This thriller seeks to claim that death is not the end. There's evidence from noetic science that suggests there may be something beyond the end of our physical selves-- where our consciousness roams free.
The story, set mainly in Prague, sees Robert Langdon and his romantic partner, Katherine Solomon, visiting to deliver a lecture about her work proving the existence of a global consciousness. Things take a turn when a prominent local scientist is found murdered, Katherine's New York editor is kidnapped, the book she's about to publish vanishes from every server, and Langdon has a strange encounter on a bridge while out jogging that creates chaos and the notice of the police. It seems that the explosive revelations in Katherine's upcoming book are ones that the CIA are quite familiar with and need to protect from exposure.
Although I feel this book was overly long, it certainly was interesting. A universal truth is that humans fear death and that forms the basis of many religions promising some sort of life afterwards. Scientists of all kinds have tried to study this topic and that of nonlocal consciousness. Can the mind float free of its physical form and exist outside of the brain?
The action is relentless and jumps back and forth in time and point of view. Sometimes the shifts were quite jarring but it definitely propelled the narrative forward. As usual, Langdon experiences his ah-ha moments with great regularity as his skeptical mind becomes convinces that Katherine's research has huge implications for the future of the human race. The details and descriptions go on and on as is typical in a Dan Brown work and I enjoy that but I know others feel he is too verbose. Although I've read every book in the series, I've enjoyed some of the themes and topics more in others, but this is definitely a departure from codes and symbols to dealing with technology and the human brain. Quite relevant to current concerns about AI and social media addiction.
After all, I liked this for the most part. I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book which always provides a more immersive and enjoyable experience for me. The narrator, Paul Michael, did a good job with the different accents and drama, but he really fails in doing voices of the women characters. This book really deserved a full cast production.
This is the 6th book in the series that should be read from the beginning for best enjoyment.
Genre and tags: technology, physics, human mind, nonlocal consciousness, noetic science, CIA intrigue. Prague
No comments:
Post a Comment