The Lost Symbol — Dan Brown | Reader’s Companion | Coleman’s Notes CN-016

Explore the symbols, secret societies, history and ideas behind Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol with this comprehensive Coleman’s Notes® Reader’s Companion.

Robert Langdon arrives in Washington, D.C. expecting to deliver a lecture, only to find himself drawn into a disturbing mystery involving his friend and mentor Peter Solomon.

A series of cryptic clues leads Langdon through some of America’s most famous buildings and monuments as he confronts questions surrounding Freemasonry, hidden knowledge, ancient mysteries and the extraordinary potential of the human mind.

Alongside scientist Katherine Solomon, Langdon must interpret an increasingly complex trail of symbols while trying to understand the intentions of the mysterious Mal’akh.

This Reader’s Companion takes you beyond the thriller to explore the characters, locations, symbolism and intellectual ideas that underpin the novel.

Inside the guide

• Robert Langdon and his continuing development
• Peter and Katherine Solomon
• Mal’akh and the central threat
• Washington, D.C. as a setting
• The United States Capitol
• Freemasonry and Masonic symbolism
• Secret societies and hidden knowledge
• The Ancient Mysteries
• Noetic science within the novel
• Science, spirituality and consciousness
• Transformation and rebirth
• Knowledge and power
• Symbols, codes and interpretation
• Architecture and monumental spaces
• Family, loyalty and betrayal
• Appearance versus reality
• The novel’s major mysteries and revelations
• Structure, pacing and suspense
• Historical material versus fictional invention
• The ending and its significance

Hidden knowledge and human potential

Where Angels & Demons places science and religion in apparent conflict and The Da Vinci Code explores alternative interpretations of religious history, The Lost Symbol turns increasingly towards knowledge itself.

What happens when information believed to be dangerous or transformative is hidden from ordinary people? Is ancient wisdom really incompatible with modern science? And does humanity possess capacities that it has yet to understand?

Dan Brown combines these questions with the mythology surrounding Freemasonry and Washington’s monumental architecture, creating another puzzle in which interpreting symbols becomes inseparable from interpreting history.

As with the other Robert Langdon novels, this guide also helps readers distinguish between documented history, disputed claims, speculation and the fictional material created for the story.

Ideal for independent readers, book clubs and Robert Langdon enthusiasts who want to explore the ideas and references behind the adventure.

CN-016 | Digital Reader’s Companion

Robert Langdon Reader’s Companions

CN-014 — Angels & Demons
CN-015 — The Da Vinci Code
CN-016 — The Lost Symbol
CN-017 — Inferno
CN-018 — Origin
CN-019 — The Secret of Secrets

Coleman’s Notes®
Great Books • Brighter Minds
READ • REFLECT • EXPLORE • UNDERSTAND

Digital product — available for immediate download after purchase.