing another unabridged book. That's a lot of reading.) Dan Brown is a mass market author, it is evident in his editing, in his hyping of points that are incindiary within our society - frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he started out as a journalist for a tabloid. Buzz words he throws into the mix right after he finishes giving a rational explanation for something pissed me off. In this particular case, he had just finished explaining the origin of the judeo-christian concept of 'Satan' as a derivation of the Arabic word 'shitan', meaning adversary. So saying this he immediately describe a certain organization as a "satanic cult", which has a different connotation than what he just finished explaining in what I can only assume is a vehicle for inciting hysteria for the story line which lacks the proper amount of drama anyway. Cheap tricks like this are what disgust me about the media - but that's another essay altogether (a curse on you William Randolph Hearst.) Lame and trite devices like this aside, I do like the fact that Brown really does his homework. (the christians really hate it when you do that... they've already come out with a rebuttal of the DaVinci Code. Its mostly fiction y'all. His goddess facts are right, as are a great deal of the history of the church, but the whole other plotline thing has not been substantiated. I didn't want to put spoilers for those who haven't read this yet.) The story isn't really what I have a problem with... I see definite archetypes in the two books of Brown's that I have read; and that distracts me from losing myself in the book. Langdon is the accidental hero. Sure, he's smart, but he's painfully naive for someone who has studied extensively the world's religions in their own setting... and for a guy who it is alluded to that women fling themselves at him regularly, he comes across as a vaguely prudish guy. Vittoria, the girly protagonist of the book, also is purported to be a wily and brilliant scientist, and yet makes errors in judgement and does things painfully alien to the female species (of which I am well acquainted... 'cause I am one.) Its one of the obvious things that Dan Brown does not do well...he's not a woman and doesn't know how they think. A few more archetypes round out the story: serious bad guy (black and white thinking), questionable law enforcement type who you can't decide is good or bad - but he invariably is arrogant about his ability to know all and the rich and wordly (almost unbelievably so) older patriarch figure and the bait and switch of what I can only assume he means to be a clever ruse. These are the same complaints I had in Da Vince Code. At least he is consistent. I could take all of this with a grain of salt, but when they add the narration to the mix, I start laughing. I'm sure Richard Poe has done voice work for cartoons. The evil bad guy became even more of a caricature, when Langdon speaks, his inner monologue is overly innocent and the women's voice?... nope... I couldn't get past that. Mostly what it reminds me of is the old Speed Racer cartoons. In fact, at times in traffic, I would yell out "No! Trixie! No!" or "Oh, Speed!" then laugh so hard I had to go back and hear what happened in the narrative again. (sometimes I involuntarily got the porn re-mix of the Speed Racer theme in my head... but that is another matter. =;) ) ...and of course, I am completely cynical, so I see conspiracies everywhere... You can read the paperback version of this book or buy the Audible.com version if you just don't have time to read. (or listen to it if you just really need the comic relief or don't have a strong sense of snarkiness.) Publisher's Summary: An ancient secret brotherhood. A devastating new weapon of destruction. An unthinkable target... World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization - the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth...the long-forgotten Illuminati lair. ©2003 Dan Brown; (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.