8List.ph
  • Lockdown Diaries
    • Updates
    • Good News
    • Life Under Quarantine
    • Humor
    • Health Tips
  • News
    • Opinion
    • People
  • Pop
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Books
    • Theater
    • Showbiz
    • Geek
    • Sports
    • Retro
    • Weird
  • Life
    • Health
    • Nest
    • Life-Hacks
    • Food & Drink
    • Travel
    • Style
      • Beauty
      • Inspiration
      • Shop
      • OOTD
  • Videos
    • Filgood
    • Isabuhay Ang Panata
    • #8MinutesWith
    • Pagsubeks
    • 8list Plays
    • 8List Asks
    • 8List Explores
    • 8List Presents
    • 8secs
    • 88 Seconds
    • YOUth DECIDE
    • Str8 Up with Delamar
    • Toughest Job 2016
  • Comics
    • H8 Mondays
  • Breathe
  • #YOUthDECIDE
  • About
  • Sitemap
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Archive
  • Bitesized.ph
  • Windowseat.ph

 

 

 

8List.ph is published by ID8, Inc.

Subscribe
8List.ph
8List.ph
  • Lockdown Diaries
    • Updates
    • Good News
    • Life Under Quarantine
    • Humor
    • Health Tips
  • News
    • Opinion
    • People
  • Pop
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Books
    • Theater
    • Showbiz
    • Geek
    • Sports
    • Retro
    • Weird
  • Life
    • Health
    • Nest
    • Life-Hacks
    • Food & Drink
    • Travel
    • Style
      • Beauty
      • Inspiration
      • Shop
      • OOTD
  • Videos
    • Filgood
    • Isabuhay Ang Panata
    • #8MinutesWith
    • Pagsubeks
    • 8list Plays
    • 8List Asks
    • 8List Explores
    • 8List Presents
    • 8secs
    • 88 Seconds
    • YOUth DECIDE
    • Str8 Up with Delamar
    • Toughest Job 2016
  • Comics
    • H8 Mondays
  • Breathe
  • #YOUthDECIDE
  • Pop

An Exercise in Diminishing Returns: An 8List Review of Dan Brown’s “Origin”

  • Posted on Oct 23, 2017May 18, 2021
  • 3 minute read
  • Tim Henares
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Ever since the controversy of “Da Vinci Code” propelled his name to unparalleled heights occupied only by female writers like J.K. Rowling and (shudder) Stephenie Meyer, Dan Brown has taken it upon himself to find more and more ways to keep Harvard Symbology professor Robert Langdon from actually doing his job and teaching his students.

His latest novel, “Origin,” an immediate best-seller, may be frowned upon by critics who believe the man can’t string two coherent sentences together without calling every single building or work of art “celebrated” or “renowned,” or drowning you in either exposition or adjectives, but it cannot be denied that the book remains to be a page-turner, albeit less and less gripping than those that came before it. Here’s how we found the book, with minimal spoilers ahead.

[/whole] [/row]

8. We open with a shaggy dog story.


Via freemalaysiatoday

If you don’t know what a shaggy dog story is, then you will be terribly frustrated with how “Origin” begins. Essentially, a shaggy dog story is a long-winded narrative that leads to a deliberately flat ending or a non-ending. Make of that what you will with a book that is entitled “Origin,” featuring a guy who is heavily into religious symbols and the like.

 


7. Yet another damsel.


Via medium.com

Ah, yes. Another “strong-willed” yet ultimately pliable female character is cast alongside Robert Langdon, making them all practically interchangeable with each other by the end. This time, the potential love interest is also the future queen of Spain. Oh, joy.

 

Advertisements

6. A quest to right the wrong done to your friend.


Via thetimes

A friend, of course, Langdon has never thought of until this very book. With so many close friends he’s had over the years, you would think passing mentions of these people would be completely reasonable to expect, but Robert Langdon seems to compartmentalize all his significant relationships so well that you pretty much have nothing in the way of Easter eggs for future characters.

 

5. The height of computing intellect.


Via danbrown

Winston, early on in the book, is revealed to be an AI programmed by Edmond Kirsch, Langdon’s former student and friend. This remarkable feat of computer engineering is an insanely compelling character and plot device in his own right, and one that any self-respecting mystery fan should quickly recognize.

 

4. The atheists have their moment.


Via heraldsun

Edmond Kirsch, the futurist, is also a prominent atheist. In a novel called “Origin,” you can be sure that whatever he discovered would not sit well with the world’s religions, who originally laid claim to the monopoly of “knowledge” on the world’s origins.

 

3. Yet another mysterious sect.


Via spectator

Who the heck are the Palmarians? Well, you’re going to be sick of them by the end of the novel.

 

2. Yet another convenient set of twists.


Via thecultureconcept

Dan Brown’s novels always point you to obvious suspects who never turn out guilty, and expect you to be caught by surprise by a sudden twist in the end that is so predictable, even Stevie Wonder can see it coming.

 

1. And yet, you can’t put it down.


Via danbrown

Amid all of Dan Brown’s idiosyncrasies and shortcomings as a writer, you can’t help but respect his ability to spin a gripping yarn about things he clearly knows next to nothing about, including Uber. If for his ability to engage you so long as you’re willing to turn off your brain and not still have your intelligence insulted by his writing, you are in for a pretty entertaining read that will 66% of the time be better than the eventual movie starring Tom Hanks.

 

Final Verdict: This is a serviceable addition to the ranks of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon-helmed novels, albeit inferior to the heights accomplished by “Angels and Demons.” Let’s call it a 4.75/8.

 

Have you read the book? Tell us what you think of it below!


Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Tim Henares


Previous Article
  • Food & Drink

Poke Craze is Here: 8 Bowls to Try in Poke Poke

  • Posted on Oct 22, 2017May 18, 2021
  • Tynne De Leon
View Post
Next Article
  • Pop

8 Things We Love About the 2018 Giving Journal by CBTL

  • Posted on Oct 23, 2017May 18, 2021
  • Therese Aseoche
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Pop

Netizens Welcome the UAAP Cheerdance Competition Back With Memes

  • Posted on May 23, 2022
  • Meryl Medel
View Post
  • Pop

Netizens Are Enjoying Keeping Up With the Robredos’ New York Trip Through Instagram Stories

  • Posted on May 17, 2022
  • Meryl Medel
View Post
  • Pop

If 8 Celebrity Endorsers Ended Up As Cabinet Members

  • Posted on May 17, 2022May 17, 2022
  • Tim Henares
View Post
  • Pop

This New Podcast Takes Deep Dives Into the Local Troll Farm Industry and It’s Seriously Disturbing

  • Posted on May 17, 2022
  • Kyzia Maramara
View Post
  • Pop

‘Pass, Walang Red Flag’: Netizens Give Reasons Why They Don’t Want Vico Sotto for President

  • Posted on May 16, 2022May 16, 2022
  • Kyzia Maramara
View Post
  • Pop

8 Most Unlikely Places Where Supporters of Leni Robredo Have Campaigned

  • Posted on May 6, 2022
  • Meryl Medel
View Post
  • Pop

These Filipino-Am Students’ Modernized Tinikling Dance Gets Lil Nas X’s Attention

  • Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 2022
  • Meryl Medel
View Post
  • Pop

‘Demon Slayer,’ ‘Spirited Away’: Somebody Give DOTr’s Social Media Team a Raise

  • Posted on May 3, 2022May 3, 2022
  • Kyzia Maramara

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the l8est delivered right to your inbox.

8List.ph
  • About
  • Sitemap
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Archive
  • Bitesized.ph
  • Windowseat.ph
Your daily dose of entertaining, useful and informative lists.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.