In one article, “Psst! Let’s Talk About Masons,” Ms. Stack writes about Freemasonry as it is depicted in The Lost Symbol, and describes aspects of her visit to the Salt Lake City Masonic Temple. She quotes John Liley (Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of Utah), Dan Burstein (editor of Secrets of The Lost Symbol), and myself.
In another article, “Mormons Off the Hook in Brown’s Book,” Ms. Stack notes that a major theme of The Lost Symbol, apotheosis, or the potential for human beings to become gods, is an echo of the Latter-day Saint (‘Mormon’) doctrine of exaltation. (I consider this matter in some detail in an earlier post on this blog.) I am quoted in the article.
Shameless Plugs
Basic questions about Freemasonry can be addressed to the author, either through a comment here, or through the “Freemasonry 101” blog.
I discuss the basics of Freemasonry in my book, Freemasonry: An Introduction, which will shortly be available again through Amazon; interested readers may ask to be notified of this availability through leaving me an e-mail at freemasonrybook@yahoo.com . I shall have a great deal to say about Freemasonry in The Lost Symbol in my forthcoming book, Discovering The Lost Symbol.
(Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.)
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It does make you wonder if Dan Brown did in fact have plans initially to feature the LDS faith in The Lost Symbol. Perhaps that is why the book was delayed to almost six years after DaVinci Code, maybe he had to retool his entore premise because of something that bothered him.
ReplyDeleteBeing LDS, I really thought the delay was due to Brown stumbling onto unkown LDS connections that gave him a new plot line worthy of a sensational re-write.
I would love to know what the evolution was of this story and what he was thinking with the LDS stuff. I agree with you that it seems quite obvious that he borrowed heavily from the LDS doctrine of exaltation. I'll bet he picked that up from his LDS studies.
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts here.
Boy, one sure could wish to be a fly on the wall to hear the discussions Dan Brown had with himself as he (I believe) configured and reconfigured his novel. Perhaps we'll know the truth about the development of The Lost Symbol at some point in the future.
One of the principles that I use in my own writing (especially non-fiction, but also fiction and poetry) is to try to keep to a single agenda, so to speak. Having committed himself to write about the Freemasons, in a novel set in Washington, DC, during a short timeframe, Dan Brown would have had a very hard time working an LDS angle into a single novel of 500+ pages.
But there's always a next time, isn't there? I'm already looking forward to his next Robert Langdon novel.
Incidentally, being LDS, you might find it interesting to read my comments regarding the two SL Trib articles on my blog about things LDS (for I am one as well): "Mormon From Manhattan." The appropriate post may be found at http://themormonldsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/salt-lake-tribune-article-on-lost.html . Enjoy.