After much speculation and extended expectation, the latest Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, is now available at bookstores. As in Brown’s two previous best sellers, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Harvard Prof. Robert Langdon is again the main character and is busy at work heroically trying to unravel a mystery buried in layers of symbolism.
However, unlike his previous books, which use the Catholic Church as their stories’ backdrop, Brown places Freemasonry on center stage in The Lost Symbol, which has created quite a stir in some Masonic circles. However, early reports are that Brown’s book shows a great deal of understanding and appreciation of Freemasonry.
In a recent letter addressed to the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, Brown explained why he chose to make Freemasonry a central theme in his new book. He responded that “in a world where men do battle over whose definition of God is most accurate, I cannot adequately express the deep respect and admiration I feel toward an organization in which men of differing faiths are able to ‘break bread together; in a bond of brotherhood, friendship, and camaraderie.”
Early in the book, Prof. Langdon gives a fairly accurate explanation of the Masonic Fraternity and the Order of the Eastern star to one of his classes at Harvard.
Doubleday Book Club provides the following promotional synopses of the book, “The Lost Symbol is a frantically paced thriller that weaves together five years’ worth of research and crams them into an edge-of-your-seat adventure that all takes place within a 12-hour timeframe. Showcasing Brown’s prodigious talent for keeping us guessing, it begins with a bang and never lets up as Langdon is drawn into a world of intrigue, racing desperately against time in an effort to crack the mystery of the lost symbol. Packed with secret codes, shadow conspiracies and unexpected twists, this is vintage Dan Brown—a mind-bending tale where danger lurks around every corner and only one thing is certain: Nothing is ever as it seems.”
Freemasons and OES members, with a fondness for a mystery, should consider reading this book, if for no other reason than to respond intelligently to their non-Masonic friends and acquaintances who will read it.
