The feelings of failure have passed. Sometimes an emo mood hits, and the only thing that makes sense is broadcasting it on the Internet. That’s normal, right?
By the way, our tree is still only half decorated. Oops. I opted for couch time and “Friends” reruns last night.
Instead, I’ll just say this: I sometimes find it really, REALLY HARD to not feel like a failure.
Now I’m off to succeed at something. I’ll start with getting our Christmas tree completely decorated.
Since the theme of this book is symbols: “The Lost Symbol” < “The Da Vinci Code” < “Angels & Demons.”
Once upon a time, I fell in love with “Angels & Demons.” Encouraged, I read “The Da Vinci Code” since everyone and and their brother foamed at the mouth over it. Me? Eh, I thought it was pretty good, but it didn’t keep up the awesome of “A&D.”
I didn’t really have any expectations for “The Lost Symbol” because of how “DVC” let me down, but I was hoping to enjoy it.
I did. Honestly, I did.
But.
There was just too much symbolism. The whole novel was one explanation after another – be it an image or a metaphor. The novel was constantly explaining the meaning of things, and I don’t think Dan Brown developed the actual storyline as much as he could. I skimmed through a lot of pages just to get past them and get back to the story.
Another letdown was the end. The “shocking twist” at the end was predictable, and I kept hoping for something more that would take me by surprise, but it never happened.
So what did I enjoy?
I loved learning more about Washington, D.C. and the sites there. Brown described so many new details about familiar buildings and also introduced me to many new sites I had no clue about. I stopped reading several times to search a piece of art or building online because only reading about it wasn’t good enough – Brown made the sites so enticing!
I was also thrilled with the information on the Masons. I was impressed by Brown’s description of their beliefs Brown regarding a higher power and found they run fairly parallel to my own.
Up next: “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green
Disclaimer: This entry contains information regarding our adventures with trouble trying to conceive. Feel free to skip over if you wish to avoid too much information regarding my reproductive parts. I won’t blame you. I’d rather skip this stuff, too.
I accidentally requested the audiobook version of “Paper Towns” from the library and almost left it behind to re-request the printed version. I’ve never listened to an audiobook I haven’t first read with my eyes before, so I was hesitant to listen for my first “read,” but I love listening to books while driving, so I went with it.
I started it weeks ago and meant to take it with us on our impromptu road trip to Ohio, but I forgot the CDs in my car (we drove Rob’s), so it’s taken me so very long to get through this book.
Because of that, this review is going to be short and sweet. My reactions have been spaced out over far too many days for specific thoughts on various points, so I apologize.
“Paper Towns” has a good amount of my various favorite book ingredients: humor, mystery, adventure, friendship, romance and characters with whom I want to be friends.
John Green again gives us a nerdy guy as the main character, but Green does a great job of crossing the void between Nerdville and Cooltown, blurring the lines that separate the leaders of both populations.
I was a bit disappointed in how the story ended, but it parallels life pretty well – not everything turns out in favor of personal preference.
Up next: “The Lost Symbol,” by Dan Brown
