Origin: A Novel

This book has it all: entertainment, enlightenment, fiction, facts, history, religion, science… It is the most riveting book I’ve read in a long time. For me, it is even slightly better than the DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. And that’s saying a lot, since I thoroughly enjoyed both of those. Like most science fiction and historical fiction books, Origins entertained and educated. If all books were this good, I might spend all day, every day, reading. Rather than saying, “I couldn’t put it down” I had to force myself to put it down, after each chapter, so that I didn’t finish it all in one sitting. I loved it!!!

I like the writing of Dan Brown. I always learn new things. Often I find myself stopping and googling a place or historical event. It’s usually fast paced and entertaining. This book is similar. I liked the action and the characters. There is some thought provoking writing but it gets a bit bogged down in scientific theory at the end and drags. And, as I have found in my other favorite authors (Follett and King) a gratuitous (in my opinion) nod to lbgtq or left leaning politics. I won’t share which in which books but it doesn’t really added anything to any of stories except a little feeling of “have to”. Kind of sticks out like a sore thumb and you kind of drift off into “there they go again”. Decent story. Not disappointed I read it but makes me think twice about spending time on the next one as I am with Stephen King and Ken Follett.

This is the most insightful description of how science and religion can coexist in an increasingly complex society. I don’t know how I missed this book for so long. A must read.

Langdon is always superb but this particular book seemed to drone on pile a text book. A text book full of erroneous information and alot of speculation and assumptions. The claim that evolution is settled science with no problems or dissent is blatantly in error even in areas of academia. It's simply the predominant theory because there is no other alternative other than creationism. The proof for a creator and His handprint on the universe is undeniable if it were a court case based on preponderance of the evidence. Together go scientifically as you certainly can't put God on a scale or in a tube. It's still an interesting read especially with the rise in A I technology were currently living in .. it's exponential and even that seems conservative. Winston was a fantastic character and the twist was awesome! Wouldn't read it again but it was a fun if unexciting 1st read.

Much as the case with John Grisham, Dan Brown has steadily grown as a novelist since the publication of his first gigantic hit, The Da Vinci Code. He has improved his ability to develop characters, write dialogue, organize his plots, maximize suspense, and place his stories within a realistic and accurate framework. He also has shifted away, at least in this novel, from his characteristic reliance upon codes, patterns, puzzles, symbols and ciphers. What has not changed in his astounding skill at telling a yarn that immediately grabs the reader and does not release him until the last page--465 in this case. As big as this book is, it is a real "page turner" and there is not one boring page! Yet, the author attests that : "All art, architecture,locations, science and religious organizations in this novel are real." One key to Brown's success is his sophistication in setting the contexts for his story. Here we learn about Abby of Montserrat in Spain; the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Spain; Budapest; the Valley of the Fallen and Franco's Tomb, and most importantly the fantastic city of Barcelona, Spain. There are the primary backdrops where the action occurs and Brown makes them come alive through his accurate depiction, to which I attest having visited most of these locales myself. This is especially true as regards the action set in Barcelona's famous Gaudi masterpiece, La Basilica de Segrada Familia. The central questions in the novel--where did we come from; where are we going--raises issues of the creation of life, its evolution, and where it is headed. It is the old story of science versus religion and who is right. Brown intersperses with the action discussion of such concepts as Darwinian evolution, the big bang, creationism and extraterrestials, science's bitter confrontation with Biblical creation, the 1950's experiments of Miller and Urey trying to trigger life out of simulated primordial soup, and the concepts of entropy and spontaneous generation. So the reader adds a bit to his education while enjoying an exciting story. As important theme in the story is the growing development and power of artificial intelligence. Vital scenes are set in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center which is on the cutting edge of this development. The reader can only wonder how far this technological miracle will progress and how it will ultimately affect we humans. We also get some insightful Churchill quotes along the way which I doubt any AI computer could generate, so I guess there is some home for the future. While the role of Catholicism in Spain is another theme, clearly Brown seems on the side of science and against religious theories of our existence. Throughout, he identifies real books opposing creationism such as Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" and other similar titles should readers want to further their knowledge of this dispute. However, let me be clear: this is a fantastic and exciting novel, not some manner of textbook. It only demonstrates how skillful Brown is in intermixing his fictional story with real world settings and conflicts. So long may it be, but the book is well worth the time it takes to read it, and it sheds many benefits upon the reader.

Come da descrizione .Tutto ok.Arrivato prima del previsto.👍

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Like the book, very good book, the letter is very big very easy to read.

IN ONE OF HIS INTERVIEW'S DAN BROWN STATES THAT "THE PROBLEM IN MAKING BOOKS INTO MOVIES IS THAT IMAGINATION BECOMES LIMITED. BEFORE THE HARRY POTTER MOVIES EVERY KID WHO READ IT HAD HIS OWN VERSION OF THE WIZARD HERO BUT AFTER THE MOVIES CAME OUT EVERY KID IMAGINED THE SAME DANIEL RADCLIFFE FACE. BOOKS NO LONGER REMAINED OPEN TO ONE'S IMAGINATION." I WOULD AGREE ,AS I STARTED IMAGINING TOM HANKS IN A SUIT WITHIN THE FIRST FEW PAGES OF DAN BROWN'S LATEST NOVEL ORIGIN. BUT THE OTHER CHARACTERS I COULD PICK AND CHOOSE FROM THE VAST ARRAY OF HOLLYWOOD'S ACTORS I LIKED. I COULD STILL IMAGINE THE NEXT PAGE'S HAPPENING OR VISUALISE HOW I WOULD REACT IF I WERE IN THE SCENE. HENCE DESPITE THE MOVIES , ONE'S IMAGINATION STILL RUNS FREE MR.BROWN! AS AN ARDENT ADMIRER OF DAN BROWN'S WRITING MY SPIRITS WERE DAMPENED AFTER READING INFERNO BUT I STILL BOUGHT A COPY OF ORIGIN ON THE VERY DAY OF IT'S RELEASE HOPING FOR A MORE POSITIVE THEME. HAVING SEEN HIS INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE I SOMEHOW SENSED THAT SHARJAH WOULD BE FEATURED IN THE BOOK AND IT WAS. ALSO I THOUGHT THAT THE RECURRENT QUESTION OF SCIENCE VERSUS GOD WOULD BE EXPLORED IN SOME NEW WAY ALONG WITH THE TIMELESS QUESTION WHERE DO WE COME FROM ? “Human creation and human destiny. They are the universal mysteries.” BUT THIS BOOK RUNS MUCH DEEPER. THE WASHINGTON POST , THE TELEGRAPH, THE GUARDIAN AND THE NEW YORK TIMES HAVE GIVEN VERY SCATHING REVIEWS TO THE BOOK BUT THE REAL REVIEW IS IN THE SALES FIGURES AND THE RECEPTION FROM THE MASSES IT IS AIMED AT. THE CRITICS EVEN NOTIFY TOM HANKS FOR HIS UPCOMING MOVIE SHOOTING IN SPAIN AND COMMENT ON THE BOOK'S FORMULA. THE REASON FOR A FORMULA BEING REPEATED BY SOMEONE IS THAT IT WORKS. IT IS A THRILLER SET IN A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH GREAT HISTORICAL MONUMENTS EXPLORING EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS. HISTORY +BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE + SMART DAMSEL IN DISTRESS + SOLVING CODES + CONTROVERSIES + UNDERDOG GEEKY HERO OVERCOMING ALL OBSTACLES DESPITE CLAUSTROPHOBIA & THE WORLD AGAINST HIM ETC = MILLIONS OF BOOK COPIES SOLD ALONGWITH MOVIE RIGHTS. “In your world of classical art, pieces are revered for the artist’s skill of execution—that is, how deftly he places the brush to canvas or the chisel to stone. In modern art, however, masterpieces are often more about the idea than the execution.“ THIS INSIGHT FROM THE BOOK IS A VERY SIMPLE WAY TO EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF MODERN ART TO THOSE WHO ARE PERPLEXED BY IT. I liked the way he has approached modern art by making Bilbao museum the starting point for the story. The description of ideas behind modern art is a gateway for people who do not appreciate it perhaps and I for one have added the Guggenheim museum to my bucket list. ON MY PART, I AM FASCINATED BY THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MONUMENTS AND THE VARIED THEORIES DAN BROWN SHARES USING LANGDON HIS ALTER EGO PERHAPS. I DO NOT MIND THE DESCRIPTIONS ABOUT CITIES AND MONUMENTS WHICH IS WHAT THE CRITICS ABHOR THE MOST IN HIS BOOKS. LEARNING ABOUT A PLACE DURING A STORY IS MORE INTERESTING THAN PICKINGUP A TRAVEL BOOK. I READ HIS BOOKS SLOWLY, SEEING VIDEOS AND PICTURES OF THE PLACES AND READING A BIT ABOUT THEM BEFORE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT MONUMENT. HE MOVES FROM MONUMENT TO MONUMENT AND CITY TO CITY SOLVING A PUZZLE. I AM AS A READER INTRIGUED BY THE PUZZLE AS MUCH AS BY THE ARTWORK AND PASSAGES OR POETRY SHARED DURING THE QUEST. Getting a fresh perspective about works of Nietzsche and William Blake as an interwoven part of the tale makes it DEEPER THAN A SIMPLE THRILLER. DAN BROWN STEPS CAUTIOUSLY INTO ISLAM for a brief moment AND MOVES INTO THE Familiar territory of Christianity for the rest of the book. He shares the controversies of the Christian world in interesting plot twists. I like the manner in which he deals with religious fanaticism subtly and even provides a solution of sorts “that the human mind has the ability to elevate an obvious fiction to the status of a divine fact, and then feel emboldened to kill in its name. He believed that the universal truths of science could unite people—serving as a rallying point for future generations.” “That’s a beautiful idea in principle,which is why Edmond hoped science could one day unify us,” Langdon said. “In his own words: ‘If we all worshipped gravity..." In making up artificial intelligence as a main character Dan Brown shows the contentious cusp between present and future possibilities. To quote“ assess a machine’s ability to behave in a manner indistinguishable from that of a human“ makes it sound achievable. The concept of building intelligence that can be near human but not humane is intriguing and scary both. “the human brain is a binary system—synapses either fire or they don’t—they are on or off, like a computer switch. The brain has over a hundred trillion switches, which means that building a brain is not so much a question of technology as it is a question of scale.“ I WONDER IF THE FUTURISTIC UPGRADED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGANCE WINSTON WHO PUTS SIRI TO SHAME IS BEING DEVELOPED SOMEWHERE. THE "SMART DAMSEL IN DISTRESS SOLVING CODES" THEME RECURRS HERE AND I WONDER HOW HIS NOVELS WOULD FARE IF THE FEMALE LEAD WOULD BE A MUCH OLDER MARRIED LADY OF GRANDMOTHERLY AGE OR MAY BE EVEN A MALE SCIENTIST? DESPITE THE PLATONIC FRIENDSHIP PORTRAYED, A RAVISHING FEMALE LEAD ADDS AN ELEMENT OF WOW DEFINITELY. THOUGH STATED AT A DIFFERENT POINT IN THE STORY ,AN AUTHOR HAS TO TAP INTO BASIC HUMAN TENDENCIES AT SOME POINT BECAUSE IN DAN BROWN'S OWN WORDS "humans, despite being God’s most sublime creation, were still just animals at the core, their behavior driven to a great extent by a quest for creature comforts." MOST READERS' ATTENTION WOULD BE DRAWN TO ATTRACTIVE FEMALE LEADS IN TROUBLE AND IN HIS NOVELS IT IS BEAUTY WITH BRAINS. THERE IS A TENDENCY TO INCLUDE INTERNATIONAL CHARACTERS TO GET WIDER AUDIENCE AND AN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVE OF INDIAN ORIGIN MAKES AN APPEARANCE BUT I HOPE DAN BROWN CHOOSES A BETTER INDIAN NAME NEXT TIME. I HAVE READ ALL OF DAN BROWN'S BOOKS AND MY RATINGS WERE THE HIGHEST FOR THE DIGITAL FORTRESS FOLLOWED BY DA VINCI CODE FOLLOWED BY ORIGIN FOLLOWED BY DECEPTION POINT FOLLOWED BY ANGELS AND DEMONS FOLLOWED BY THE LOST SYMBOL FOLLOWED BY INFERNO. I HATED THE NEGATIVE THEMED INFERNO THE MOST . ALL IN ALL HIS RECENT BOOK"ORIGIN" IS A PLEASANT READ AND I WOULD RATE THE PLOT AS 3.5/5 AND THE WRITING AS 4/5 BECAUSE I LIKE TRAVEL AND MYSTERY BOTH AND DAN BROWN MARRIES THEM IN QUITE A DECENT NARRATIVE. I ALSO LIKED THE WAY I WAS FORCED TO THINK OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE FUTURE IN MYRIAD HUES AND NOT JUST AS AN AID TO HUMAN KIND.

Claro, es ciencia ficción, pero combinada con hechos, lugares e historias reales, da como resultado un relato de acción y suspenso que te mantiene pegado al libro. Lectura muy recomendable.