“Origin” by Dan Brown
“Origin” was published onOctober 3rd, 2017 by Doubleday. To be more specific, it is a mystery, thriller novel by the American author Dan Brown. He is a contemporary novelist and seems that he loves cryptography, art and conspiracy theories. He has written many famous novels like “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. Also the majority of the books have become movies with Tom Hanks as a protagonist, in the role of the HarvardSymbology Professor Robert Langdon. The plot and the characters are usually related to religion and some of them have been named as anti-Christian. Brown iswell- known for his characters’ provocative beliefs.
The story takes place mostly in Spain and features minor sections in Sharjah and Budapest. It is about Edmond Kirsch, a billionaire philanthropist, computer scientist and futurist, as well as strident atheist, who attends a meeting in Catalonia with the Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino, the Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Koves, and the Muslim Imam Syed al- Fadl, three members of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. He informs them that he has made a revolutionary discovery which he plans to release in public in a month. Horrified, the three men learn that he is presenting it in three days’ time, and Valdespino sends him a voicemail demanding that he stops or risks being discredited.
Nonetheless, Kirsch goes along with his plan, hosting the exclusive event at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.Among the guests are Professor Robert Langdon and Guggenheim’s curator Ambra Vidal, who helped organize the event, and is the fiancée of the future King of Spain, Prince Julián. Before the event, the guests receive a headset through which they communicate with a voice named Winston, which reveals to Langdon that it is actually an artificial intelligence invented by Kirsch. Winston leads Langdon to a private meeting with Kirsch, who reveals that his presentation will provide the answers to two of life’s most important questions: “Where did we come from?” and “Where are we going?”
During the presentation, he reveals that his intention is to end the age of religion and usher in an age of science. Before the revelation, Kirsch is shot and killed by Louis Ávila, a former naval admiral who lost his faith following the deaths of his family in a bombing. Ávila is later revealed to have already killed al-Fadl and Koves. He manages to escape while Langdon meets Ambra and warns her that Julián, her fiancé, cannot be trusted and she should try to escape from Ambra’s Spanish Guard and leave the museum. Ambra reveals that the presentation is protected by a 47-character password, a line from Kirsch’s favorite poem. Although neither knows which poem was chosen, they start their research in Casa Milá, Kirsch’s house.
In fact, Robert Langdon is the main character of most of Dan Brown’s books. He is a Professor of Symbology at Harvard. He is a simple villain and he was Edmond’s teacher at the university. Unfortunately, he is facing an imminent threat out of nowhere, and he is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. This adventure has nothing to do with his personality or his job. But, he is really talented in breaking codes so he manages to achieve his goal despite difficulties. He is a very loyal friend and shows respect and faith in Kirsch’s discovery.
On the other side,Edmond Kirsch, on top of being an atheist and a computer-nerd who specializes in mathematics and game-theory, is also a hopeless idealist. In more detail, he wants to change the world, to dismiss all wars, religious conflicts, terror, and tortures. All that matters to him is for humanity to lead a better life with the truth, instead of a pleasant lie, which he calls religion.
In addition,Winston is Edmond Kirsch’s quantum-computer. In the story, it seems to participate as a simple person-character. It is the best friend of the scientist and it knows all the information about the discovery but it can’t revealit without the proper code.
Last but not least, Ambra Vidal is the director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and fiancé of Spain’s Prince Julián. She is a powerful woman, who appreciates modern art and supports Edmond Kirsch because she feels happy for hosting the event. After his death, she helps Professor Langdon to solve the mystery and she shares all the useful information that she knows.
The main theme of the book is related to the conflict between religion and science. The Professor, who is a Christian, tries to discover a really disruptive theory about the most crucial questions about life, which is going against the answers that religions have. There is Louis Ávila that was hired by someone on the Internet to kill Edmond Kirsch and the paradox is that he was totally against Church. Also, they found some pills in the scientist’s house during their search. So they have to unlock the discovery and find out who is responsible for the death of the scientist, what was going on with his health and details about his relationship with the Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino.
The book is full of symbols. One of them is a black tattoo that Ávila has on his arm. It represents tyranny and it is the symbol of Franco, who was the dictator of Spain before Julian’s father was enthroned. Ávila is led to believe by the Regent that the tattoo will keep him safe from harm if he is captured. Also, a heavy bead rosary that Ávila keeps represents the paradox that religion can be difficult because of the restrictions. Winston’s self-portrait is a symbol of a type of high-tech location.
The book is really captivating and has a great plot. There are a lot of references to modern art. The architect Antoni Gaudi is being mentioned a lot of times, and the author realistically describes Casa Milá and SagradaFamilia, two of his most identifiable works. In addition, the theories and the beliefs of the characters are well-determined and they are based on true evidence and facts. The size of the story is huge but it’s worth the time that takes to read it. Definitely, it’s a good book that offers food for thought throughthe ideas of its characters.
Langdon’s quote “Well, science and religion are not competitors, they’re two different languages trying to tell the same story. There’s room in this world for both”perfectly describes the solution to the conflict between the characters. It is clear that Kirsch tries to fight religion with science and refuses to admit that his Professor is quite right.
Σταυρούλα Κωσταρίδη (B2), Πρότυπο ΓΕΛ Ευαγγελικής Σχολής Σμύρνης