I've now read both Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code, and I have to say that he is not a bad writer. Both of these novels have Robert Langdon, Harvard professor and symbologist, as the central protagonist and they both deal with conspiracies related to the Roman Catholic Church.
In the first, Angels and Demons, Langdon is called to Switzerland to help decipher a strange symbol left on the body of a murdered scientist. The symbol is related to an ancient organization sworn to destroy the Roman Catholic Church. As the plot unfolds, we learn that the Pope has recently died and Conclave is just about to start to elect his successor, but the entire proceeding is threatened by a very high-tech device that could destroy all of Vatican City.
This really is a good story with a very nice twist and reveal at the end. The characters are pretty well developed and believable and the ending is very nice. Overall, I think this is a great murder mystery/conspiracy novel that would leave anyone wanting to hear about Langdon's adventures.
In the second, The DaVinci Code, Landon returns to help the French police decipher cryptic clues left at the scen of a murder in the Louvre. Following these clues across Paris and into Great Britain reveals the truth of the murderer, a worldwide conspiracy, and startling information about the Holy Grail.
This could have been a great story if Langdon were built on as a character. In this novel, though, he seems to be a completely different person than the skeptical and cautious professor presented in Angels. That was really frustrating for me. I do have to say, though, that the book is still many times better than the movie, and that it addresses many of the plot holes that I had issue with in the movie.
Now we look forward to the next Robert Langdon adventure which Dan Brown is supposedly working on now. Apparently, it will be set in Washington DC and will deal with the secret history of our capitol. Sounds like it could be interesting.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Home Again
Our camping trip was great!
We didn't get to do the Butterfield as I had hoped. It would've been more than I could handle. We did a 3 mile hike on one day and it nearly wiped me out. Of course, I was carrying a backpack and a kid for part of the way. Jeffrey, on the other hand, claimed to be up for it even after carrying a kid and helping Leah manage the dog.
We also missed out on Farmer's Cave, but that was just due to a technicality. You have to have at least 4 people with two light sources apiece. We only had three people and 5 lights. Oh well, it's just one more reason to head back another time.
Jeffrey and I did participate in the horseshoes tournament on the 4th, and we made it all the way to the championship game. We dominated every other team along the way, and then got spanked in the final game. The score was something like 21 to 12. The trophy stays in Arkansas for another year.
The kids enjoyed seeing some wildlife around the campsite. We saw a cicada molting and another emerging from the ground. I think the second was drowned in the run off from the water faucet, though. We also saw a fox (twice), a groundhog (several times as its den was under a nearby rock), a raccoon (that was about the size of a small bear), lots of squirrel, a few snakes along the creek, fish in the creek, bats, and tons of lightning bugs. I didn’t get pictures of everything, but I have some of a few of the above.
The kids also got to do some hiking with us and go in a couple of caves. Reagan, Logan, Jeffrey, and I all went to the very end of Devil’s Den Cave. The next day, Logan, Reagan, Abbie, and Leah went about halfway, and Emma, Reagan, Jeffrey, Logan, and I all went about halfway through Devil’s Icebox, too. Abbie tried Icebox, but got a little scared and turned back. It’s really a much more difficult cave than Devil’s Den, and Emma only succeeded because Jeffrey and I could hold her.
All of the kids loved the hike to Yellow Rock, which we did a little differently this time than year’s past. In the past, we always hiked from Campground A to the Yellow Rock bluff and back again. This year, though, we started at the Yellow Rock overlook out on the highway and hiked the entire trail straight through. It was a longer hike (3 miles total), but a gentler grade. Since we started at the top of the mountain and hiked sideways, there was less stress on the kids. It also helped that we had two vehicles so we could leave one at either end of the trail.
Best of all, we missed being rained on by just a few minutes. As we were pulling out of the park, we ran into a downpour that we drove through for about 45 minutes. We ran into about 3 other rain patches on the remainder of the trip, but the first was the most stressful. As we drove through the rain, Leah and I racked our brains to think of everything that we had brought to be sure that there was nothing in the back of the truck that couldn’t get wet. We thought of nothing.
After we passed through all the rain, though, I thought of the camera. Leah wasn’t sure where it was; she just remembered that Jeffrey had taken it from the backpack just before he left to snap a couple of pics. She assumed that he had returned it to the top pouch of the backpack, and her assumption was correct. It had ridden in the top of the backpack, which was on the top of everything we had packed, through the rain. We pulled over after for a break, and after I shook the water out of it, I let it “bake” on the dashboard. It seems to be working fine, I just haven’t had a chance to plug it up and download the pictures yet, but I’ll get to it soon. I promise. :)
We didn't get to do the Butterfield as I had hoped. It would've been more than I could handle. We did a 3 mile hike on one day and it nearly wiped me out. Of course, I was carrying a backpack and a kid for part of the way. Jeffrey, on the other hand, claimed to be up for it even after carrying a kid and helping Leah manage the dog.
We also missed out on Farmer's Cave, but that was just due to a technicality. You have to have at least 4 people with two light sources apiece. We only had three people and 5 lights. Oh well, it's just one more reason to head back another time.
Jeffrey and I did participate in the horseshoes tournament on the 4th, and we made it all the way to the championship game. We dominated every other team along the way, and then got spanked in the final game. The score was something like 21 to 12. The trophy stays in Arkansas for another year.
The kids enjoyed seeing some wildlife around the campsite. We saw a cicada molting and another emerging from the ground. I think the second was drowned in the run off from the water faucet, though. We also saw a fox (twice), a groundhog (several times as its den was under a nearby rock), a raccoon (that was about the size of a small bear), lots of squirrel, a few snakes along the creek, fish in the creek, bats, and tons of lightning bugs. I didn’t get pictures of everything, but I have some of a few of the above.
The kids also got to do some hiking with us and go in a couple of caves. Reagan, Logan, Jeffrey, and I all went to the very end of Devil’s Den Cave. The next day, Logan, Reagan, Abbie, and Leah went about halfway, and Emma, Reagan, Jeffrey, Logan, and I all went about halfway through Devil’s Icebox, too. Abbie tried Icebox, but got a little scared and turned back. It’s really a much more difficult cave than Devil’s Den, and Emma only succeeded because Jeffrey and I could hold her.
All of the kids loved the hike to Yellow Rock, which we did a little differently this time than year’s past. In the past, we always hiked from Campground A to the Yellow Rock bluff and back again. This year, though, we started at the Yellow Rock overlook out on the highway and hiked the entire trail straight through. It was a longer hike (3 miles total), but a gentler grade. Since we started at the top of the mountain and hiked sideways, there was less stress on the kids. It also helped that we had two vehicles so we could leave one at either end of the trail.
Best of all, we missed being rained on by just a few minutes. As we were pulling out of the park, we ran into a downpour that we drove through for about 45 minutes. We ran into about 3 other rain patches on the remainder of the trip, but the first was the most stressful. As we drove through the rain, Leah and I racked our brains to think of everything that we had brought to be sure that there was nothing in the back of the truck that couldn’t get wet. We thought of nothing.
After we passed through all the rain, though, I thought of the camera. Leah wasn’t sure where it was; she just remembered that Jeffrey had taken it from the backpack just before he left to snap a couple of pics. She assumed that he had returned it to the top pouch of the backpack, and her assumption was correct. It had ridden in the top of the backpack, which was on the top of everything we had packed, through the rain. We pulled over after for a break, and after I shook the water out of it, I let it “bake” on the dashboard. It seems to be working fine, I just haven’t had a chance to plug it up and download the pictures yet, but I’ll get to it soon. I promise. :)
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