Origin Review
Title: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
Date Purchased: 7/30/2018
Price Paid: $3.17
Date Finished: 6/30/2021
Rating: 3/5
One of my favorite bands of all time is AC/DC, and many years ago Angus Young (the lead guitarist for the band) was interviewed by Guitar World magazine on the eve of a new album release. After talking about the new album and getting through the various normal questions asked of a rock god, the interviewer asked what Young’s thoughts were on those who claimed that every AC/DC album sounds alike:
“I’m sick and tired of people saying that we put out 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve put out 12 albums that sound exactly the same.”
And so it is with Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series – you know what you’re getting into when you pick up one of these novels. So what does that do to my overall enjoyment? Well, let’s dig into that, shall we?
Here’s what I view as the “Dan Brown Recipe”: take equal parts symbology, religion, and murder and pour over ice. Add in dashes of mistaken identity and false accusations. Shake until chilled and decant into a glass made in Europe or the Middle East. Serve straight up, but don’t forget the twist.
I know I’m being a bit glib here, but I’m not really all that far from the truth. His stories have become very formulaic, and while the context and content will vary they all seem to follow the same pattern. Introduce a mystery, usually with a dead body. Langdon tries to solve the mystery while being hunted by both the bad guys and the authorities. As we hit the end where things get resolved, we discover a twist worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan movie.
So if that’s what every Brown book is like, why will I continue to read them? Because I know what I’m going to get, and I’m fine with that. I’ve often used the term “beach read” as a book I don’t really get too wrapped up in, can plow through, and find moderate enjoyment in…and this is what Brown delivers to me with his Langdon novels.
Considering that lower bar, what does that say for how I will rate his work? Well, I think that’s an interesting question. On the one hand, there’s a good deal of forgiveness that I’ll have for his writing. I’m not coming into the book looking for a life-changing read, and I also don’t expect it to eat up too much of my time and/or energy. Because of this, when I think about rating his books I usually have a floor – I’m typically not going to dip below a three.
But on the other hand? I don’t expect anything special out of anything he writes. I go into it expecting to be mildly entertained, and perhaps have a good mystery to work through. So because my expectations are so low, and I’m not really looking for his work to be the next Wuthering Heights, I also wind up with a ceiling for his books…which is usually a three.
(Full disclosure: I have not read Wuthering Heights, so perhaps that wasn’t the right analogy to go with. I would add it to my list but, well, you know…)
And so it goes with Origin. Nothing out of the ordinary for Dan Brown, and a book I would rate a solid three. The story was moderately interesting, and I was able to churn through it in no time.
Final Thoughts: A good beach read, if you like Brown’s other work.