So I honestly want to give the book three stars. What I enjoy about Brown is how he can write almost 600 pages of a book and I get almost to the end and realize that it has taken place all in the space of one day. As a writer, I would love to be able to do that. The weaving of religious and scientific themes into an adventure set in European locales is also right up my alley.

What I don't like... and why I am forced to drop down to two stars (just a few examples):

That same time stretching often results in a parceling of time that is terribly irritating - most of the book actually isn't just in less than one day but in about four to five hours. Unfortunately, in one part of the book, given twenty minutes, the protagonists can, say, drink tea and eat scones, talk at length about their theories about what's happening, run from one location to another, save someone, and research an important historical fact. But during another twenty minutes, they don't seem to have enough time to, say, run the length of a block and enter a building. It must be difficult as an author to keep track of this sort of incongruity but this is Brown's special trick and it's irritating that he can't follow his own rules. It needs to be either one way or the other but not both.

Every few chapters, he seems to feel the need to reintroduce his main protagonist by first and last name, "Robert Langdon stood in front of the church..."; like we haven't met this character yet for every single paragraph for the last 126 chapters (and no, I'm not exaggerating on the numbers of chapters).

This really, really frustrating thing where the protagonist, Langdon, is this brainy professor that can supposedly figure out these relatively obscure, secret messages hidden by other brainy men hundreds of years ago in order to save the world... and yet he can't figure out the REALLY obvious things right in front of his face. I was listening to this on audiobook and I SWEAR, I kept expecting a three year old child to pipe up from somewhere in the back of the crowd, saying, "Oh, come on, mister! You can't see that? Seriously? Aren't you supposed to be the hero? Even I can see that!!

And, finally, lines like, "The silence that followed might as well have been thunder." Um, what... honestly, what? Is this Brown's version of "A thunderous silence followed..."?

It's really rather frustrating because I honestly think that in many ways Brown is rather talented; in some of his plotting, the details, the ideas he pulls together. I just wish that in other ways - the writing, some characterization, he could catch up with his other abilities.

After reading The Da Vinci Code, I was going to read both this and Digital Fortress but I do believe I will stop here... wishing I could tip it over to the three stars.

I liked this book. In as much as a person can like, say, cotton candy. It tastes good at first, but after a bit the taste starts to lose some of its sugary goodness and just becomes a sticky mess that you hope doesn't get in your hair or on your shirt.

The premise was interesting: I liked the whole Illuminati and church conspiracy. The suspense of the novel kept me engaged. But like I said, too much of a good thing just becomes problematic. To be honest, after a few hundred pages, the writing really started to annoy me. I wasn't expecting Dan Brown to give me something as well written as say a John le Carre novel, but I wanted more originality. I wanted sentences to pop and zing as they should in a thriller novel.

I guess it comes down to this: ANGELS AND DEMONS was good brain candy, and I'll read other Dan Brown books. In time, of course.

RECOMMENDED (a great three to four hour killer of time)

دعوا الملائكة ترشدكم في بحثكم ...

تلك هي عبارة المفتاح لذلك اللغز
لغز كبير وحله عصيّ علي الجميع فماذا يحدث ؟؟

يبدو ذلك بأنه برومو لأحد أفلام الأكشن :D

الرواية رائعة جدااااا قد أستعمل عبارة مستهلكة من نوعية
إنه عالم دان براون
ولكنه عالمه فعلا ما في ذلك من شك
الوتيرة السريعة والقصة التي تحدث وتنتهي في أقل من يوم
الألغاز الصعبة والطريقة الذكية في الحل
وكمية المعلومات الرهيبة التي تحصل عليها

هي ليست برواية بقدر ما هي كتاب تخصص بها قدر هائل من المعلومات تدل بوضوح علي كم الجهد المبذول من دان براون في كتابتها

إنه يجعل كتبه تأكل لك الوقت بل تلتهمه التهاما
فلم أشعر بالوقت مع تلك الرواية خصوصا إذا كنت أقراها مع مذاكرة صيدلة المستشفيات
مزيج هو لوز اللوز :D :D

Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.


The first time I read Angels and Demons was 4 years ago, and it completely blew me away. This was my fourth time reading it, and it still is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm sure it will always remain on that position.

In this review, I won't go into the plot, since I think that everyone has either read it, seen the movie, or just heard of what it's about. I will stick to my feelings about this book, and why it has impacted my life this much.

Firstly, the character of Robert Langdon will always be (at least in my opinion) one of the best characters ever created. And Brown's writing style goes perfectly with his character. He is a kind of a professor I would give anything to at least attend one of his lectures. I like his way of thinking, and he knows how to perfectly describe a place or a building, so that you would love to visit and explore every single one of them.

And when it comes to the book as a whole, it impacted my beliefs quite a bit. I remember when I first read it, and how it changed my viewpoints on religion, science, Church, and even God as well. Not necessarily in a good or a bad way, it just opened my mind, and ever since then I have tried to not have a closed mind when it comes to both religion and science. They are not the opposite things, and just like Brown said in this book:

'Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.'

And to conclude, I get who so many people dislike or even hate Dan Brown's books, but he was one of those writers who got me into reading. Until now, not a single one of his books disappointed me (and I've read every single one of them) and I'm pretty sure none of them, yet to be written, will.

This was an interesting read that makes you ask yourself so many questions. I am not one to comment on religion or anything so no worries, there will be no rants! I have not seen the movie based on this book yet but seen it is free on demand so will probably check it out tonight or tomorrow. I will continue the series, but I believe I have read a couple of these books already awhile back but now want to read in order.

"إن العلم والدين ليسا في نزاع أو خصام مع بعضهما البعض، ولكن كل ما في الأمر هو أن العلم لا يزال حديثاً جداً لكي يفهم."

n  n

عندما بدأت بقراءة هذه الرواية قبل 3 سنوات، انبهرت بها جداً. فقد كنت مهووسة وقتها -ولا زلت- بروايات أغاثا كريستي وأسلوبها المُبهر، وعلمت بأن هناك روائياً يسمّى دان براون، صاحب أسلوب مُدهش ومثير وقد انتشرت رواياته في كل العالم انتشار النار في الهشيم. وبالفعل، قمت بقراءة جميع أعماله، وهذه الرواية إحدى أفضل ما كتب. قد يسألني البعض، كيف أعيد قراءة رواية كهذه وقد علمت مسبقاً تفصيلاتها المُهمّة. وأجيب أنا: برأيي، يملك دان براون خاصيّة مدهشة بجعلك تشعر بالإثارة والتشويق في كل مرة تعيد بها رواياته، وكنت أودّ السفر إلى الفاتيكان وهذه الرواية كانت أرخص تذكرة سفر توفّرت لدي.

قبل أن تبدأ بقراءة هذه الرواية تأكد من وجود هاتفك النقال أو حاسوبك الشخصي المشبوك بالإنترنت لتتمكّن من رؤية كل كنيسة وتمثال وضريح ولوحة وشارع تدور بها أحداث الرواية.

ملائكة وشياطين، الرواية الأولى التي يظهر بها روبرت لانغدون، البروفيسور في جامعة هارفرد والمتخصص في دراسة الرموز الدينية. لانغدون الذي أجاد دان براون رسم شخصيته بحيث أصبح القارئ قريباً جداً من هذا الرجل، الذي لوهلة شعرت بأنه حقيقي وبأنه هو الذي كتب هذه الرواية، وبأني أريد أن أحضر محاضراته واقرأ كتبه! وهذه ميّزة أخرى يتمتّع بها براون في قدرته على رسم الشخصيات بدقة وما يختلج بداخلها من تساؤلات، فيشعر القارئ بأنها حقيقية تماماً.

رواية تدور فكرتها الرئيسية حول الصراع الأزلي بين الدين والعلم، الدين المتمثّل بالكنيسة التي حاربت غاليليو الذي أعلن عن إيمانه بمركزية الشمس وبأن الأرض تدور حولها. عندما درست في الجامعة مادة عن تاريخ الأدب والفن في العصور الوسطى، تكلّمنا كثيراً عن رفض الكنيسة الحاسم لكل تصريح علمي بكروية الأرض وعدم مركزيتها، والذي اعتبرته تشكيكاً في الدين، لأنه -بنظر الكنيسة- خلق الله الإنسان وجعله يستوطن الأرض التي هي مركز الكون، فكيف بالتالي يأتي عالم كغاليليو أو كوبرنيكوس أو جوردانو برونو، ليعلن للناس بأن الأرض ليست سوا جُرم صغير يسبح في فلك عظيم من ملايين الأجرام وبأن الإنسان ليس سوا كائن صغير في هذا الكون اللامتناهي! وبالتالي حاربتهم الكنيسة، مما اضطر هؤلاء العلماء للتخلّي العلني عن هذه المعتقدات الجديدة، ولكنهم -حسب الأساطير والروايات- اجتمعوا سرّاً وشكلّوا ما يعرف بالطبقة المستنيرة، ليشاركوا أبحاثهم وما توصّلوا إليه بعيداً عن أنظار الكنيسة التي كانت قوة تملك نفوذاً طاغياً. وحتى بعد مرور كل هذه القرون والسنوات، يبقى الصراع قائماً بين العلم والدين، ونستشعره في كل لحظة.

تأخذنا الرواية إلى عالم هذه الطبقة وعلمائها وطريق الدرب التنويري الذي يقود إلى مخبأها السري، وألغاز التمثايل والمنحوتات والكنائس التي تدل عليها ورموزها وشاراتها الخفيّة. وإلى المركز الأوروبي للأبحاث النووية (سيرن) وآخر ما توصّل إليه العلم هناك. والمؤامرة المُحاكة ضد الفاتيكان والكنيسة والدين عموماً، وجرائم قتل فظيعة بالجملة، بأسلوب مليء بالإثارة والتشويق، يعصب معه أن تتنبأ بما يمكن أن يحصل بعد ذلك. رحلة شيّقة إلى زمن برنيني مايكل أنجلو وغاليليو، ونظرة بعيدة مليئة بالتساؤلات عن مستقبل الأبحاث النووية والمادة المضادة.

أقل ما يقال عنها ساحرة، تستحق خمسة نجوم ذهبية بكل جدارة.

n  n

n  
ملاحظة: الرواية أجمل من الفيلم بكثير

....n

I remember the first time I watched "The Da Vinci Code" and how much it scared me. I seriously hated it but after 2006 things changed for me. What I found interesting before changed. I become kind of obsessed with cults, religions, believes, signs and many other things. So I watched the movie on TV and I loved it, and now I'm a fan and can't wait for the other movies to come.



I bought "Angels and Demons" and I'm moving quickly in it. The information are interesting but not all are correct regarding Islam. But it's fiction so I'm eating it up. But I find that I don't like Robert Langdon in the book, I prefer Tom Hanks portrayal in the movies, and I liked the changes made in the movies. I prefer the thriller without the romance, and I prefer them without mentioning us or linking us to Illuminati and I like the changes made to the other characters and events.



I read this book about several times because I keep researching the terms, locations, and everything I don't know, that sometimes I lose touch with the actual story. I really HATE how much the author keep insulting and demeaning Arabs, Arabic language and Muslims, but I think the author is anti religion in general now. He seems to despise Christianity and thinks Islam is Inferior. The main character is supposed to be a scholar but the information about us is wrong most of the time even the way Arabic is described and written is rubbish.



What's so interesting to me right now, is the science mentioned in the book, it's what interested me most. I'm enchanted by the jet that took an hour from USA to Switzerland, I'm intrigued by the center in Switzerland, it made me wish that I was into science, or that I was a scientist... I love the idea of that place, I'm currently following them on Twitter. CERN is the one that invented the internet we are all obsessed with, the idea that they think it's not their "best" work makes me so curious about what else they invent and do. I would like to read a book about their work and what they are working on.



I think Vittoria Vetra's father was such an amazing guy. Also, is there a full list of the books in the Vatican library? It seems they are wasting away in there.



The differences between the movie and book are varied, many things in the book is omitted from the movie like the Shia assassin, he called Hassassin (Order of Assassins), and he made him speak Arabic when in fact he must be Persian and they were against Muslims (read your history). Mr. Kohler was also a character in the book that didn't make it to the screen, his story is sad, he was raised by religious parents who didn't give him medicine as a child so he became crippled. He hates religion and values science, and is the head boss of CERN. The camerlengo didn't say my favorite line in the movie but Vittoria did in the book (do you believe in God? I did not ask you if you believe what man says about God. I asked you if you believe in God. There is a difference.) Vittoria wasn't in CERN when the murder of her father happened, that was also changed. They made her just another co-worker who was working on this antimatter project (no Big Bang Theory was mentioned in the movie) she was in shorts all through the book, while Robert was in a bloodied wet cardigan, no one gave him a change of clothes (which I'm glad they changed in the movie, he changed in the end from clothes from the hospital), the church and the residence were very harsh in the book but not in the movie. The four guys who were kidnapped all died, there are reporters as secondary characters in the book as well. The camerlengo's was raised by the pope he poisoned who took him in as an orphan to a religious mother who insisted that her boy was a messenger of God. He also was in the army was a pilot and he was good at skydiving (it was all planned). In the book Robert is so into himself, not in the book. The saddest part that Vittoria's father was was also a priest wasn't in the movie. He is my favorite. And Robert keeps saying "Godspeed" what does it mean? Oh and Robert was with the camerlengo on the helicopter and antimatter. I don't know if anyone who can jump from a chopper into a running river and survive... that was a James Bond moment. Of course, the ending is different, Robert didn't score Vittoria.



One last thing, as much as I love libraries I would never want to visit the Vatican library because of the oxygen thing... omg! What are they thinking? Reprint people, don't kill yourselves.



Do you remember Emma Watson's speech? In page 580 the camerlengo says: "If not me, then who? If not now, then when?"
I'm speechless.



"Galileo was an Illuminatus. And he was also a devout Catholic. He tried to soften the church's position on science by proclaiming that science did not undermine the existence of God, but rather reinforced it. He wrote once that when he looked through his telescope at the spinning plants, he could hear God's voice in the music of the spheres. He held that science and religion were not enemies, but rather allies - two different languages telling the same story, a story of symmetry and balance, heaven and hell, night and day, hot and cold, God and satan. Both science and religion rejoiced in God's symmetry, the endless contest of light and dark."

When I read this, my eyes filled with tears, because this is Islam. Every human knows God.

Oh dear God please do not read this book. You don't notice what a bad writer Dan Brown is when you read the Da Vinci Code because it is so exciting, but you read this and you want to kill yourself for ever liking Da Vinci Code. Really.

در حال حاضر دن براون تنها نویسنده ای که منو ب وجد میاره، کتاب ترکیب جالبی از علم، مذهب و تاریخ بود! مهمترین ویژگی داستان غیرقابل پیش بینی بودن اون ب معنی واقعی کلمه است! درست اون جایی ک تو تا ته داستانو حدس میزنی همه چی عوض میشه و .... دلم میخاس ی عالمه از جمله ها قشنگشو بنویسم اما ب دلیل درس و مشق بسیار از این حرکت معذوریم؟!؟!؟!؟
بعدن نوشت: شاید خوندن این کتاب در بیوتکی دن من موثر بوده باشه

Spotify Hörbuch (ungekürzt)
Ein super Auftakt der Robert Langdon Reihe, die ich nun gerne weiterhören möchte. Auch wenn ich den Film schon einige Male geschaut habe, war das Buch natürlich noch besser, da viel detaillierter. All die geschichtlichen Infos und vor allem auch zum Thema katholische Kirche und Papswahl fand ich unheimlich spannend und sehr interessant dargestellt! Auch wenn es hauptsächlich aus Langdons Sicht geschrieben ist, finde ich es spannend zwischendurch durch die Augen anderer Charaktere zu blicken und die Geschichte aus ihrer Sicht zu erleben.
Den Sprecher des Hörbuches fand ich übrigens auch sehr gut. Er konnte die Atmosphäre wunderbar herüberbringen! Man fühlte sich direkt nach Rom versetzt und folgte Robert Langdon durch alle Rätsel und Aufgaben.
Ich werde mir direkt den zweiten Teil vornehmen :)

Una gran intriga de principio a fin. El autor mezcla magistralmente el misterio y el suspenso con sus sólidos conocimientos de simbología religiosa, en una seguidilla de acontecimientos que quitan la respiración. Muy recomendable.

Like most I’d first became aware of Professor Robert Langdon because of the phenomenon that was The Da Vinci Code, but in his introductory story it’s easy to see why it caught everyone’s interest.

Brown has a formula and it really works!
Short snappy chapters with interesting hook of murder is instantly going to draw the reader in.
Whilst a famous historic city (mainly in Europe) alongside the architecture and symbolism of the location being just as important to the narrative to the story.

They are fun and engaging reads, especially the early books in the series!