The Inferno- Dante's, Brown's, and Our Very Own

When I was in high school, I took a class that taught all about sustainability. It scared me a little (try a lot), learning that our world, with a population of 7 billion, would soon need to deal with the problem of extreme over population. Especially considering exponential growth--soon we will number 9 billion and what will we do then? Will there be enough food, water, wood, oil, etc. for everyone? Enough physical space?!

Dan Brown's fourth installment in his Robert Langdon books, including Angles and Demons and more recently The Lost Symbol, deals with this exact issue. Though I have not read The Lost Symbol, I read the other two and really loved them. Intriguing, smart, and fast-paced, they also dealt with history and art in a way that taught my young mind a lot. Of course, there was that controversy concerning The Da Vinci Code, with the Catholic Church essentially banning the faithful from reading it. Apart from all that, I was very excited when I walked into Barnes and Nobles and saw that The Inferno had been released. I bought it for my father, who read it in a heartbeat and loved it. He lent it to me and I quickly got into it.

At that time, I had been reading Shadow Country, a work of intense devotion written by Peter Matthiessen. In the early 1990s, Matthiessen started a trilogy that focused on the life and death of Edgar J. Watson, a historical figure remembered now for many killings attributed to his name. The trilogy, which consisted of Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man's River, and Bone by Bone was originally envisioned by Matthiessen as one work. Finally, he edited the three books and gathered them as one, making the novel Shadow Country. I only got through the first book, which I enjoyed for a few reasons. Firstly, living in South Florida myself it was interesting (though often just as boring) to read about the early history of the Keys and of the lifestyle of those who populated that wild, swampy area. I also enjoyed the writing style. There is a lot of dialect, which always makes it easy to get into the mindset of the narrator--or in this case narrators. Different members of Watson's community and/or family are given the chance to narrate, which gives the reader a wide picture. At the same time, however, it made it difficult to really get to know any one character. I did not love this book, though I could appreciate its achievements in scope. In fact, I did not even feel interested in reading the second or third parts, which apparently all end the same way the first book did--with the death of Mr. Watson. Reading his tale was a chore enough the first time, having to do it two more times just seemed daunting.

Plus, The Inferno was offered to me and I was instantly hooked. The book opens in medias res: Robert finds himself in a hospital, experiencing temporary amnesia. He does not know where he is, nor how he got there, nor what he has been doing the past couple of days. On top of that--someone is trying to kill him.

Thus launches Robert's journey, one that, though it starts off a little slower than in previous books, quickly picks up pace and the reader's interest. You are taken through the streets and sights of Florence, Italy, as well as some beautiful landmarks of Istanbul, Turkey. This book was not necessarily the best of Brown's, as it was sometimes slow and repetitive. The puzzles and codes are not as engaging as in The Da Vinci Code, and there is something about The Inferno, particularly in the first half, that is just not as satisfying as Brown's other books. There is however, a great twist or two at the end that I did not see coming. More importantly, the over-all message of the book is dangerously relevant and important, something we should all be aware of. I very much enjoyed reading it, though I would not call it an excellent book.