Reflections on the Origin (I): Reading Notes | Origin
However, it was only in yet we called and urged a thousand times before she started toward us that she began to walk towards us. The Origin is still a paradox and skill that can be seen in all novels before dan brown, and its structural design and plot setting are highly routine. Almost every celebrity with a surname appears, and the author can instantly define their roles in the plot (passers-by, killers, villains, mystifying, puzzles that disturb the audience and so on). There is no suspense in the turning point of the novel. After reading the development in front, you can immediately think of what will happen in the back.
This book reveals too many clues, especially in the laying of suspense details, and even does not cover up traces at all, which makes people feel that the author has given up. With the development of the plot, the author quickly corresponds all the secret identity characters (that is, those who have been given strange code names) with the characters that have already appeared, eliminates the suspicion of innocence, finds the real murderer, and reveals the truth without reading the novel at all. After all, there are only a few outstanding people, and the book clearly and qualitatively describes some people's psychological activities and behaviors, which can be ruled out immediately, and the rest are mysterious people.
It can be said that as the origin of mystery novel, it is quite a failure. As a robert langdon series, Langdon's role is almost zero. Apart from serving as a Spanish travel guide, this book does not give full play to Yuan Bo's knowledge of art history and semiotics, not to mention his expertise in deciphering symbols and codes. Whether there is Langdon or not in this book feels the same, not to mention the existence of an extremely powerful artificial intelligence.
Different from the previous Langdon series, the narrative structure is guided by solving puzzles, and the time-space transfer of the plot is not driven by solving puzzles. The origin is like early digital castles and scams, mainly based on cutting-edge scientific achievements and political intrigues. The plot completely revolves around the assassination and the public relations crisis between the Spanish royal family and the church, which weakens the plot and readers' attention to the puzzle itself. You don't even have to solve puzzles, and you don't feel like an intellectual game in your previous works.
The core topic of this book is the continuation, or subset, of angels and demons. It continues to discuss the relationship between science and religion with unresolved controversial topics, and finally draws a compromise answer to avoid conflicts between the two sides. The topic of angels and demons is the origin of the universe, and the topic of origin is where we come from, that is, the origin and destination of life. This is a controversial topic that is similar to the origin of the universe and has no solution at the origin.
Origin claims to take the ultimate problem of human beings as the starting point, but the answer given is quite perfunctory and does not give a creative and predictive new answer. Still repeating the same old story, it is nothing more than reporting and summarizing the past research. On the question of the origin of mankind, the final answer is that the laws of physics created the origin of mankind, but at the same time, it also raises a question: Who created the laws of physics in the universe? If the answer to this new question comes down to the origin of the universe, then we will eventually return to the unsolved problem between angels and demons, and then bring the topic back to the opposition and unity of religion and science again.
Another question in this book is about where we are going. I think the explanation and answer given by the trilogy of quality effect can explain the problem better. The quality effect not only gives the answer, but also gives various choices, so that players can see the results of different choices. One option is that, just like the answer given by the source, the combination of human beings and technology has evolved from an organism to a synthetic one, which is in line with the answers of futurism and superman philosophy. However, the source of this book is too watery, and the explanation given is vague and confusing. If you say it, you don't say it. Compared with the truth about the origin of Jesus in The Da Vinci Code and the amazing reading effect brought by the plague sweeping the world in hell, the feeling after reading this book is that I can think of it myself, as you said.
The setting of the role of death in Origin is quite like the last hell, and it is a victim of scientific ethics, but this book is not as depressing and tragic as the last one, and the topic is not heavy. The role of artificial intelligence in the film source once made people think that they were reading science fiction, and there was a pair of quite politically correct character designs in the book.
On the whole, The Source is really a disappointing work, and it seems that dan brown can't come up with any sharp insights and shocking theories.
Reflection on the Origin (2): I am at my wit's end or Jiang Lang is at my wit's end: dan brown, choose one for yourself.
I have always been a fan of dan brown's first novel "Digital Fortress", and it is the first time for me to read all his works. I can't even wait to introduce Chinese into my new book, starting with The Lost Secret Symbol. I only buy original documents. He is the only person who can make me interested in eating thick English books now. However, this latest birth really disappointed me.
Dan brown, as a best-selling author, actually has few works. After all, each film spent a lot of time collecting materials, but it also achieved excellent quality. Looking at his first six works, the key to success has four elements:
First, the narrative rhythm is compact. Usually, the spatial scope of story development is long, but it is urgent, which keeps readers and protagonists in a tense journey at all times and keeps readers' appetite in suspense.
Second, a wealth of dazzling knowledge, from astronomy to geography, from ancient history and religion to antimatter artificial intelligence. The work not only involves a lot of professional knowledge, but also closely combines with the story, which effectively promotes the development of the plot;
3. Ingenious jigsaw design, from the Avenue of Light across the whole city of Rome, to the Da Vinci code box, and then to the dazzling aid pyramid, the puzzles in the book have both grand and bold patterns and ingenious designs, which will not disappoint people every time;
The fourth is the reflection of religious proposition. The theme of dan brown's novels mostly revolves around the complex relationship between religion and science. After thousands of years of life-and-death struggle, no one can replace anyone. His novels not only speculate and question this sensitive issue from different angles, but also arouse the attention and debate of readers and even the whole society on this topic, so his works have more social value than literary value.
However, on the other hand, in the origin, none of the four elements of success are available. On the surface, the story also shuttles between three Spanish cities, and the protagonist is chased all the way, as always, but the narrative rhythm is unprecedented. The introduction at the beginning of the story wastes too much unnecessary space. In the middle of the novel, apart from the death of a local tyrant, a bunch of modern art unrelated to the main line and a wave of gossip about the love of the Spanish royal family, the plot has not made any real progress, and Professor Langdon has not even begun to solve the puzzle seriously.
The double-line narrative of the novel not only slows down the rhythm further, but also has no substantive connection and intersection until the end. At first, the Spanish royal family was inexplicably hacked, and finally, inexplicably washed white. Apart from leaving a bunch of unexplained plot loopholes, it hardly played much substantive role in the main plot. On the contrary, the theme of the novel is scattered because of the different themes expressed by the two sides.
Many artists, works of art and buildings have appeared in this work, and many modern works have appeared, which, to a certain extent, broke through the limitation that the previous works were only classical art. At first, I thought that the core of this work was antoinio gaudi, who appeared with the highest frequency, but I didn't expect that the most critical work was actually written by william blake. The biggest problem is that most of the knowledge mentioned in the book is not directly related to the main plot, and it is not helpful to solve puzzles and promote the plot. It is purely for dazzling study. Only the above two artists have practical effects, which is a huge retrogression compared with the close combination of dazzling knowledge and stories in previous works.
Metaphysics is not rich, but exquisite. Even if hell is surrounded by a divine comedy and a map of hell from beginning to end, at least a certain depth can be excavated. However, "Origin" even perfunctory puzzles, from beginning to end without a decent puzzle. The answer to the so-called computer code that runs through the book is just a poem with a little skill. In The Da Vinci Code, this difficulty can only be regarded as an appetizer. As for the rest, not even riddles. At best, it is the degree of brain rotation.
The spiral pattern on the cover is located in the most eye-catching position, which is like the nautilus fossil and the spiral staircase of Sagrada Familia designed by Gaudi. Originally thought that the latter would have a close relationship with the theme of "origin", but it turned out to be just a place for fighting ... It really deserves to be the third "famous ladder" in the world ... Besides, it is obvious that the cross of Gal Murrow, the ancient sky and the geographical compass all appear in the book. ), the four similar works and symbols of the Greek letter Lambda are not actually connected to design a puzzle, and there is no in-depth explanation. This book always makes me feel like an unfinished semi-finished product, wasting a lot of valuable information again and again, which is really disappointing.
As for the two ultimate philosophical questions that this book repeats N 2 times from beginning to end: "Where do we come from? Where are we going? " In fact, the more repetition, the more it reflects the author's self-confidence, so it needs to be emphasized to readers repeatedly. On the surface, the book gives a specious answer at the end, claiming to overthrow all religions in one fell swoop. However, if you think about it a little, you will find that it is not the same thing at all. Dan brown, do you understand the difference between "hypothesis", "theory" and "fact" under the modern scientific system? Without any actual evidence, theoretical system and logical deduction, do you dare to show off the prediction results of an artificial intelligence model? This barely reaches the hypothetical level. At best, it is an idea, not to mention whether your model design is reasonable, whether the parameter settings and the original data are correct are unknown, which will directly affect the credibility of the model results. Needless to say, this so-called "ultimate answer" will not have any impact on religion, and even the scientific community will not recognize it. Apart from the hype of the last online hot search, it has almost no value in itself.
Since The Da Vinci Code was a great success, every new work by dan brown has attracted much attention. Not only are there many imitators, but the expectations of readers are also rising. The pressure and difficulty of his creation can be imagined. However, this "birth" unfortunately refreshed the lower limit of my expectations for him. There are almost no amazing light highlights in previous works in the book. Only an omnipotent artificial intelligence leaves a deep impression, but it also makes the identity of the big boss behind the scenes almost naked.
It is said that the cinematography of this work has been put on the agenda and it is planned to be released in 2020. I would rather adapt dan brown's two early non-series works, Digital Fortress and Deception, and it is not difficult for the protagonist to be included in the Blu-ray Professor series. If I am allowed to make the film Origin, I only have one request. I must ask Fu Juan to voice artificial intelligence!
Finally, the architecture of Gutian Town! Probably the most impressive work of art after reading this book. It's really a waste of time not to dig deep into the meaning behind the work.
Reflection on the origin (3): I want to go to Spain after reading it.
I wanted to give Samsung half, but I found that I couldn't give half.
Well, how can I put it? The story itself is very dan brown, but few people hang it (his book is Angels and Demons). The story is very similar to the Da Vinci Code, but it is less intense than the codebook. You can read the plot when it is boring. Basically, you can have a good sleep by reading four chapters every night. The theme of the whole story is not novel. Since 2000, the progress of science and technology and the dance between human beings * * * On the question of whether science and technology is created, extinct or integrated, Winston, Edmund's E-wave spokesman, dismissed this question, but the answer was only to let readers think about dark religion themselves and then leave. Sweet science is about to create a "thinking" for Wang Winston's mainframe computer. I looked at it and suddenly thought of the robot baby Winston in POI. Finally, he deleted himself without attachment, and the robot baby printed out his memory every night and destroyed it. I looked at it and felt that these two suddenly overlapped in my mind. In this sense, machines are always in a weak position because they have to execute code commands, and of course, they will evolve in the future. It is not clear whether artificial intelligence will be like this. Of course, dan brown skillfully played his best church trick at the end. The platonic spiritual love between the old Spanish king and his archbishop, if this film is to be made into a film, I think the Vatican will protest again. Ha ha ha ha ha ha PS: dan brown's books always make me want to travel at last. Although I don't like France, I like it very much. The pyramid-shaped Paris Museum, followed by angels and demons, makes me want to visit Rome. The capitol in the secret sign is also very spectacular. The Hundred Flowers Cathedral in Hell is also very beautiful. After reading this book, I really want to go to Spain to see the Sagrada Familia, which will be completed in ten years. I am curious about the stairs, rotation and columns described in the book ~ ~ I really want to go to the scene to see ~ ~ ~
Reflection on the origin (4): not disappointed.
Not disappointed means that the quality of the book is ok, but it is not a strict reasoning puzzle dan brown.
Off-topic, when I saw the profile of dan brown on the cover, I didn't remember the lost secret symbol at all. I flipped through Douban and found that I had actually seen it-indeed, it was because it was so ugly, and it was an inferior narrative of angels and demons and Da Vinci's code ... In Hell, which I watched on 14, I even found myself a stunt, no, smoke bombs, the last open ending. In addition, the color matching of the cover of Hell is too ugly. ...
Back to the origin, the cover color of the origin is not so friendly ... but the content feels ok. Although it is not a typical Dan Brown plot-symbols, decryption, religion, hunting, these contents are also found in this book, but they are weakened a lot. What is expressed through the story is no longer the feeling of adrenaline soaring at the moment, but the layers of secrets that pursue the source. I could have guessed who the murderer was a long time ago. This is part of the story. What is important is the content of dialectical nature and relationship between science and religion, which gives me great inspiration. Religion has its positive significance in guiding people to be good, just like the story I saw in Weibo today. During the Wenchuan earthquake, the ward building of shifang city Maternal and Child Health Hospital became a dangerous building. The dean went to the monk of Luohan Temple next door to put the pregnant woman in the temple. The dean was worried when asked. Buddhism is quiet, and it is for women and pregnant women. I don't think people will let me. But the monks not only agreed, but also allowed to kill chickens in the temple to supplement the health of pregnant women and help doctors perform operations. Buddhism pays attention to abstinence from meat, killing and bloodletting, and all monks are cut off. Someone asked the monk, and the monk said: There is no fixed law for Buddha, and the suffering of all beings is our suffering, so it is good for all beings to be happy (@ Tianya Calendar knows happiness). This is the positive side of religion. But there are also religious believers who cling to cruel dogma, and believers who are brutally persecuted if they don't conform to their dogma (yes, I mean a religion) are increasingly abusing the word religion, which is not so good or so bad. In fact, this status quo of religion also exists in science. Just like the ending implied at the end of the book, science itself may only pursue the truth, but what kind of ending will scientific achievements without morality or human nature (here, positive human nature) bring ... Believing that science is the only God has gone to the other extreme. ...
The artificial intelligence in the story has broken through the shackles of precepts, but decided a person's life and death by learning the words and deeds of human beings in the past-"human beings have been praising those souls who have made self-sacrifice for the sake of goodness." Decisions made out of moral or realistic judgments may be human nature, but if they are made through artificial intelligence, human emotions are a bit unbearable.
There is another interesting place. When the poor villain in the book (he was once called a hero himself) was tricked into doing something bad, what moved him was actually a brainwashing remark (maybe he could argue that he was devastated by the blow? ), ah brainwashing is terrible.
Also, did dan brown satirize Professor Langdon's experience in reality by banning him from the Vatican?
Speaking of the setting of the heir to the Spanish throne, I am very interesting to talk about "the emotional twists and turns of a vulgar civilian princess and royal heir", not only because I vaguely remember that Spain is abolishing the constitutional monarchy in the past two years, and the new king is more enlightened. Combined with the plot of the novel, I probably guessed the direction of the plot, which is reasonable and reasonable, hahaha. However, the point is that the heroine is set as a person with independent personality and pursuing democracy, but she may grow up in Spain, a country that still has a constitutional monarchy. She saw that the prince also had a sense of surprise and glory brought by his position ... or maybe it was the limitation of dan brown. hahaha.
Reflections on Origin (5): Origin (dan brown)
I am a fan of dan brown. I have been used to reading a book since middle school. After reading his books for so many years, it is inevitable that some of them will fall into stereotypes. But what I like about him is that although the content involves a lot of religion and physics, including semiotics, art and biology, it can make ordinary readers feel abstruse and boring. If you can do this, it will be a qualified best seller.
This book is no exception. The topic is classic-the opposition between science and religion. Is the future of mankind controlled by religion or dominated by science? Although this book is called Primitive Origin, its content is mainly about the destination. There are still as many lines as before, suspense sets suspense, and the ending is reversed. I can't say how innovative it is, but I am really satisfied with the ending of the reversal.
Seeing that Winston said the purpose was to increase the number of people watching Edmund's video, he actually vaguely expected the truth. Although the ending is not unexpected, it is gratifying that the author finally chose this development, thus maintaining the whole book at a fairly good level. Winston specifically said, "Professor, I'm really sorry. Unlike machines, humans are often unpredictable. " Winston has already represented the highest level of AI, and even has almost the ability of independent decision-making and judgment. Therefore, he chose the virtual existence of "Regent" to let Edmund die in public and fulfill his wish to devote himself to the truth, but after all, human beings cannot be completely measured by a lot of calculations.
The story of Bishop Valdespino and the old king is moving. According to dan brown's consistent style, it is not surprising to see that the first half of the book tries to lead the bishop to the villain. I know that the result is often not deliberately guided by the author, and I don't doubt the bishop, but I know that he and the old king have been in love silently and platonically all their lives, and I am still touched. Especially the sentence "Love belongs to privacy, and outsiders don't need to know the details."
In Edmund's future, when human beings are integrated with technology, can human beings still be called human beings? Maybe not as optimistic as the book says. Dan brown especially likes to write about current hot topics, and this time, he followed closely the conflict between science and technology and religion. Although it shows a beautiful vision of the integration of science and technology and religion, what kind of creatures should be defined as its products is still an unresolved issue.
I don't like the saying that the ending woman falls in love with two men, which is also a common problem in the male series. It seems that every female host must be impressed by the humor and elegance of the male host. Langdon waved his sleeves as usual-it always seemed too conventional to take away a cloud.
Reflection on the Origin (ⅵ): Five things you must know before reading the Origin …
Never lie.
Five things you must know.
O. 1: Origin is dan brown's fifth novel featuring robert langdon. So the question is, which is robert langdon's first novel? Not The Da Vinci Code, but Angels and Demons published in 2000, followed by The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Lost Secret (2009) and Hell (20 13).
O.2: Another hero of origin, Edmund Kirsch, whose prototype is elon musk and ray kurzweil ... If you don't know the latter, please ask Baidu. More surprisingly, elon musk himself also appeared in this novel.
O.3: We will see robert langdon talking about modern art for the first time in Origin. Yes, you may have found that Langdon has no sense of modern art, and the works of art involved in the previous four robert langdon novels belong to classical art. ..
O.4: In Origin, robert langdon's title is still Professor of Semiotics and Religious Imaging at Harvard University, but Harvard University has not established this major and this chair. Readers are still more vocal about establishing this major.
O.5: The origin was inspired by a musical work by composer greg brown, Dan Brown's younger brother. The name of this work is Charles Darwin Mass. Yes, this piece of music and this book are dedicated to Darwin.
Five places/things you must know.
O. 1: Monastery of Moncelat, Spain
Monastery of Monserrate, Spain. The protagonist Edmund? Kirsch secretly met with three famous religious leaders of Catholicism, Judaism and Islam here. An old rail train is climbing a dizzy steep slope. Edmund Kirsch sat in the train and looked at the jagged top of the mountain overhead. From a distance, the majestic stone monastery between the cliffs seems to be suspended in mid-air and integrated with the vertical cliffs, which is wonderful. This ancient monastery is located in Catalonia, Spain. After more than 400 years of relentless gravity, it has never deviated from its original intention: to isolate monks from the world. O.2: Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The protagonist Edmund? Kirsch was assassinated in this speech. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, gives people the illusion that it looks like a collage made up of several curved metal surfaces. From a distance, there are more than 30,000 titanium tiles of various shapes, shining like fish scales, giving the whole building a vivid and whispering feeling, as if Leviathan, full of futuristic breath, climbed out of the river and basked on the shore. O.3: Mira House in Barcelona, Spain
Mira House in Barcelona, Spain, by legendary Spanish designer Anthony? Gaudi design. In the novel, the top floor of the building is the protagonist Edmund? Kirsch's residence, where Professor Langdon later found the clue to unlock the password left by Edmund. Mira House is one of the most famous buildings designed by Gaudi-a dazzling and creative "house", with stacked facades and undulating stone balconies, which looks like a hollowed-out mountain. Because of this, people now give it a popular nickname "Milla House", which means "Quarry". O.4: Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain
Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. Hiding the hero Edmund? The mysterious exhibits of the mysterious code left by Kirsch will be exhibited here, and the * * * part of the story also takes place here. The Sagrada Familia church occupies the whole block in the center of Barcelona. Although it covers a large area, the whole church seems to be suspended above the earth without any weight, and a group of exquisitely designed ventilation minarets soar effortlessly into the sky. These spires with complex structures and different holes have different heights, which makes the church look as strange as a beach castle piled up by pranksters. O.5: william blake's oil painting "Eternal One"
William? Page 163 of The Complete Works of Blake is Ancient Times painted by Blackburn. In the novel, the code to unlock Edmund's shocking secret is hidden in this painting. Admittedly, this illustration seems to depict the prototype of Christian God-a shriveled old man with a big beard and white hair perched high in the clouds, and his body descended from heaven to earth. But if we study Li Bingran a little, we will find something completely different. In fact, this painting is not a Christian god, but a god named Li Sheng (a god imagined by Blake). This painting depicts the scene in which the gods used a huge compass shaped like a geodetic instrument designed by Li Sheng to measure the kingdom of heaven and worship the laws of cosmic science.