INFERNO- A 4 star review
Reading Dan Brown’s “Inferno” was a true roller coaster! Where should I begin?
Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital room thinking that it is Monday and that a few minutes ago he was in strolling down the corridors of Harvard. However, he soon discovers that it is indeed Saturday, he is not anywhere near Harvard, much less the United States, he has a strange looking bio-hazard device in his possession and a woman is out to kill him! What’s more, Langdon has no recollection of the events that may have led him into this situation!
There are Spoilers ahead, so be warned my friend, BE WARNED! =P =P
Dan Brown has finally managed to write a thriller which was not only unpredictable but completely and utterly baffling! There was only one aspect of the thriller that I was able to get a grasp on and that was that Sienna was somehow involved in all of the drama that was going on. However, the way that she was involved was way off from my guess. For this purpose alone I give Mr. Brown’s “Inferno” a rating higher than even his best work to date, “The Da Vinci Code”.
The most intriguing aspect of the thriller was that once again Dan Brown manages to weave his story with strands of fiction and reality so closely woven that sometimes you are unable to separate the two. Tidbits about literature, history, artwork and science not only provides a strong basis for making it possible to intricately merge reality with fiction, but also enables the reader to gain some general knowledge about these areas.
Another thing that really stands out is the commitment Dan Brown shows towards a pressing global issue: Overpopulation. It is true that the world’s population is completely out of control and no one seems to be really ‘DOING’ anything about it. This theme runs strong throughout the novel till the very end, when it is discovered that Zobrist’s solution to the problem was hardly dramatic. It is funny how no one seems to point out the obvious flaws in his real solution too:
1. It is like playing God: Randomly rendering 1/3rd of the population infertile hardly seems appropriate. What if the other 2/3rd of the population are not fit to be parents or do not have good genes to pass on? (I know crude but still I wondered =S)
2. It is just plain cruel: Dr. Sinskey’s argument that what if Nature’s solution to overpopulation this time was not to bring about floods, famine or plagues. Instead, Nature used evolution to result in the birth of Dr. Zobrist-a genius who would provide a solution to the problem and go on to take matters in his own hands. My answer to that is simply:
Blaming a man’s actions, whose genetics only defines 60% of his actions and lifestyle, on nature is hardly playing fair. She should have simply said:
this would have been more appropriate…
Nevertheless, one has to admit that Bertrand Zobrist DID provide a solution, A REAL SOLUTION to the overpopulation problem. =/
I swore that this was going to be my last Dan Brown novel in case I discovered even a single piece of the puzzle. I suppose, now, I’d have to read his upcoming books to regain my reputation of knowing before Dan Brown reveals… LOL… =D