This is an airplane book, a waiting at the DMV book, an "I need something interesting and fast paced to entertain me or at least keep me awake" book.
I feel like I have watched Dan Brown rise up to his peak as an author, and now I'm watching him drag out his slow continuous descent.
His first book, Digital Fortress was okay. Then Angels and Demons was excellent. His third book, Deception Point, was his best and I still love re-reading it to this day. Then DaVinci Code was quite good, but a little long winded. The Lost Symbol wasn't as fun, and now Inferno was kind of "meh."
"Inferno" is a convoluted journey filled with pseudo-action, a dissection of Dante's Inferno, a diatribe about population control, and thorough appreciation for the art and beauty of Florence and Venice.
When I finished the book I thought "Hmmm. That first twist was really dumb and didn't make any sense. The second twist was pretty cool, but didn't make up for the first one. I should go read Dante's Inferno and see what all the fuss is about."
And that's what this book was good for - convincing me to read Dante Alighieri's "INFERNO" from the 14th century.
Dan Brown is obviously a far better writer than I am. He will still make a ton of money teaching us about art and science at a lightning fast pace... but I still hope he can turn the boat around. I want to see him write like he did 15 years ago.
Perhaps like Dante, he needs a Beatrice to inspire him?
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