The reviews - as you would expect - aren’t so great. I think newspaper writers are just jealous of Dan Brown and his mega bestselling success.
I am about 150 pages in to the new book. I like it. It is fast paced. It is very articulate about DC and many of the buildings we see every day. It is factual and insightful about our city; its architecture; and much of its history.
We do live in a city built by Free Masons. Our city planner was connected to George Washington in numerous personal ways. The dollar bill is loaded with symbols that are of interest to code breakers. This book is fun. It will soon be turned into yet another film. Read the book. Enjoy the ride. Blow off the critics.
And remember, as I drove to the Capitals Convention yesterday, we went right by the Mason Temple in Arlington, a place where George Washington’s wooden dentures are hidden. Ever wonder why? 
And why is that building placed where it is in a triangular shape across from the Washington Monument? And guess where it intersects and end points as a triangle? Kettler Capitals Iceplex! What is buried deep under our ice? Why did we change our color scheme and what is the meaning of our new logo? Why is the Capitol Dome placed where it is? Coincidence? You decide.
Tags: "The Lost Symbol", Dan Brown, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington DC
When the Caps win the Cup, all ancient mysteries will be revealed!!
Ted, I agree with your take that writers are jealous of Dan’s success. He lives a few towns over in Exeter NH and I am a big fan. I regularly read book reviews but still read what I want to read based on past performances! I like his writing style and am fascinated yet again by the subject matter, this time the Free Masons. Once again, thank you for your “take”.
Maura
Iced tea for brain — Grisham, Brown, Baldacci, etc. — is a guilty pastime for me. I always repent w/ some Thackeray or something equally snobbish, though–not a bad system, actually.
I just don’t understand why book critics (most of whom are failed authors, anyway) can’t individualize the review process a little more. The Davinci Code is what it is. For Whom the Bell Tolls is what it is. One’s desert. Who cares?
Can I just say that as good as Cormac McCarthy’s No Country, and All the Pretty Horses were, The Road was just awful. The ending to the No Country flick was cringe-worthy. The same ending in the book was just brilliant.
Ted,
I agree that the book is a good read , and as always Dan Brown mixes fact and fiction so beautifully that its difficult to separate the two.
I am looking forward to reading the book. Not as much as I am looking forward to the Caps’ season, but ..
By the way, Washington Masonic Memorial, which is an interesting site to visit with great views and small crowds, is in Alexandria, not Arlington.
I’m half way through Dan Brown’s new book and have a hard time putting it down no matter how tired I am at night after a long day at work and putting two little boys to sleep. Brown does a masterful job of mixing fact with fiction and I greatly enjoyed visualizing the buildings in D.C. and the surrounding suburbs that he so brilliantly describes throughout the Lost Symbol. Anyone who is critical of the book is probably jealous of Dan Brown!