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jcoryv's review against another edition
4.0
I struggled through the first part of this book-- it seemed Brown was trying too hard or like he was trying to write a movie instead of a book. But it improved greatly as it progressed.
And I like that it dealt with a big idea, and HOW it dealt with it.
And I like that it dealt with a big idea, and HOW it dealt with it.
jeynjin's review against another edition
4.0
I loved DaVinci Code, and it was very similar to that. I love the action-packed beginning till end. I like how I learned Florence or European arts along the way --- again, just like DaVinci Code! But again, its just like DaVinci Code, so...
jacesgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Must be my favorite book of dan brown, i loved every single page
mcbibliotecaria's review against another edition
3.0
Fun read. I enjoy his books, and this one was better than Lost Symbol, perhaps because it followed his formula much like the first two books. The focus of the mystery in this one is Dante, a guy who's history revolves around Florence, instead of Rome. It was especially interesting since I just got back from Italy and totally knew the references he was citing. I feel this book provide infotainment. They do not provide a through history of their subjects, in this case Dante, but enough to be intrigued, and to bring up as an anecdote at a boring dinner party. Langdon is a symbologist, who somehow always needs to save the world from a horrible event. This time a horrible terror that is supposed to affect the entire world based on Dante's descent into Hell. Would recommend over Lost Symbol, but Angels and Demons still remains my favorite.
humatariq's review against another edition
3.0
So I initially started reading this book back in August 2013. I read about 150 pages and then decided to suspend reading it for 1984 by George Orwell. Actually I got a bit too overwhelmed while reading it the first time round as I was actively trying to translate all the italian dialogues and also trace the footsteps of Langdon through Florence on GoogleMaps. It finally took the COVID-19 lockdown in May 2020 for me to pick it up back again and start reading from page 1. Still, inspite of the interesting story, it was a slow read for me, so I rate it 3.5 stars out of 5.
The following is not a proper review but just some random thoughts I fed into Goodreads updates as I completed each chapter:
- August 24, 2013 – page 13 - 2.81% "So Langdon finds himself hurt and with no memory of the past few days...Jason Bourne anyone? But hey, he remembers his name, profession and what he was doing on Saturday. Also he is not in Massachusetts...is he back in Italy?"
- August 24, 2013 – page 18 - 3.89% "A woman assassin dressed in black leather forcefully enters Langdon's hospital room and kills Dr. Marconi. Apparently she was also responsible for his bullet injury to the head, that is the cause of his retrograde amnesia. So is Dr. Sienna Brooks, the other doctor attending Langdon is going to be his female companion on this adventure? Or is the assassin going to kill her too?"
- August 25, 2013 – page 21 - 4.54% "The "provost" is the kingpin who lives aboard the luxury-boat-turned-military-grade-electronic-command-centre known as the Mendacium. He was the one who sent the assassin, Vayentha, to presumably kill Langdon...never know with Brown, may turn out that she was actually trying to kidnap him and save his life...he doesn't explicitly says she wants to kill him. The provost's client is the man who died in the prologue..."
- August 25, 2013 – page 24 - 5.18% "Langdon is indeed in Italy, Florence to be accurate...and the woman doctor does not die. Acting quickly, she manages to outrun the assassin and run away with Langdon in a taxi."
- August 25, 2013 – page 27 - 5.83% "As per the wishes of his dead client, the Provost's staff is to upload a video to the world media. The video shows an unidentified location with a plaque at the bottom illuminated water, carrying the inscription, \n "IN THIS PLACE, ON THIS DATE, THIS WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER." \n The name is that of the dead client, which we are still not told and the date is of tomorrow...the date when the video is to be released..."
- August 28, 2013 – page 37 - 7.99% "Sienna rescues Langdon and takes him to her apartment. While she goes over to her neighbor to borrow some clothes for Langdon, he snoops around. He discovers that Sienna was a child prodigy with an off-the-chart-IQ, virtuouso violin player, theatre star and also talented in science. Also Landgdon continues to have hallucinations about a silver-haired woman calling out to him for aid as bodies drown in front of him"
- August 28, 2013 – page 38 - 8.21% "And yeah...a link to the past books...Langdon's childhood Mickey Mouse wristwatch is missing."
- August 28, 2013 – page 40 - 8.64% "The 32-year blonde doctor, Sienna, is bald for some reason and wears a wig to hide her condition from her friends."
- August 28, 2013 – page 43 - 9.29% "On the provost's ship, the man responsible for uplaoding the video, ponders on its message. a beaked shadow, calling himself "Shade", leaves a dreary message to humanity, "...I am your salvation. I am the Shade.""
- August 28, 2013 – page 47 - 10.15% "Sienna tells Langdon that there is a secret pocket in his Harris Tweed jacket, but Langdon doesn't remember asking for one."
- August 28, 2013 – page 48 - 10.37% "The man aboard the provost's ship continues to watch the video...the beaked shadow further says:\n "To reach paradise, man must pass through Inferno.""
- August 28, 2013 – page 52 - 11.23% "Raiding the his secret coat pocket, they discover a six-inch long biotube with a "biohazard" warning symbol on it. They wonder if its a deadly virus. Moreover, the biotube is programmed to open only for Langdon's prints. He calls up the American Consulate for help and is relieved to find out that they know he is in Italy and waiting to hear from him."
- August 28, 2013 – page 55 - 11.88% "Langdon gives the address of the hotel opposite Sienna's apartment to the Counsel General's Chief Administrator. They are shocked that moments later, the same assassin who killed Dr. Sienna's colleague and mentor, turns up at the hotel. Sienns thinks his embassy is trying to kill Langdon."
- August 28, 2013 – page 63 - 13.61% "Langdon opens the biotube and finds a strange stamp with a Faraday pointer...a laser light powered by shaking it for a few seconds. When he projects it to a wall, he discovers that it is the image of Sandro Botticelli's "La Mappa dell'Inferno"...but with some modifications."
- August 28, 2013 – page 66 - 14.25% "They discover that on all ten ditches of the Malebolge (the tenth circle of hell with sinners buried upside down) a letter has been added...one of the legs has the same "R" on the legs that Langdon is seeing in his hallucinations. He spells out a word, "CARTOVACER"."
- August 28, 2013 – page 68 - 14.69% "There's also a plague mask added to the centre of the painting. A black van arrives outside the apartment building and men with military efficiency start to climb out. Sienna warns Langdon that they have been discovered. Meanwhile, Vayentha, who is waiting for Langdon outside calls home after seeing the new team and is cut-off after being told that she has been disavowed. Will she join Robert after this burn notice?"
- August 28, 2013 – page 72 - 15.55% "Once again Sienna saves Langdon by acting like a angry old woman in front of the tech team and taking him away on her bike. Langdon thinks the silver-haired woman from his hallucinations was sitting in the black van the killer army arrived in."
- September 1, 2013 – page 78 - 16.85% "The provost thinks back to how he met his client."
- September 1, 2013 – page 85 - 18.36% "Like in all Langdon mysteries, we get a Dante-101 through a flashback of Langdon's lecture."
- September 1, 2013 – page 88 - 19.01% "Agent Bruder, the man leading the provost's new team to hunt Langdon, finds out that Sienna is helping Langdon...apparently they know her. Vayentha fears for her life now that she has been disavowed."
- September 1, 2013 – page 93 - 20.09% "Langdon solves the CATROVACER code and knows they must now had to the old city of Florence to solve this mystery. But Agent Bruder has roped in the military police to set up roadblocks and apprehend Langdon."
- September 1, 2013 – page 97 - 20.95% "The two sneak into the Art Institute with some art students and with their help find a shortcut to the Boboli Gardens."
- September 1, 2013 – page 105 - 22.68% "The silver-haired woman is Elizabeth Sinskey, the Director of WHO. She recalls how years ago, when she was delivering a lecture in Manhattan, she had a meeting with a mysterious man from the mythical Council of Foreign Relations. He told her that the current world population is 7 billion, but the ideal population would be 4 billion...which can become possible through a massive epidemic."
- September 1, 2013 – page 110 - 23.76% "Robert deciphers that CATROVACER actually means Cerca trova (seek and ye shall find). The words are famously painted on Giorgio Vasari's mural, Battaglia di Marciano in the Hall of Five Hundred. That is where they are heading next. A drone camera is spying on them as Langdon realizes that when he came to the hospital, he was mumbling the artist's name, Vasari, and not "very sorry" as Sienna originally thought."
- September 1, 2013 – page 112 - 24.19% "Vayentha realizes that if she catches Langdon before Agent Bruder, she can retain her job."
- September 1, 2013 – page 117 - 25.27% "Langdon, realizing that he is innocent, is thinking about turning himself in. But Sienna tells him that when he first came to the hospital, he said, "I hold the key to finding it...if i fail, then all is death." Is she telling the truth??\n As they hurry to reach the old city, Agent Bruder sees the images from the drone camera. He knows they are inside the Boboli Gardens and orders it to be shut down."
- October 6, 2013 – page 117 - 25.27% "I think I left this somewhere near 160 pages...it was not that bad, I'll finish it after I have read 1984."
- April 29, 2020 – page 20 - 4.32% "Reading from the start after so many years, let's see if I can finally finish it this time round."
- May 7, 2020 – page 89 - 19.22% "The assassin after Langdon got her Burn Notice by the Consortium and is disavowed... mission impossible much? Normally I love such easter eggs..."
- May 15, 2020 – page 180 - 38.88% "Cool to read Robert geeking out
Spoiler
I thought Langdon's next book is a prequel, so I thought he was going to die in this one. But of course, it makes no sense to kill him.The following is not a proper review but just some random thoughts I fed into Goodreads updates as I completed each chapter:
- August 24, 2013 – page 13 - 2.81% "So Langdon finds himself hurt and with no memory of the past few days...Jason Bourne anyone? But hey, he remembers his name, profession and what he was doing on Saturday. Also he is not in Massachusetts...is he back in Italy?"
- August 24, 2013 – page 18 - 3.89% "A woman assassin dressed in black leather forcefully enters Langdon's hospital room and kills Dr. Marconi. Apparently she was also responsible for his bullet injury to the head, that is the cause of his retrograde amnesia. So is Dr. Sienna Brooks, the other doctor attending Langdon is going to be his female companion on this adventure? Or is the assassin going to kill her too?"
- August 25, 2013 – page 21 - 4.54% "The "provost" is the kingpin who lives aboard the luxury-boat-turned-military-grade-electronic-command-centre known as the Mendacium. He was the one who sent the assassin, Vayentha, to presumably kill Langdon...never know with Brown, may turn out that she was actually trying to kidnap him and save his life...he doesn't explicitly says she wants to kill him. The provost's client is the man who died in the prologue..."
- August 25, 2013 – page 24 - 5.18% "Langdon is indeed in Italy, Florence to be accurate...and the woman doctor does not die. Acting quickly, she manages to outrun the assassin and run away with Langdon in a taxi."
- August 25, 2013 – page 27 - 5.83% "As per the wishes of his dead client, the Provost's staff is to upload a video to the world media. The video shows an unidentified location with a plaque at the bottom illuminated water, carrying the inscription, \n "IN THIS PLACE, ON THIS DATE, THIS WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER." \n The name is that of the dead client, which we are still not told and the date is of tomorrow...the date when the video is to be released..."
- August 28, 2013 – page 37 - 7.99% "Sienna rescues Langdon and takes him to her apartment. While she goes over to her neighbor to borrow some clothes for Langdon, he snoops around. He discovers that Sienna was a child prodigy with an off-the-chart-IQ, virtuouso violin player, theatre star and also talented in science. Also Landgdon continues to have hallucinations about a silver-haired woman calling out to him for aid as bodies drown in front of him"
- August 28, 2013 – page 38 - 8.21% "And yeah...a link to the past books...Langdon's childhood Mickey Mouse wristwatch is missing."
- August 28, 2013 – page 40 - 8.64% "The 32-year blonde doctor, Sienna, is bald for some reason and wears a wig to hide her condition from her friends."
- August 28, 2013 – page 43 - 9.29% "On the provost's ship, the man responsible for uplaoding the video, ponders on its message. a beaked shadow, calling himself "Shade", leaves a dreary message to humanity, "...I am your salvation. I am the Shade.""
- August 28, 2013 – page 47 - 10.15% "Sienna tells Langdon that there is a secret pocket in his Harris Tweed jacket, but Langdon doesn't remember asking for one."
- August 28, 2013 – page 48 - 10.37% "The man aboard the provost's ship continues to watch the video...the beaked shadow further says:\n "To reach paradise, man must pass through Inferno.""
- August 28, 2013 – page 52 - 11.23% "Raiding the his secret coat pocket, they discover a six-inch long biotube with a "biohazard" warning symbol on it. They wonder if its a deadly virus. Moreover, the biotube is programmed to open only for Langdon's prints. He calls up the American Consulate for help and is relieved to find out that they know he is in Italy and waiting to hear from him."
- August 28, 2013 – page 55 - 11.88% "Langdon gives the address of the hotel opposite Sienna's apartment to the Counsel General's Chief Administrator. They are shocked that moments later, the same assassin who killed Dr. Sienna's colleague and mentor, turns up at the hotel. Sienns thinks his embassy is trying to kill Langdon."
- August 28, 2013 – page 63 - 13.61% "Langdon opens the biotube and finds a strange stamp with a Faraday pointer...a laser light powered by shaking it for a few seconds. When he projects it to a wall, he discovers that it is the image of Sandro Botticelli's "La Mappa dell'Inferno"...but with some modifications."
- August 28, 2013 – page 66 - 14.25% "They discover that on all ten ditches of the Malebolge (the tenth circle of hell with sinners buried upside down) a letter has been added...one of the legs has the same "R" on the legs that Langdon is seeing in his hallucinations. He spells out a word, "CARTOVACER"."
- August 28, 2013 – page 68 - 14.69% "There's also a plague mask added to the centre of the painting. A black van arrives outside the apartment building and men with military efficiency start to climb out. Sienna warns Langdon that they have been discovered. Meanwhile, Vayentha, who is waiting for Langdon outside calls home after seeing the new team and is cut-off after being told that she has been disavowed. Will she join Robert after this burn notice?"
- August 28, 2013 – page 72 - 15.55% "Once again Sienna saves Langdon by acting like a angry old woman in front of the tech team and taking him away on her bike. Langdon thinks the silver-haired woman from his hallucinations was sitting in the black van the killer army arrived in."
- September 1, 2013 – page 78 - 16.85% "The provost thinks back to how he met his client."
- September 1, 2013 – page 85 - 18.36% "Like in all Langdon mysteries, we get a Dante-101 through a flashback of Langdon's lecture."
- September 1, 2013 – page 88 - 19.01% "Agent Bruder, the man leading the provost's new team to hunt Langdon, finds out that Sienna is helping Langdon...apparently they know her. Vayentha fears for her life now that she has been disavowed."
- September 1, 2013 – page 93 - 20.09% "Langdon solves the CATROVACER code and knows they must now had to the old city of Florence to solve this mystery. But Agent Bruder has roped in the military police to set up roadblocks and apprehend Langdon."
- September 1, 2013 – page 97 - 20.95% "The two sneak into the Art Institute with some art students and with their help find a shortcut to the Boboli Gardens."
- September 1, 2013 – page 105 - 22.68% "The silver-haired woman is Elizabeth Sinskey, the Director of WHO. She recalls how years ago, when she was delivering a lecture in Manhattan, she had a meeting with a mysterious man from the mythical Council of Foreign Relations. He told her that the current world population is 7 billion, but the ideal population would be 4 billion...which can become possible through a massive epidemic."
- September 1, 2013 – page 110 - 23.76% "Robert deciphers that CATROVACER actually means Cerca trova (seek and ye shall find). The words are famously painted on Giorgio Vasari's mural, Battaglia di Marciano in the Hall of Five Hundred. That is where they are heading next. A drone camera is spying on them as Langdon realizes that when he came to the hospital, he was mumbling the artist's name, Vasari, and not "very sorry" as Sienna originally thought."
- September 1, 2013 – page 112 - 24.19% "Vayentha realizes that if she catches Langdon before Agent Bruder, she can retain her job."
- September 1, 2013 – page 117 - 25.27% "Langdon, realizing that he is innocent, is thinking about turning himself in. But Sienna tells him that when he first came to the hospital, he said, "I hold the key to finding it...if i fail, then all is death." Is she telling the truth??\n As they hurry to reach the old city, Agent Bruder sees the images from the drone camera. He knows they are inside the Boboli Gardens and orders it to be shut down."
- October 6, 2013 – page 117 - 25.27% "I think I left this somewhere near 160 pages...it was not that bad, I'll finish it after I have read 1984."
- April 29, 2020 – page 20 - 4.32% "Reading from the start after so many years, let's see if I can finally finish it this time round."
- May 7, 2020 – page 89 - 19.22% "The assassin after Langdon got her Burn Notice by the Consortium and is disavowed... mission impossible much? Normally I love such easter eggs..."
- May 15, 2020 – page 180 - 38.88% "Cool to read Robert geeking out
valeriemoore85's review against another edition
3.0
It’s been several years since we’ve been on an adventure with Robert Langdon and I was interested to see how Brown’s newest novel compared to his previous ones. I wasn’t disappointed. While Inferno doesn’t quite compare with Angels & Demons or The Da Vinci Code, I was excited that the story was set in Europe once again (something I missed with The Lost Symbol.)
As with his previous books, the writing here is not great and reads more like a movie script than a novel. However what he lacks in character development and eloquent description, he more than makes up for in his plots. Despite its nearly 500 page length, with its short chapters often ending in cliff hangers, this book was hard to put down. Fans of Brown’s work will not be disappointed with the rich history, moral questions, and fast-paced plotline full of surprises. This is certainly a fun summer read.
As with his previous books, the writing here is not great and reads more like a movie script than a novel. However what he lacks in character development and eloquent description, he more than makes up for in his plots. Despite its nearly 500 page length, with its short chapters often ending in cliff hangers, this book was hard to put down. Fans of Brown’s work will not be disappointed with the rich history, moral questions, and fast-paced plotline full of surprises. This is certainly a fun summer read.
danoreading's review against another edition
3.0
Hah! Ridiculous and really poorly written, but enjoyable all the same :-)
ink_squid's review against another edition
2.0
Thank God that's over. I have read Dan Brown's other three Robert Langdon books, and indeed a few others. Each has an interesting premise.
Once again the idea behind the story was great. I love epidemic, medical, thriller books. Sadly there were three chapters of Robert wandering around looking at more beautiful stuff for every one chapter building on the exciting part of the story. From the middle on I found I was skimming through... Robert ran here, looked at lovely stuff, figured something out... You really don't need to read half of it.
Angels and Demons - awesome
The DaVinci Code - pretty good
The Lost Symbol - okay
Inferno - blah
I wonder if I had not read the other Langdon books would I have enjoyed it more. There just is a lot of useless text. Anyway - I'm off to read The Stand to get my epidemic fix!
Once again the idea behind the story was great. I love epidemic, medical, thriller books. Sadly there were three chapters of Robert wandering around looking at more beautiful stuff for every one chapter building on the exciting part of the story. From the middle on I found I was skimming through... Robert ran here, looked at lovely stuff, figured something out... You really don't need to read half of it.
Angels and Demons - awesome
The DaVinci Code - pretty good
The Lost Symbol - okay
Inferno - blah
I wonder if I had not read the other Langdon books would I have enjoyed it more. There just is a lot of useless text. Anyway - I'm off to read The Stand to get my epidemic fix!
mizzlroy's review against another edition
5.0
I was skeptical about this one because I really didn't like Lost Symbol, but because I loved Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code, I decided to give it a try. Really glad I did. Like the first two, this book was unputdownable! Highly recommend.