The Lost Symbol

When I heard that Dan Brown was going to write a third Robert Langdon book based in Washington D.C., I was freaking out!  As a sequel to Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, we didn't know if it was going to be epic, or it was going to suck.  But being a devoted fan, I didn't care at all and I was first in line at the bookstore the day it came out.  And I must say, it was $30 well spent!  It is one of those books that I can read over and over again and never get bored with at all.  So let's take look at, The Lost Symbol.

So what's the story, Harvard Symbologist, Robert Langdon, has been asked by his long time friend, Head of the Smithsonian Institute, Peter Solomon, to give a lecture at the U.S. Capitol Building.  He was also asked to bring an unopened package that was given to him by Peter years ago.  Once there, he discovers that there was never a lecture scheduled, but he unexpectedly finds something there waiting for him ... A human hand!  But not just any hand, the hand of his friend, Peter Solomon!  The CIA comes in and Langdon is then interrogated by the OS Director, Inoue Sato, saying they're trying to find Peter, when their actual plan is to find whatever the kidnapper is looking for and give it to him.  They discover that the hand is representing the Hand of Mysteries, an invitation to find the Freemason's biggest secret, The Lost Word, which is said to be hidden somewhere in Washington D.C.  After finding part of a pyramid in the Capital Building, and the golden capstone to the pyramid inside the unopened package, Langdon escapes from the CIA and get's hep from Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister.  The book goes across our Nation's Capitol, solving ancient Masonic clues and find The Lost Word before the kidnapper, known as Mal'akh, kills Peter and releases a secret that could end the respect for the Freemasons forever.

I love this book!  The reason that I love this book is because a year before the book came out, I went to the East Coast for my A.P. History class, and one of the places we went to was Washington D.C.  When I was reading it for the first time, I got excited because I remember going to most of those places in the book!  And now when I read it, it reminds me of all the good times I had while on my trip.  Hopefully I'll be able to go back someday!

This book has great characters, a creative plot, and the villain ... OH MY GOSH!  I got chills every time he was on the page!  I don't understand why they haven't made this into a movie yet.  It's so good that it needs to be made into one.  Although, I would cry every time I'd watch it.  Every time I got to Chapter 103, I'd instantly cry my eyes out!  And if you want to know what happens in Chapter 103, you're just going to have to find out.  I give this book 5 stars, *****!

So that's my review.  If you have a book you'd like for me to read, please leave a comment below.  Come back to see more reviews!  I am @BorenNerdy on Twitter, I hope you have a great day, and I will see you next time!

- BorenNerdy

Book VS Movie: The Da Vinci Code

When Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, came out in 2003, it became a huge phenomenon by 2004.  And usually in Hollywood standards, when a book becomes extremely popular, they do whatever they can to get a movie out as quick as they can ... Hence the 2006 film of The Da Vinci Code.  Remember, this is based on my personal opinion, and let me just say, this is going to be a tough review!  So let the review begin.

I absolutely love the cast of this movie, especially Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon.  Someone I work with said that casting Tom Hanks was the stupidest decision ever made ... I almost cried right there!  If you read my last Book VS Movie Review of Angels & Demons, I stand by what I said about Tom Hanks being the perfect person.  He can play anyone and be amazing, I mean, he was Walt Disney for goodness sakes!  The supporting cast was a great choice as well: Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu, Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing, Paul Bettany as Silas, Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa, and Jean Reno as Captain Bezu Fache.  Honestly, I wouldn't change anyone, everyone owned their part.

The plot was more close to the book than Angels & Demons was to that book ... if that makes sense.  Probably the #1 thing I hate is when a movie is not even close to the book, it makes me crazy.  The world would be a better place if they just went by the book.  I hope you're taking notes Hollywood!

The pacing of the film was ... UGH!  The book is full of intensity and boom, boom, boom, while the movie was kind of slow and boring.  About 20 minutes into the movie I kept thinking, "C'MON DO SOMETHING!"  I also felt like the camera guy put on a dark lens filter, everything looked so dark and dull. Luckily they did suck a better job with Angels & Demons, and hopefully they keep it up with Inferno.

Now my thoughts, it's hard to talk about a film I watched a lot and actually liked.  Around the time the movie came out on DVD, I had gotten Acanthamoeba Keretitis.  A parasite had gotten into the cornea of my left eye and started eating it, making me completely blind in that eye, which I still am 8 years later.  While I was at home, laying in bed, exhausted from the pain and medications I was on, I would watch The Da Vinci Code over and over again.  This movie kept my mind off all the horrific things that was happening to me.  It was like Tom Hanks was helping me overcome the nightmare I was going through.  Even though, I see all of these problems, it doesn't make me want to never watch it again.  I honestly think they should remake it.  If they had just taken the time to make a really great script and kept all the actors, it would've been an amazing film.  But no, Hollywood just quickly put something together and made an "eh" film.  So the winner is ... The book!

So that's my review, I hope you liked it.  Remember, if you have a book for me to review, please leave a comment below.  Also, come back every Wednesday and Saturday for a new post.  I am @BorenNerdy on Twitter, I hope you have a great day and I will see you next time!

-BorenNerdy

The Da Vinci Code

It's time to talk about the "#1 Best Selling Novel of All Time" ... Of 2003!  It's Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.  As a sequel to Angels & Demons, this contains action, mystery, art, suspense, symbols, history, codes, French people, and a huge conspiracy that to this day people still argue about.  This book was put into the "Top 100 Books to Read Before You Die" ... Well I've read it about 100 times, which probably means that I am going to die soon, I hope not!  Let us now travel to Paris and dive into The Da Vinci Code.

So what's the story, we return to our Harvard Symbologist hero, Robert Langdon, a year after the events at the Vatican City.  While visiting Paris for a lecture, he is picked up by the DCPJ, the French police, and is sent to the Louvre Museum to "help" solve the murder of the head curator, Jacques Sauniere.  He meets one of the DCPJ's Cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and she informs Langdon that he is not there to help them, he's there to confess for killing her grandfather, Jacques Sauniere!  The book follows Langdon and Sophie trying to escape from the police, and prove Langdon's innocence by finding the real killer and learn the truth behind the murder.  While on their search they learn that Sauniere was part of a secret society called, The Priory of Sion.  They are a group devoting their lives to protect the secret of the Holy Grail that could effect all of Christianity as we know it!  Langdon and Sophie travel across Europe using clues by Da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, and others to find the body of Mary Magdalene and documents containing names of the Royal Bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ ... AKA, the Holy Grail.  By now, you should know that I never reveal the end, because most of the time it's always to amazing to ruin!

This book is a wonderful book, but because of a certain topic I will soon talk about, the book has people that praise it ... and people that absolutely hate it, especially super religious people!  The book is banned in some countries in this world due to the controversy that Jesus was or was not in a relationship and also supposedly having a child with her, ruining the divinity of his life and legacy.  Now, I'm a religious person, and this book didn't destroy or make me change my belief at all.  Also, I wasn't there 2,000 years ago, and I know for a fact that everyone of you wasn't there either, unless you have a time machine!  It might have happened or it didn't, we won't know the truth until we die and then we can just ask him ourselves.  I'm not saying that you should read it and believe everything that is said in the book, I'm just saying that you should read it with an open mind, I think you will be fine if you do that!  It has great characters, a great plot, and a creative villain, making it a good read, 5 stars *****!

That's my review, make sure you come back on Wednesday for my Book VS Movie Review of The Da Vinci Code.  And yes, I promise there will be a winner, and let's just hope it doesn't turn into an ugly review!  If you have a book for me to review, please leave a comment below.  Also follow me on Twitter @BorenNerdy.  Have a great day and I will see you nest time!

- BorenNerdy

Book VS Movie - Angels & Demons

For my first Book VS Movie Review, I knew it had to be Angels & Demons.  If you wanna know what the plot is, go check Wikipedia ... Or save yourself some trouble and just scroll down to my last review.  Before I do a quick explanation, let me talk about the layout of these reviews: character portrayal, plot, pacing, and my final thoughts including the winner.  So let me explain how the movie series is lined up.  It goes, Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Inferno which will be out in 2015.  Although the book order is Angels & Demons, Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Inferno, which is weird that they rearranged it.  Imagine if they did that with Harry Potter!  Now remember, this review is based on my personal opinion ... And if you don't like that, go make your own blog!

So when Angels & Demons came out, we already knew that Robert Langdon would be played by none other than Tom Hanks.  And I will say, that's a great move!  It's like he was born to play Robert Langdon.  He does a great job playing him, and I'm not just saying that cause I LOVE HIM!  The supporting cast also did a great job: Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, Stella Skarsgård as Commander Richter, Pierfrancesco  Favino as Olivetti, Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the Hassassin, Armin Muller-Stahl as Cardinal Strauss, and ... Ewan McGregor as the Camerlengo!  Every time the Camerlengo came on, I was a very happy person!  HE'S SO GORGEOUS!!!  Now that I got that out of the way, there's just one problem I have with the characters.  Why did they change the names?  In the book there was no Richter, Olivetti was in charge of the Swiss Guard, but instead they made him in charge of the Vatican Police.  Also in the book, the Dean of College of Cardinals name was Moriatti, not Strauss.  I don't understand why people do that.  It's like in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland when they said it was called Underland instead of Wonderland ... REALLY?!  Just stick to the book!

For the plot, I thought it was kind of close.  I do understand that somethings had to be either changed or taken out due to a reasonable amount of time before people start to get bored ... Or they could always do what Peter Jackson did and make it into 3 films!  I love how the movie kept me interested the whole way through!  There were some moments I wish they kept like Cardinal "Strauss" becoming the Pope and having the last Preferiti just die ... Don't judge me!  Luckily the changes really didn't effect the main plot at all, which is ok by me.

Time to talk about the pacing of the book and the movie.  They're both excellent!  They both kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.  Although it was more like I was lying on the edge of the couch because I was sick while watching the movie on this past Sunday.  Because of the intensity of the plot, it never really dragged on at all.  If you like that kind of stuff, you should definitely read/watch them!

My final thoughts ... It's hard to choose a winner!  I just love both.  The book is full of historical stuff which I love, while the movie has action, explosions, and of course Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor!  Even though the movie wasn't exactly like the book, doesn't mean that I absolutely hated it.  So the winner is ... a tie!  Remember, this is my personal opinion, it's not like it's the end of the world.

So that's my review, I hope you liked my first Book VS Movie Review.  If your have a book you'd like to have me read and review, please leave a comment below.  I hope you have a great day and I will see you next time!

- BorenNerdy