Monday, October 26, 2009

One for the books: Masons, Symbolons, and Robert Langdon

SPOILER ALERT: Some parts might reveal certain dramatic points in the story.

"The secret is how to die."

Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" is the much anticipated comeback of Robet Langdon and his suspense-filled adventures. Set in Washington D.C., Langdon tries to save a dear friend's life by solving the ancient mysteries connected with Masonry. Finding himself face to face with his friend's severed hand as one of the clues to this puzzle and with a fiesty CIA director tailing him around and claiming that this event was a threat to national security, Langdon again finds himself in a compromising situation that can best be considered as deja vu.

Our villain, Mal'akh, somewhat brings to mind Da Vinci Code's Silas; obsessed with discovering the lost word, he tricks Langdon into coming to the US capitol. Peter Solomon, Langdon's captured friend, told Mal'akh that it was Robert Langdon who possessed the key to deciphering the ancient mysteries of Masonry.

The book centers around the ideas of "at-one-ment" and apotheosis or the transformation of a human into a divine being - into a god. Concurrent with his previous works, Dan Brown once again intertwines the mystical with the scientific. In this piece of writing, he introduces Noetic science or the study of human thought. Together with developments in this field and the ancient rituals of the Masons, Brown, much like in the Da Vinci Code, leaves the reader swimming in historical and scientific data. (I don't know how much of it are true but most made logical sense to me.)

The twist, however, is more of a family horror. Read the book and tell me how you feel when Mal'akh's true identity was revealed. Also, I still can't decide whether I should be disappointed or satisfied that Robert Langdon lives. I felt tricked but then again, just like in old Filipino movies, ang bida hindi namamatay ( the hero should not die).

Final word: I love the idea of Pod 5.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Identity Crisis

I am
Nobody's girl
Along the shores
I walk alone
Into the lapping waves that turn into seismic monsters
But I am
Unafraid as the shallow waters
Swallow me whole.

I am
Nobody's lover
I live alone
In a fantasy world of my own
Where love and felings are unknown
Where life is much simpler
And where the winters are much colder.

I am
Nobody's girl
I am faithless
My soul is timeless
My years are old.