I was digging through my stuff last night when I dug up an old Query box. I never did use it, so I’m going to, just for the hell of it. Here are the first twenty:
1. IF YOU HAD TO DO RESEARCH ON ONE THING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD YOU RESEARCH ON?
That’s easy! Gender and Sexuality, with slight focus on Feminism.
2. IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND AND COULD ONLY HAVE ONE KIND OF FOOD FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Kind, right? Seafood.
3. WHAT IMAGES COME TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU ARE ASKED ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD?
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. My fifth birthday party. My dog best friend, Lulu. The 73 in music class. Bankruptcy. The Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. Narnia! Swimming.
4. WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’D GIVE YOURSELF TODAY?
Don’t worry too much.
5. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF: YOU SUDDENLY FOUND OUT YOU WERE AN HEIR TO A ROYAL FAMILY’S FORTUNE BUT WOULD HAVE TO RELOCATE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY TO ACQUIRE IT?
Besides the obvious legal issues, I think I’d fly off in a heartbeat.
6. DESCRIBE YOUR DREAM HOME.
I envision a tastefully decorated two-story house situated on a hill overlooking a city, but frankly I don’t really care as long as I’m the only person in it. Maybe I’d keep a dog. And a few cats. But no people. My family members can visit, but they can’t live in it. I’d give them a house too, if I’m that rich, but if we’re talking dream home, then it’s definitely one where I can be alone, literally.
7. IF YOU HAD TO BE AN ANIMAL, WHICH WOULD YOU BE?
I’m torn between a lynx and a wild mare. Or if they weren’t extinct, a saber-toothed tiger or an archaeopteryx.
8. IF YOU WERE INVISIBLE FOR A DAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Sneak into offices and record incriminating conversations that would give conclusive proof to public speculations of corruption, fraud, and/or corporate dishonesty. Or maybe I’d just spook the hell out of people who annoy me.
9. IF YOU WERE CHOSEN TO BE THE FIRST PERSON TO RELOCATE TO JUPITER, AND COULD ONLY BRING ONE PERSONAL ITEM, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
10. IF YOU HAD TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE ITS TITLE?
Stercus Accidit.
11. LOOKING BACK IN TIME, WHICH YEAR WOULD YOU HAVE WANTED TO LAST TWICE AS LONG?
I honestly can’t think of any year I’d want to last longer than it did.
12. IF YOU WERE TO RECEIVE AN AWARD THAT EVERYONE WOULD HEAR ABOUT, WHAT AWARD WOULD IT BE?
Nobel Prize for Literature. :))
13. IF YOU HAD TO LIVE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY (FOR ALWAYS) WHERE WOULD YOU GO?
Wow. This is tough. I do expect I’d travel a lot in the future, but I’d always come back to the Philippines. But if I were to be exiled or something, then I’d go to Italy. That way I can take trains to other EU countries!
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORNING WHEN YOU WOKE UP?
Why is my sister’s dog sleeping beside me?
15. COMPLETE THIS SENTENCE: I AM THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW WHO...
...is perpetually freaked out by the fact that the law (and society, for that matter) practically mandates women to take the surname of their husbands. Not that I have to worry about this personally, being agnostic, but still. It really does bother me a lot. I often try to think of ways to change this system.
16. WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET AND SPEND THE WHOLE DAY WITH? CAN BE SOMEONE FROM THE PAST.
I’d love to tag along with Hecate (of the Greek myth) for a spellbinding journey through the underworld. I also wouldn’t mind hanging out with Adolf Hitler, just to see what he really was like... You know, behind the fascist dictatorship and the genocide. Okay so that isn’t such a good idea. I’d also want to hang with Charles Dickens, Kurt Vonnegut, and Simone de Beauvoir. Sorry I can’t choose just one.
17. IF YOU HAD A MILLION DOLLARS WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT ON?
This is going to sound boring: Stock Investments.
18. IF YOU HAD TO BE A LIFELESS OBJECT FOR A DAY, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
Barack Obama’s personal computer.
19. RANK ACCORDING TO IMPORTANCE FOR YOU PERSONALLY: FAME, POWER, GOOD LOOKS, RICHES. (RANK FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT.)
Power, riches, fame, good looks.
20. IF EVERYONE HAD TO PICK A NAME, WHAT WOULD YOURS BE?
Aha! A very relevant question. I’d pick Roseann!!! My real name, not what my darn birth certificate says!!! Hahahaha!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Scandalous
Last last week, it was pugilist Manny Pacquiao. A few days after that, it was the Judy Ann Santos- Ryan Agoncillo Nuptials. Nowadays, you can hardly turn on the television without seeing a Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho Sex Video update.
Tangent: Am I the only one who thinks "Donya" Dionisia Pacquiao is perpetually inebriated on money? Have you ever seen a better example of "letting it get to your head"?
As may be expected, the media is having a field day with this story. You have, on one end, a clueless, pre-star status Katrina Halili, and on the other, a young closet voyeur named Dr. Hayden Kho. Or maybe I should say "ex-closet voyeur." Other players include one Chua, who may or may not be the rat in this hole-ridden affair, and Dra. Belo, who may or may not sooner or later overdose on her own chemicals. This tale is peppered with sex, money, jealousy, and ulterior motives. What's not to exploit?
The fascinating part about all of this is the endless loop of questions. My favorite is: Who's to blame?
Do we blame the alleged victim, Ms. Halili, for sleeping with Dr. Kho? Do we blame the aspiring videographer Dr. Kho for sleeping with Ms. Halili? Or do we blame the person who leaked this to the media? (Let us now refer to this person as the unsub-- unidentified subject. Yes this is NCIS/Criminal Minds speaking.)
Personally, I don't think it was Ms. Halili's fault. She didn't know she was being videotaped. She might have known she was cheating, as the Belo-Kho love affair was more public than Hello Garci. But they're not married, so scratch adultery. I don't know which case they're filing against who, but as such, this is a question of morality. And that is not clear cut at all. I know some people are pinning the blame on Ms. Halili for sleeping with Dr. Kho, and are assuming that she has slept with more than one blissfully taken male species. (Cue pictures of old socialites with old scandalized expressions on their faces.) That, and the whole "impure image" people attach to sexually liberated women.
We seldom hear the "impure image" attached to Dr. Kho's name, presumably because he's male and all males are supposed to be sexually aggressive. Sexual double standard alert. It's disgusting for one gender and laudable for the other. Curious. Nobody's saying the "videotaping" aspect was laudable, but the sex itself on his part is hardly considered as scandalous.
I think Halili is also somehow lucky for being the female, because while she is subjected to negative personal ruminations, it would be unwise for our politicians and public figures to point their fingers at her. She is the alleged weaker party, after all. Alleged, alleged. Gender never determines strength. They may brand her as scarlet, but they won't say it out loud.
Wonder why the CBCP hasn't issued a statement yet. Is this one rare moment where they don't render their opinion necessary to the ebb and flow of scrutiny?
I don't blame Dr. Kho either. Whatever voyeuristic predilections he may possess is beyond my judgment. Can't judge what I don't understand. But really, dissecting the situation, did he do any harm by the act of videotaping? They were two consenting adults after all.
Maybe we should just blame the unsub who leaked this. And if it is who I think it is, I pray that they catch the unsub before *beep* keels over on botox and collagen implants.
Tangent: Am I the only one who thinks "Donya" Dionisia Pacquiao is perpetually inebriated on money? Have you ever seen a better example of "letting it get to your head"?
As may be expected, the media is having a field day with this story. You have, on one end, a clueless, pre-star status Katrina Halili, and on the other, a young closet voyeur named Dr. Hayden Kho. Or maybe I should say "ex-closet voyeur." Other players include one Chua, who may or may not be the rat in this hole-ridden affair, and Dra. Belo, who may or may not sooner or later overdose on her own chemicals. This tale is peppered with sex, money, jealousy, and ulterior motives. What's not to exploit?
The fascinating part about all of this is the endless loop of questions. My favorite is: Who's to blame?
Do we blame the alleged victim, Ms. Halili, for sleeping with Dr. Kho? Do we blame the aspiring videographer Dr. Kho for sleeping with Ms. Halili? Or do we blame the person who leaked this to the media? (Let us now refer to this person as the unsub-- unidentified subject. Yes this is NCIS/Criminal Minds speaking.)
Personally, I don't think it was Ms. Halili's fault. She didn't know she was being videotaped. She might have known she was cheating, as the Belo-Kho love affair was more public than Hello Garci. But they're not married, so scratch adultery. I don't know which case they're filing against who, but as such, this is a question of morality. And that is not clear cut at all. I know some people are pinning the blame on Ms. Halili for sleeping with Dr. Kho, and are assuming that she has slept with more than one blissfully taken male species. (Cue pictures of old socialites with old scandalized expressions on their faces.) That, and the whole "impure image" people attach to sexually liberated women.
We seldom hear the "impure image" attached to Dr. Kho's name, presumably because he's male and all males are supposed to be sexually aggressive. Sexual double standard alert. It's disgusting for one gender and laudable for the other. Curious. Nobody's saying the "videotaping" aspect was laudable, but the sex itself on his part is hardly considered as scandalous.
I think Halili is also somehow lucky for being the female, because while she is subjected to negative personal ruminations, it would be unwise for our politicians and public figures to point their fingers at her. She is the alleged weaker party, after all. Alleged, alleged. Gender never determines strength. They may brand her as scarlet, but they won't say it out loud.
Wonder why the CBCP hasn't issued a statement yet. Is this one rare moment where they don't render their opinion necessary to the ebb and flow of scrutiny?
I don't blame Dr. Kho either. Whatever voyeuristic predilections he may possess is beyond my judgment. Can't judge what I don't understand. But really, dissecting the situation, did he do any harm by the act of videotaping? They were two consenting adults after all.
Maybe we should just blame the unsub who leaked this. And if it is who I think it is, I pray that they catch the unsub before *beep* keels over on botox and collagen implants.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Reaction: Angels and Demons Movie Adaptation
Like many people, I have the handicap of not being able to judge the movie solely on its own merits, having practically memorized the book. So I have to begin by pointing out the main discrepancies between the two versions.
- Vittoria Vetra’s “research partner” Silvano was not present in the book; the priest/scientist who headed the antimatter project was Leonardo Vetra, Vittoria’s adoptive father. (That stole a lot of tension from Vetra’s character.)
- One main character in the book, Maximillian Kohler, was completely cut from the movie. He was the director of CERN, and was supposed to be present during the climactic scene where the Camerlengo branded himself.
- The fifth brand in the book was not the two-key symbol that appeared in the movie; it was a square ambigram of the four elements. (In my opinion, that made it lose the essence of symmetry.)
- Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca’s motive was also not present. In the book, Ventresca murdered the pope after finding out that he was the pope’s son. What he didn’t know was that the late pope did not do anything wrong because it was done through artificial insemination... which then explained why he did not see science as the enemy (since he was able to conceive a child without violating his vows). This was also a main point, since the pope was contacted by Vetra precisely because the pope was not against science. In the movie, it appeared that Ventresca’s motive, besides anger, was to become the pope by “acclamation by adoration.” Although it must be said that the intention to unite the Church by fear was both present.
- Some minor characters that were cut from the movie: Gunther Click, the BBC reporter, and Chinita Macri, his videographer.
- The line “My mind tells me I will never understand God... My heart tells me I am not meant to,” was spoken by Vittoria Vetra, not by Robert Langdon.
- Cardinal Baggia (water) died in the book but lived to become pope in the movie.
- Grand Elector Saverio Mortati, also not present in the movie, became pope in the book. He was also the Devil’s Advocate during the late pope’s reign, and was the only other person who knew that the pope had a son by artificial insemination.
- Vetra and Langdon became a couple in the book (then broke up shortly before The Da Vinci Code).
- There was originally no witness to the scene where the Camerlengo lit himself with butane.
...
I still stand by the conviction that Hanks does not fit the Langdon role. Zurer, however, was a good Vittoria, save for the fact that a lot of the tension and emotion she could have worked with was not included in the movie’s plot. By removing Leonardo Vetra, Vittoria was simply an incidental character. McGregor as Ventresca was a wise decision, although removing his relationship with the late pope was not. And then there’s the matter of Maximillian Kohler. I still wonder why they removed him. It’s simply not as complete without the wheelchaired-man who practically held the book together.
So, what I really want to say is... I did not like the movie adaptation at all. It could have been better. The Illuminati were not as played up as they could have been, and unmasking the hassassin stole a great deal of mystery from the murder sequences. Many of the conflicts that made the book’s plot work were altogether scratched, and the intricate elements that made it unique were overlooked.
The cinematography was okay. Not excellent, but okay enough to keep me watching towards the end. Somehow I feel that the sculptures were not given enough credit, and the setting itself was not sufficiently played up. It was Vatican, for heaven’s sake.
I am probably this annoyed only because I actually waited for this movie to come out. Maybe I should just stop watching movie adaptations of books. They almost always fail anyway.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Untitled.
I had a rather interesting day at the office. Some slight squabbles are brewing between the north-south factions; I dare not get into particulars. Rumors cannot be helped, can they? And some people just don’t grow up, no matter how old they are. There was an Indian woman who came by, and left me afflicted with accent mimicry for the rest of the day. A friend told me I write like a younger version of Jessica Zafra, which I don’t know how to take since when I read her I can’t understand half of what she’s saying, albeit the fact that she is good with words. I spent a good hour of my life folding receipts while wondering how the UPD CRS will opt to destroy my life, armed with the seemingly harmless words “Priority: Regular.”
In other news: They have started taxing books. I thought it was a joke designed to annoy those of us who happen to like long strings of words bounded between titles and blurbs. Alas, it is not. This means higher prices for imported books (read: 90 % of books in this country) and a longer wait for new releases. Thank you, Department of Finance. You’re brilliant. I blame Twilight for this. Rowling didn’t do this damage... Or is it just the recession, now also known as zeitgeist?
In other, other news: The Manny Pacquiao craze has promptly left the country like a less-destructive version of Emong, only to be replaced with another craze, this time in the form of The Two Davids.
Mom: Andito na yung dalawang David!!!
Me: *monotone* Yey...
Suddenly, swine flu threats reputed to be extremely high in populous areas all but vanished in a puff of fanaticism. A lot of people went to the malls and watched their guest appearances, which I didn’t because (a) I had to go to work, and (b) even if I didn’t, I’m not a fanatic. I have yet to discover a cause for which I will brave the long lines toward a totem of pop culture.
Little thoughts from the randomness I like to call my life:
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A little dragging at the beginning, gets to the action towards the end. Sometimes shocking. Fitzgerald’s artistic ability shines through in every page. Serves up money, pain, haunting images and an unlikely friendship.
Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. My new favorite book. All I can say is BRILLIANT. Of all the World War 2 novels I’ve read, this is the best so far. Because it’s different. It’s filled with old ideas presented in new ways, and new ideas that make it unforgettable. Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time, indeed, and makes you wonder if you haven’t. MUST READ.
I am not finished with Lolita (Nabokov), and Conversations with the Devil (Jeff Rovin a.k.a Tom Clancy). Curse the human necessity for sleep.
...
The SpiderPigs have been talking incessantly about Meteor Garden, now that Boys Over Flowers is out. (Note: SpiderPigs is a collective name for the officemates, since we burst into “Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does” when we’re suffering from paper shock. If you don’t know that song, go watch the Simpsons Movie.)
So, what about Meteor Garden and Boys over Flowers? The consensus is that MG is the better version, although that might just be time sweetening the recollection.
Personally, I think the delivery of MG was better, not to mention the dubbing. But what do I know. I’ll leave this up to the real fans.
One SpiderPig thinks she wants to become a nun. I think that is in all plausibility, since I go into anaphylactic shock every time she talks about her church, i.e. every five minutes. She’s way too nice for her own good. She loves children, and she talks about it a lot, which is always enough to make me throw myself towards the nearest exit, where her words will not reach my aural cavities. Sorry, dear, I really can’t stand little runts, neither in 3D nor in spoken word. (Psycho-logist says I hate kids because I didn’t have playmates. I concur. Slightly.)
In Idol Land: Danny Gokey is out, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are the final two. Is it me, or is it not as interesting as last year? I have all but lost the will to keep watching. I have nothing against gays, so that isn’t the issue. It’s just that Lambert does the same screechy thing over and over. Kris Allen, on the other hand, has a morsel of talent and a healthy helping of pretty boy charm. I want neither to win. See bitterness and negativity dropping from that sentence?
Sigh. I’m just a regular Simon Cowell with a dash of Ebenezer Scrooge and a pinch of Ambrose Bierce. I can’t help it. If it’s optimism versus pessimism, I’d rather be either proven right or pleasantly surprised, than be mistaken at the top of my lungs.
In other news: They have started taxing books. I thought it was a joke designed to annoy those of us who happen to like long strings of words bounded between titles and blurbs. Alas, it is not. This means higher prices for imported books (read: 90 % of books in this country) and a longer wait for new releases. Thank you, Department of Finance. You’re brilliant. I blame Twilight for this. Rowling didn’t do this damage... Or is it just the recession, now also known as zeitgeist?
In other, other news: The Manny Pacquiao craze has promptly left the country like a less-destructive version of Emong, only to be replaced with another craze, this time in the form of The Two Davids.
Mom: Andito na yung dalawang David!!!
Me: *monotone* Yey...
Suddenly, swine flu threats reputed to be extremely high in populous areas all but vanished in a puff of fanaticism. A lot of people went to the malls and watched their guest appearances, which I didn’t because (a) I had to go to work, and (b) even if I didn’t, I’m not a fanatic. I have yet to discover a cause for which I will brave the long lines toward a totem of pop culture.
Little thoughts from the randomness I like to call my life:
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A little dragging at the beginning, gets to the action towards the end. Sometimes shocking. Fitzgerald’s artistic ability shines through in every page. Serves up money, pain, haunting images and an unlikely friendship.
Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. My new favorite book. All I can say is BRILLIANT. Of all the World War 2 novels I’ve read, this is the best so far. Because it’s different. It’s filled with old ideas presented in new ways, and new ideas that make it unforgettable. Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time, indeed, and makes you wonder if you haven’t. MUST READ.
I am not finished with Lolita (Nabokov), and Conversations with the Devil (Jeff Rovin a.k.a Tom Clancy). Curse the human necessity for sleep.
...
The SpiderPigs have been talking incessantly about Meteor Garden, now that Boys Over Flowers is out. (Note: SpiderPigs is a collective name for the officemates, since we burst into “Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does” when we’re suffering from paper shock. If you don’t know that song, go watch the Simpsons Movie.)
So, what about Meteor Garden and Boys over Flowers? The consensus is that MG is the better version, although that might just be time sweetening the recollection.
Personally, I think the delivery of MG was better, not to mention the dubbing. But what do I know. I’ll leave this up to the real fans.
One SpiderPig thinks she wants to become a nun. I think that is in all plausibility, since I go into anaphylactic shock every time she talks about her church, i.e. every five minutes. She’s way too nice for her own good. She loves children, and she talks about it a lot, which is always enough to make me throw myself towards the nearest exit, where her words will not reach my aural cavities. Sorry, dear, I really can’t stand little runts, neither in 3D nor in spoken word. (Psycho-logist says I hate kids because I didn’t have playmates. I concur. Slightly.)
In Idol Land: Danny Gokey is out, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are the final two. Is it me, or is it not as interesting as last year? I have all but lost the will to keep watching. I have nothing against gays, so that isn’t the issue. It’s just that Lambert does the same screechy thing over and over. Kris Allen, on the other hand, has a morsel of talent and a healthy helping of pretty boy charm. I want neither to win. See bitterness and negativity dropping from that sentence?
Sigh. I’m just a regular Simon Cowell with a dash of Ebenezer Scrooge and a pinch of Ambrose Bierce. I can’t help it. If it’s optimism versus pessimism, I’d rather be either proven right or pleasantly surprised, than be mistaken at the top of my lungs.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Scientia Cum Religione: Angels and Demons Book Report
With the movie coming out and all, I thought it would be, er, socially relevant to post this review. So that people who've never read the book can see what it's about... And hopefully watch the movie.
I first read the book in early 2004, and I wrote this report in 2005/06 for an English class, so forgive me if I sound like too much of a fan (which I was). Also with a few omissions to make it shorter.
Since it's only proper to read the book before watching the movie, I urge you all to read it. It's on sale in bargain bookstores at 175 php, or there's probably someone you know you can borrow from.
This contains mucho, mucho spoilers. And is rather long.
Here goes.
****************************
"From Santi's Earthly tomb with demon's hole,
'Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold.
The path of light is laid, the sacred test,
Let angels guide you on your lofty quest."
Title: Angels and DemonsAuthor: Dan Brown (Copyright 2000)
Setting: Citta de Dio or The City of God: Rome
Theme: The theme of the story is the passion for art, iconology, codes, secret societies and the gray area between good and evil.
Characters:
Robert Langdon
Professor Robert Langdon works as a teacher of Religious Iconology at the Harvard University. Langdon is the main protagonist in the story, who Dan Brown describes as "although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an erudite appeal-- wisps of gray hair in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete. A varsity diver in prep school in college, Langdon still had the body of a swimmer, a toned, six-foot physique that he vigilantly maintained with fifty laps a day in the university pool." At forty years old, Robert Langdon is unmarried. He does not regret this because it has enabled him to travel the world, sleep as late as he wanted and enjoy quiet nights at home with a brandy and a good book. His colleagues often joked that his house looks more like a museum than a house because it was packed with religious artifacts from around the world. He was a tough teacher and a disciplinarian although he relished recreation with an infectious fanaticism that earned him fraternal popularity with his students.
Leonardo Vetra
Leonardo Vetra is actually a supplementary character who dies a gruesome and rather morbid death at the start of the story. He is a controversial figure because though he was a particle physicist, he was a Catholic priest. He was starting to fuse science and religion through his more-than-complicated research when he was killed-- right after he finished making a full tenth of a gram of antimatter. In a way, Leonardo Vetra is where this story starts-- and the chilling ramifications of his work continue until the end of this heart-stopping novel.
Vittoria Vetra
A beautiful and mysterious Bio Entanglement physicist of CERN and the adopted daughter of Leonardo Vetra. She helped her adoptive father create the antimatter and she proves to be a great help in the troubles that came their way when they were in the biggest adventure of their lives.
Maximilian Kohler
Maximilian Kohler is the director of the world's largest scientific facility: Switzerland's CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire).His peers know him as King Kohler, mostly out of fear than admiration. This man is far from ordinary-- he has a custom-made movable command post (his wheelchair!) which was equipped with a bank of electronics such as a small computer, a multiline phone, a paging system and a small detachable camera. CERN employs over three-thousand physicists and more than half of the world's particle physicists comprising of sixty nationalities. With that many of the world's most brilliant minds in his command, what has that wheelchair-wheeling crippled genius been up to? Making scientific miracles, of course. In Kohler's own words: "Our scientists produce miracles almost daily". Kohler plays a very important role in the complicated plot of angels and demons as this almost-mad scientist tries and succeeds to help the real protagonists to save the day.
The Nameless Hassasin
The nameless hassasin is the killer in this story and though the novel provides a few insights into his (sick) thoughts, the killer remains anonymous. It was through him that the secret Illuminati master carried out the gruesome plans of killing the four cardinals most likely to become pope one-by-one using the four ancient elements of science (earth, air, fire, water) at the four altars of science. The Four Cardinals:
Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt
Cardinal Ebner was killed in the first altar of science, The "Chigi Chapel". In its earlier days, it was called "Capella dela Terra" which literally translates into chapel of the earth. This is strangely befitting because this cardinal was buried halfway through the earth with a fistful of soil shoved up his mouth and was branded with the ambigramatic symbol of earth.
Cardinal Lamasse of Paris
Cardinal Lamasse was killed in the second altar of science, The West Ponente in the famed St. Peter's Square. He was killed by "air", which here means his lungs were punctured and his chest was seared with the ambigramatic symbol of air.
Cardinal Guidera of Barcelona
In my opinion, Cardinal Guidera died the most painful death. He died by fire in the chapel of Sta. Maria dela Vittoria, which actually means that he was suspended by cable wires over a flaming altar with the ambigram "fire" stamped across his chest.
Cardinal Aldo Baggia of Italy
He would have been pope, had he not been drowned by that reckless hassasin into the fountain at Piazza Navona. He was the last cardinal to die, and it was almost painless; he simply accepted his death in the name of God.
Cardinal Saverio Mortati
Mortati was the Grand Elector in the conclave and he was the Devil's Advocate during the late pope's reign.
Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca Ventresca was the late pope's chamberlain who played a very important part in the course of events in the story. Let's just say that he was the glue that held it all together.
The Swiss Guards
* Lieutenant Chartrand
* Captain Elias Rocher
* Commander Olivetti
Sylvie Baudeloque
Sylvie was Maximilian Kohler’s secretary at CERN. She was a very religious woman who strongly believed in God and her Catholic faith. She was one of the people who were astounded by what happened in Vatican City.
Gunther Glick
A frustrated BBC reporter with a red beard. For some reason, the hassassin contacted this story-starved struggling reporter to broadcast the cardinal’s murders, making him famous. But his fame was short lived... Since he accused CERN to be the hideout of the Illuminati and George Bush to be a financier. Of course, none of those two were very pleased...
Chinita Macri
Gunther Glick’s camerawoman who prefers to be called a videographer.
Summary:
Exposition: The exposition in the story is when Robert Langdon gets a call in the dead of the night from mysterious Maximilian Kohler, the director of the world's largest scientific facility. At first Langdon regards the caller as a hoax, a practical joke by one of his students from the university. There is absolutely no way that a thousand year old satanic cult could leave its legendary mark on a particle physicist in a tightly secured research facility, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. That's what Langdon finds out when he flies across six time zones to get to Switzerland, the home of CERN. When the altitude-sick Langdon descends on the massive buildings comprising CERN, he didn't know that he was going to face his biggest challenge yet—survival.
Complication: From there, the mysteries get laid down as one of CERN's pioneer scientists, Leonardo Vetra, was killed and branded with an ambigramatic symbol of "Illuminati." Furthermore, his research, the world's first particles of antimatter (see definition of terms). was stolen by an unknown adversary. When the antimatter was stolen, it was removed from the power source that kept it from getting contact with matter. A backup battery was running to keep the antimatter from annihilating but there's a catch: after 24 hours, the battery will run out. After 24 hours, everything within a half-mile radius will be liquidated-- literally. Now Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra, the murdered scientist/priest's adopted daughter must try to find the antimatter before it annihilates. They also need to find out who stole the antimatter, since NOBODY was supposed to know about the antimatter except Vittoria and her adoptive father. Then they get a call from the Swiss Guard, it seems that the stolen antimatter is on a live video feed from the Vatican City. According to the time on the video feed, the antimatter will detonate at exactly 12 midnight. With a shrewd but not useless idea of where the antimatter was and with no time to spare, the two sped off to Vatican City for a day in Rome neither of them will ever forget. At the Vatican, while talking to the Camerlengo (chamberlain), they receive a call from the hassassin himself. They were told that the four cardinals were going to be killed one by one, starting at 8:00 at the four altars of science. Then, at 12 midnight, the antimatter will annihilate...
Climax: The climax in the story begins when Langdon and Vittoria explored the “Archiviano Vaticano” or the Vatican Secret Archives and found a hundred-year old poem in Galileo Galilei’s Diagramma. The poem was written by John Milton and seemed to be the clue to find the altars of science. At first they didn’t know what the altars were, but then the clue they had was that they were used to honor the four ancient elements of science: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The poem was written in perfect iambic pentameter and pointed them to “Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole.” Who was Santi? Who else but the great Raphael, the renaissance painter. After a grave mistake, they do find the correct location which is at the Santa Maria del Popolo chapel, specifically the Capella dela Terra (Chapel of the Earth). They arrive late and find Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt— mouth stuffed with soil and dead. Following the poem’s last line, “Let angels guide you on your lofty quest”, they followed the angel’s hand in the sculpture Habakkuk and the Angel and were led to St. Peter’s Square, where the “West Ponente” or the West Wind was... Air if you want to get technical. Cardinal Lamasse of Paris was found there—lungs punctured and very much dead. Following the West Ponente’s breeze, they proceeded to the chapel of Sta. Maria de la Vittoria where they found Cardinal Guidera of Barcelona—no, not dead yet, just suspended by cables over a flaming altar and being burned alive. It was at this point that Vittoria was kidnapped by the hassassin and was carried off to the Illuminati lair. He didn’t realize that this was his biggest mistake so far because Langdon will stop at nothing to save her. But before saving Vittoria, he followed the sculpture of the “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” to the Fountain of Four Rivers at Piazza Navona. He fought briefly with the hassassin but lost, and had to fake drowning to escape. Cardinal Baggia drowned there... and then Langdon realized he had another task ahead, finding Vittoria at the Illuminati Lair. He eventually found the lair, which turned out to be the Castel Sant’ Angelo or the Castle of the Angel and found Vittoria. After a rendezvous with the devilish hassassin, Langdon and Vittoria managed to push the hassassin to his death—an open balcony. They may have won the battle but the war wasn’t over yet, they still had to find the antimatter.
Denouement: Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca did it. He tricked the hassassin into thinking that the Illuminati still existed and made him kidnap and kill the cardinals. And yes, he also stole the antimatter. Plus, he killed the pope. His motives? Simple, brilliant and utterly twisted. “For centuries,” the Camerlengo said, “the church has stood by while science picked away at religion bit by bit. Debunking miracles. Training the mind to overcome the heart. Condemning religion as the opiate of the masses. They denounce God as a hallucination—a delusional crutch for those too weak to accept that life is meaningless. I could not stand by while science presumed to harness the power of God himself! Proof, you say? Yes, proof of science’s ignorance! What is wrong with the admission that something exists beyond our understanding? The day science substantiates God is the day people stop needing faith! Science, by definition, is soulless. Divorced from the heart. Intellectual miracles like antimatter arrive in this world with no ethical instructions attached. This in itself is perilous! Promising answers to questions whose beauty is that they have no answers? No. But more and more people believe in science. Religion needed a miracle. Something to awaken a sleeping world and bring them back to righteousness. I needed to restore faith... even if by using evil to do God’s will.” The Camerlengo killed the pope because of what he thought was righteous anger. The pope, his mentor, confessed to him that he had a child. Ventresca didn’t stop to listen to his holiness’ explanations and immediately concluded that he had broken his vow of chastity and fooled the world. So he poisoned the pope with a drug called Heparin.
Resolution: Cardinal Mortati decided to tell the truth. When the pope confessed that he had a child, Ventresca didn’t hear his next words. He was the son. And technically, the pope didn’t break any rules because it was made possible by artificial insemination which meant he didn’t break his vow. Carlo Ventresca was shocked beyond belief and ran down, down, down to the Niche of the Palliums. Once there, he anointed his whole body with butane (smells like heaven but burns like hell!) and literally set himself on fire using a golden lighter.
Conclusion: Just when the Camerlengo thought everything went the way he planned, the truth came out. A lot of lives were wasted in the story, but a lot more were saved. Robert Langdon fell in love with Vittoria and she with him. Cardinal Saverio Mortati was elected Pope and he asked Langdon and Vittoria to let their hearts guide them as to the matter of discretion about the events of the past 24 hours. But the new pope didn’t need to ask them to remain discreet, as they already decided to when they survived the events that gave both of them a new meaning for the words love and life.
Reactions, Comments:
Dan Brown wrote such a believable book that expertly fused fact and fiction to successfully narrate one of the most astonishing adventures of unlikely heroes. This is quite an educational book with facts revealed about the origins of the Catholic Religion and its ties to other religions everywhere around the world. The novel really comes to life with Brown’s accurate, inventive and precise descriptions of the various locations, architectural feats and other icons involved in the story. It created just the right blend of likable and despicable characters embedded in the intricate plot topped with a phenomenal ending guaranteed to shock even the most experienced reader. One of my few comments regarding the story is that the scientifically-oriented jargon may be difficult for some readers to understand. But even if that may be a down-side, this book enhanced my vocabulary by 50 percent and even inspired me to write a few stories of my own. Dan Brown did make a few mistakes though... (they are mentioned in the book “Unlocking Angels and Demons ”). One of these is the collective term used to refer to the four cardinals eligible to become pope which the book says is “Preferiti.” In real life, the correct term is “Papabili.” Point two, in a real Rome City map, the four churches (Capella dela Terra, St. Peter’s square, Sta. Maria dela Vittoria and Piazza Navona) do NOT form a cross, as the book says. And Castel Sant’ Angelo’s bridge does not pass exactly through one of the lines that make the cross. Point three, “La Purga” never occured, though every author is entitled to invent circumstances to make their plot more believable.
Social Relevance: The novel "Angels and Demons's" social relevance lies in the antediluvian topic of Science against Religion. In the story, Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca resurrects the ancient brotherhood of "Illuminati" to reinstate fear into the hearts of Catholics and bring them back to God. The man firmly believed that the Catholic Religion's strength is in its tradition, not its transience. In our world, I do not think that this is possible. The only permanent thing is change, and, as all things adapt to alterations, so must every religion. Life cannot depend on its past simply for the sake of upholding tradition for transience is inevitable and ineludible. Change in the Catholic religion must not be feared nor despised, because as change happens, faith evolves too. Sometimes, transience leads to an even deeper understanding of the benevolent and the omnipotent. Benevolent means to be marked by the purpose of doing good and omnipotent means to have virtually unlimited influence or authority. Dan Brown's novel points out that God is both omnipotent and benevolent because even though he has complete control over our lives, he lets us learn by giving us our freedom and lets us learn by our mistakes for our own good. People all over the world have been fighting over science and religion for the longest time, and this novel presents quite a different idea to the public. It suggests that science and religion are allies, not enemies. They work hand in hand to create miracles everyday. If science and all its laws is one big magic trick, there must be a great magician behind it all. That magician is God. If people accepted this idea, then the great war between religion and science will be over and both of the sides will be well accounted for. None of them will lose but neither will triumph over the other. Both of them will simply merge to form one concrete and profound definition that will be composed of both their beliefs. If the two would just compromise and try to listen, understand and accept ideas far from their own, they would open their minds to new ideas and broaden their horizons to new heights. If you ask me, these two immortal enemies would achieve more if they work together and cooperate rather than working apart while detesting each other. If you think about it, science and religion are actually focused upon a common goal which is to achieve the higher understanding of life... In religion this is called “achieving eternal life”, while in science this is “determining the singularity.” In our wildly strange world, a strong fusion of fact and faith, the intangible and the tangible, the abstract and corporeal and the theoretical and the physical may be just what we need to understand what life is ultimately all about.
Definition of Terms:
1. CERN- Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire is the world's largest scientific facility located in Switzerland.
2. Ambigram- an ambigram is a symbol that looks the same even if you look at it right side up or upside down. Examples of these are the Christian Cross and the Hindu's Swastika.
3. Hassasin- The word hassasin came from the potent intoxicant "hashish", which was the drug that a certain group of people used when they celebrated. These people were notoriously skilled executioners who were renowned for their brutal killings. They were known by a single word-- "hassasin"-- which literally means "followers of hashish." Hassasin is still used nowadays except it is now pronounced as "asssasin."
4. Antimatter- "Antimatter is identical to physical matter except that it is composed of particles whose electric charges are opposite to those found in normal matter. It is the most powerful energy source known to man. It releases energy with 100 percent efficiency (nuclear fission is 1.5 percent efficient). Antimatter creates no pollution or radiation, and a droplet could power New York City for a full day. There is however, one catch: Antimatter is highly unstable. It ignites when it comes in contact with absolutely anything... even air. A single gram of antimatter contains the energy of a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb-- the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Until recently, antimatter has only been created in very small amounts (a few atoms at a time). But CERN has now broken ground on its new Antiproton Decelerator-- an advanced antimatter production facility that promises to create antimatter in much larger quantities."1
__________________ 1 Brown, Dan. Angels and Demons. 1230 Avenue of the Americas; N.Y.: Simon & Chuster Inc., 2000, p. IX
5. Singularity- a point or region of infinite mass density at which space and time are infinitely distorted by gravitational forces and which is held to be the final state of matter falling into a black hole.- a point at which the derivative of a given function of a complex variable does not exist but every neighborhood of which contains points for which the derivative exists.
6. Obelisk- Etymology: Middle French obelisque, from Latin obeliscus, from Greek obeliskos, from diminutive of obelos.Date: 1569- An obelisk is an upright 4-sided usually monolithic pillar that gradually tapers as it rises and terminates in a pyramid
7. Annihilation- To annihilate is to vanish or cease to exist by coming together and changing into other forms of energy (as radiation or particles).
8. Conclave- a private meeting or secret assembly; especially : a meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals secluded continuously while choosing a pope.
9. Swiss Guards- Italian Guardia Svizzera corps of Swiss-born soldiers responsible for the safety of the pope. They serve as personal escorts to the pontiff and as watchmen for Vatican City and the pontifical villa of Castel-Gandolfo.-The guards, who are independent of the Swiss armed forces, are employed by the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope, to whom they swear fealty in a ceremony at Belvedere Court. New recruits must prove that they are of Swiss origin, born in wedlock, Roman Catholic, unmarried, less than 25 years old, and healthy and free of physical deformities.
10. Necropolis- plural Necropolises, Necropoles, Necropoleis, or Necropoli (from Greek nekropolis, “city of the dead”), in archaeology, an extensive and elaborate burial place of an ancient city. In the Mediterranean world, they were customarily outside the city proper and often consisted of a number of cemeteries used at different times over a period of several centuries. The locations of these cemeteries were varied. In Egypt many, such as western Thebes, were situated across the Nile River opposite the cities, but in Greece and Rome a necropolis often lined the roads leading out of town. One of the most famous necropolises was discovered in the 1940s under the central nave of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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In retrospect, there are a few other things I should have pointed out. The pope had a child, which is probably enough to make the Vatican ban the filmmakers from shooting inside Citta de Dio itself. Oh, wait, they did. A speaker for the Vatican said they didn't even need to read the script: It had "Dan Brown" on it. But as director Ron Howard said in an interview... "Officially, we weren't allowed to shoot inside Vatican, but cameras can be made really small."
But I swear to (G/g)od/s [(G/g)oddess/es] this is not like the lame conspiracy theory presented in The Da Vinci Code. When I read that, it just left me with a rather unpleasant after-taste. The story could have been good, (the development was superb) had he not tried so hard to make it a "huge huge huge" issue. Which it became. But it wasn't, really. And made it a hype book. (See Mico Subosa's entry on hype books.) I guess that works for him though. And follow-up question: Would it really matter that much if Jesus had a child? I actually think that would be pretty great, since that would show that he really went through the things that normal people on earth go through. He was also "only human," right? Which meant he was a carbon-based sentient life form descended from early primates like the rest of us. I'm going to stop before start rambling about DVC.
Another point: the unification of science and religion. Hmm. I think we all know what happens when you suggest that.
All in all, it was a great read. REALLY. I'm not just saying that because I'm an agnostic who happens to like conspiracy theories. In fact, you'd appreciate it more if you were Catholic. Which you... probably are, since this is the Philippines. Excellent symbolism, a blend of fact and fiction, nerve-racking suspense, twists and turns, extremely cool ambigrams, and a mystery to end all mysteries. I've also been addicted to science fiction ever since. I will forever be thankful to this book for opening my eyes to the diversity of ideas in the world. (I was twelve when I read it.)
Don't get me wrong here, Brown is not the best writer out there. His prose borders on dreadful, and you often get the made-for-Hollywood-movie feel. He's commercial. I'm not saying "read this for literary appreciation" I'm saying "read this for entertainment." It's enjoyable, it's not a drag, and you can get a lot of useful facts along the way.
And regarding Brown's other books... Deception Point is also good. Another conspiracy theory, with Rachel Sexton and Michael Toland as lead characters. And it's not about religion, don't ring the Vatican. It's about a meteor that crashed on earth a few billion years ago, and may or may not give proof to the existence of life forms on other planets. Set in the Milne Ice Shelf. Also suspense-filled and very entertaining. Another "this-was-meant-to-be-a-movie-script-but-I-turned-it-into-a-novel" book. Digital Fortress, on the other hand, was like a watered-down and less engaging version of 24: I don't recommend it. I can't even remember what happened in that, except for a few scenes in a South American country that involved a jacket.
Out of his four novels (so far), Angels and Demons really stands out as the best one. I hear he has one about Freemasons coming out soon.
See the movie May 15, 2009.
I first read the book in early 2004, and I wrote this report in 2005/06 for an English class, so forgive me if I sound like too much of a fan (which I was). Also with a few omissions to make it shorter.
Since it's only proper to read the book before watching the movie, I urge you all to read it. It's on sale in bargain bookstores at 175 php, or there's probably someone you know you can borrow from.
This contains mucho, mucho spoilers. And is rather long.
Here goes.
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"From Santi's Earthly tomb with demon's hole,
'Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold.
The path of light is laid, the sacred test,
Let angels guide you on your lofty quest."
Title: Angels and DemonsAuthor: Dan Brown (Copyright 2000)
Setting: Citta de Dio or The City of God: Rome
Theme: The theme of the story is the passion for art, iconology, codes, secret societies and the gray area between good and evil.
Characters:
Robert Langdon
Professor Robert Langdon works as a teacher of Religious Iconology at the Harvard University. Langdon is the main protagonist in the story, who Dan Brown describes as "although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an erudite appeal-- wisps of gray hair in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete. A varsity diver in prep school in college, Langdon still had the body of a swimmer, a toned, six-foot physique that he vigilantly maintained with fifty laps a day in the university pool." At forty years old, Robert Langdon is unmarried. He does not regret this because it has enabled him to travel the world, sleep as late as he wanted and enjoy quiet nights at home with a brandy and a good book. His colleagues often joked that his house looks more like a museum than a house because it was packed with religious artifacts from around the world. He was a tough teacher and a disciplinarian although he relished recreation with an infectious fanaticism that earned him fraternal popularity with his students.
Leonardo Vetra
Leonardo Vetra is actually a supplementary character who dies a gruesome and rather morbid death at the start of the story. He is a controversial figure because though he was a particle physicist, he was a Catholic priest. He was starting to fuse science and religion through his more-than-complicated research when he was killed-- right after he finished making a full tenth of a gram of antimatter. In a way, Leonardo Vetra is where this story starts-- and the chilling ramifications of his work continue until the end of this heart-stopping novel.
Vittoria Vetra
A beautiful and mysterious Bio Entanglement physicist of CERN and the adopted daughter of Leonardo Vetra. She helped her adoptive father create the antimatter and she proves to be a great help in the troubles that came their way when they were in the biggest adventure of their lives.
Maximilian Kohler
Maximilian Kohler is the director of the world's largest scientific facility: Switzerland's CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire).His peers know him as King Kohler, mostly out of fear than admiration. This man is far from ordinary-- he has a custom-made movable command post (his wheelchair!) which was equipped with a bank of electronics such as a small computer, a multiline phone, a paging system and a small detachable camera. CERN employs over three-thousand physicists and more than half of the world's particle physicists comprising of sixty nationalities. With that many of the world's most brilliant minds in his command, what has that wheelchair-wheeling crippled genius been up to? Making scientific miracles, of course. In Kohler's own words: "Our scientists produce miracles almost daily". Kohler plays a very important role in the complicated plot of angels and demons as this almost-mad scientist tries and succeeds to help the real protagonists to save the day.
The Nameless Hassasin
The nameless hassasin is the killer in this story and though the novel provides a few insights into his (sick) thoughts, the killer remains anonymous. It was through him that the secret Illuminati master carried out the gruesome plans of killing the four cardinals most likely to become pope one-by-one using the four ancient elements of science (earth, air, fire, water) at the four altars of science. The Four Cardinals:
Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt
Cardinal Ebner was killed in the first altar of science, The "Chigi Chapel". In its earlier days, it was called "Capella dela Terra" which literally translates into chapel of the earth. This is strangely befitting because this cardinal was buried halfway through the earth with a fistful of soil shoved up his mouth and was branded with the ambigramatic symbol of earth.
Cardinal Lamasse of Paris
Cardinal Lamasse was killed in the second altar of science, The West Ponente in the famed St. Peter's Square. He was killed by "air", which here means his lungs were punctured and his chest was seared with the ambigramatic symbol of air.
Cardinal Guidera of Barcelona
In my opinion, Cardinal Guidera died the most painful death. He died by fire in the chapel of Sta. Maria dela Vittoria, which actually means that he was suspended by cable wires over a flaming altar with the ambigram "fire" stamped across his chest.
Cardinal Aldo Baggia of Italy
He would have been pope, had he not been drowned by that reckless hassasin into the fountain at Piazza Navona. He was the last cardinal to die, and it was almost painless; he simply accepted his death in the name of God.
Cardinal Saverio Mortati
Mortati was the Grand Elector in the conclave and he was the Devil's Advocate during the late pope's reign.
Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca Ventresca was the late pope's chamberlain who played a very important part in the course of events in the story. Let's just say that he was the glue that held it all together.
The Swiss Guards
* Lieutenant Chartrand
* Captain Elias Rocher
* Commander Olivetti
Sylvie Baudeloque
Sylvie was Maximilian Kohler’s secretary at CERN. She was a very religious woman who strongly believed in God and her Catholic faith. She was one of the people who were astounded by what happened in Vatican City.
Gunther Glick
A frustrated BBC reporter with a red beard. For some reason, the hassassin contacted this story-starved struggling reporter to broadcast the cardinal’s murders, making him famous. But his fame was short lived... Since he accused CERN to be the hideout of the Illuminati and George Bush to be a financier. Of course, none of those two were very pleased...
Chinita Macri
Gunther Glick’s camerawoman who prefers to be called a videographer.
Summary:
Exposition: The exposition in the story is when Robert Langdon gets a call in the dead of the night from mysterious Maximilian Kohler, the director of the world's largest scientific facility. At first Langdon regards the caller as a hoax, a practical joke by one of his students from the university. There is absolutely no way that a thousand year old satanic cult could leave its legendary mark on a particle physicist in a tightly secured research facility, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. That's what Langdon finds out when he flies across six time zones to get to Switzerland, the home of CERN. When the altitude-sick Langdon descends on the massive buildings comprising CERN, he didn't know that he was going to face his biggest challenge yet—survival.
Complication: From there, the mysteries get laid down as one of CERN's pioneer scientists, Leonardo Vetra, was killed and branded with an ambigramatic symbol of "Illuminati." Furthermore, his research, the world's first particles of antimatter (see definition of terms). was stolen by an unknown adversary. When the antimatter was stolen, it was removed from the power source that kept it from getting contact with matter. A backup battery was running to keep the antimatter from annihilating but there's a catch: after 24 hours, the battery will run out. After 24 hours, everything within a half-mile radius will be liquidated-- literally. Now Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra, the murdered scientist/priest's adopted daughter must try to find the antimatter before it annihilates. They also need to find out who stole the antimatter, since NOBODY was supposed to know about the antimatter except Vittoria and her adoptive father. Then they get a call from the Swiss Guard, it seems that the stolen antimatter is on a live video feed from the Vatican City. According to the time on the video feed, the antimatter will detonate at exactly 12 midnight. With a shrewd but not useless idea of where the antimatter was and with no time to spare, the two sped off to Vatican City for a day in Rome neither of them will ever forget. At the Vatican, while talking to the Camerlengo (chamberlain), they receive a call from the hassassin himself. They were told that the four cardinals were going to be killed one by one, starting at 8:00 at the four altars of science. Then, at 12 midnight, the antimatter will annihilate...
Climax: The climax in the story begins when Langdon and Vittoria explored the “Archiviano Vaticano” or the Vatican Secret Archives and found a hundred-year old poem in Galileo Galilei’s Diagramma. The poem was written by John Milton and seemed to be the clue to find the altars of science. At first they didn’t know what the altars were, but then the clue they had was that they were used to honor the four ancient elements of science: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The poem was written in perfect iambic pentameter and pointed them to “Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole.” Who was Santi? Who else but the great Raphael, the renaissance painter. After a grave mistake, they do find the correct location which is at the Santa Maria del Popolo chapel, specifically the Capella dela Terra (Chapel of the Earth). They arrive late and find Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt— mouth stuffed with soil and dead. Following the poem’s last line, “Let angels guide you on your lofty quest”, they followed the angel’s hand in the sculpture Habakkuk and the Angel and were led to St. Peter’s Square, where the “West Ponente” or the West Wind was... Air if you want to get technical. Cardinal Lamasse of Paris was found there—lungs punctured and very much dead. Following the West Ponente’s breeze, they proceeded to the chapel of Sta. Maria de la Vittoria where they found Cardinal Guidera of Barcelona—no, not dead yet, just suspended by cables over a flaming altar and being burned alive. It was at this point that Vittoria was kidnapped by the hassassin and was carried off to the Illuminati lair. He didn’t realize that this was his biggest mistake so far because Langdon will stop at nothing to save her. But before saving Vittoria, he followed the sculpture of the “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” to the Fountain of Four Rivers at Piazza Navona. He fought briefly with the hassassin but lost, and had to fake drowning to escape. Cardinal Baggia drowned there... and then Langdon realized he had another task ahead, finding Vittoria at the Illuminati Lair. He eventually found the lair, which turned out to be the Castel Sant’ Angelo or the Castle of the Angel and found Vittoria. After a rendezvous with the devilish hassassin, Langdon and Vittoria managed to push the hassassin to his death—an open balcony. They may have won the battle but the war wasn’t over yet, they still had to find the antimatter.
Denouement: Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca did it. He tricked the hassassin into thinking that the Illuminati still existed and made him kidnap and kill the cardinals. And yes, he also stole the antimatter. Plus, he killed the pope. His motives? Simple, brilliant and utterly twisted. “For centuries,” the Camerlengo said, “the church has stood by while science picked away at religion bit by bit. Debunking miracles. Training the mind to overcome the heart. Condemning religion as the opiate of the masses. They denounce God as a hallucination—a delusional crutch for those too weak to accept that life is meaningless. I could not stand by while science presumed to harness the power of God himself! Proof, you say? Yes, proof of science’s ignorance! What is wrong with the admission that something exists beyond our understanding? The day science substantiates God is the day people stop needing faith! Science, by definition, is soulless. Divorced from the heart. Intellectual miracles like antimatter arrive in this world with no ethical instructions attached. This in itself is perilous! Promising answers to questions whose beauty is that they have no answers? No. But more and more people believe in science. Religion needed a miracle. Something to awaken a sleeping world and bring them back to righteousness. I needed to restore faith... even if by using evil to do God’s will.” The Camerlengo killed the pope because of what he thought was righteous anger. The pope, his mentor, confessed to him that he had a child. Ventresca didn’t stop to listen to his holiness’ explanations and immediately concluded that he had broken his vow of chastity and fooled the world. So he poisoned the pope with a drug called Heparin.
Resolution: Cardinal Mortati decided to tell the truth. When the pope confessed that he had a child, Ventresca didn’t hear his next words. He was the son. And technically, the pope didn’t break any rules because it was made possible by artificial insemination which meant he didn’t break his vow. Carlo Ventresca was shocked beyond belief and ran down, down, down to the Niche of the Palliums. Once there, he anointed his whole body with butane (smells like heaven but burns like hell!) and literally set himself on fire using a golden lighter.
Conclusion: Just when the Camerlengo thought everything went the way he planned, the truth came out. A lot of lives were wasted in the story, but a lot more were saved. Robert Langdon fell in love with Vittoria and she with him. Cardinal Saverio Mortati was elected Pope and he asked Langdon and Vittoria to let their hearts guide them as to the matter of discretion about the events of the past 24 hours. But the new pope didn’t need to ask them to remain discreet, as they already decided to when they survived the events that gave both of them a new meaning for the words love and life.
Reactions, Comments:
Dan Brown wrote such a believable book that expertly fused fact and fiction to successfully narrate one of the most astonishing adventures of unlikely heroes. This is quite an educational book with facts revealed about the origins of the Catholic Religion and its ties to other religions everywhere around the world. The novel really comes to life with Brown’s accurate, inventive and precise descriptions of the various locations, architectural feats and other icons involved in the story. It created just the right blend of likable and despicable characters embedded in the intricate plot topped with a phenomenal ending guaranteed to shock even the most experienced reader. One of my few comments regarding the story is that the scientifically-oriented jargon may be difficult for some readers to understand. But even if that may be a down-side, this book enhanced my vocabulary by 50 percent and even inspired me to write a few stories of my own. Dan Brown did make a few mistakes though... (they are mentioned in the book “Unlocking Angels and Demons ”). One of these is the collective term used to refer to the four cardinals eligible to become pope which the book says is “Preferiti.” In real life, the correct term is “Papabili.” Point two, in a real Rome City map, the four churches (Capella dela Terra, St. Peter’s square, Sta. Maria dela Vittoria and Piazza Navona) do NOT form a cross, as the book says. And Castel Sant’ Angelo’s bridge does not pass exactly through one of the lines that make the cross. Point three, “La Purga” never occured, though every author is entitled to invent circumstances to make their plot more believable.
Social Relevance: The novel "Angels and Demons's" social relevance lies in the antediluvian topic of Science against Religion. In the story, Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca resurrects the ancient brotherhood of "Illuminati" to reinstate fear into the hearts of Catholics and bring them back to God. The man firmly believed that the Catholic Religion's strength is in its tradition, not its transience. In our world, I do not think that this is possible. The only permanent thing is change, and, as all things adapt to alterations, so must every religion. Life cannot depend on its past simply for the sake of upholding tradition for transience is inevitable and ineludible. Change in the Catholic religion must not be feared nor despised, because as change happens, faith evolves too. Sometimes, transience leads to an even deeper understanding of the benevolent and the omnipotent. Benevolent means to be marked by the purpose of doing good and omnipotent means to have virtually unlimited influence or authority. Dan Brown's novel points out that God is both omnipotent and benevolent because even though he has complete control over our lives, he lets us learn by giving us our freedom and lets us learn by our mistakes for our own good. People all over the world have been fighting over science and religion for the longest time, and this novel presents quite a different idea to the public. It suggests that science and religion are allies, not enemies. They work hand in hand to create miracles everyday. If science and all its laws is one big magic trick, there must be a great magician behind it all. That magician is God. If people accepted this idea, then the great war between religion and science will be over and both of the sides will be well accounted for. None of them will lose but neither will triumph over the other. Both of them will simply merge to form one concrete and profound definition that will be composed of both their beliefs. If the two would just compromise and try to listen, understand and accept ideas far from their own, they would open their minds to new ideas and broaden their horizons to new heights. If you ask me, these two immortal enemies would achieve more if they work together and cooperate rather than working apart while detesting each other. If you think about it, science and religion are actually focused upon a common goal which is to achieve the higher understanding of life... In religion this is called “achieving eternal life”, while in science this is “determining the singularity.” In our wildly strange world, a strong fusion of fact and faith, the intangible and the tangible, the abstract and corporeal and the theoretical and the physical may be just what we need to understand what life is ultimately all about.
Definition of Terms:
1. CERN- Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire is the world's largest scientific facility located in Switzerland.
2. Ambigram- an ambigram is a symbol that looks the same even if you look at it right side up or upside down. Examples of these are the Christian Cross and the Hindu's Swastika.
3. Hassasin- The word hassasin came from the potent intoxicant "hashish", which was the drug that a certain group of people used when they celebrated. These people were notoriously skilled executioners who were renowned for their brutal killings. They were known by a single word-- "hassasin"-- which literally means "followers of hashish." Hassasin is still used nowadays except it is now pronounced as "asssasin."
4. Antimatter- "Antimatter is identical to physical matter except that it is composed of particles whose electric charges are opposite to those found in normal matter. It is the most powerful energy source known to man. It releases energy with 100 percent efficiency (nuclear fission is 1.5 percent efficient). Antimatter creates no pollution or radiation, and a droplet could power New York City for a full day. There is however, one catch: Antimatter is highly unstable. It ignites when it comes in contact with absolutely anything... even air. A single gram of antimatter contains the energy of a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb-- the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Until recently, antimatter has only been created in very small amounts (a few atoms at a time). But CERN has now broken ground on its new Antiproton Decelerator-- an advanced antimatter production facility that promises to create antimatter in much larger quantities."1
__________________ 1 Brown, Dan. Angels and Demons. 1230 Avenue of the Americas; N.Y.: Simon & Chuster Inc., 2000, p. IX
5. Singularity- a point or region of infinite mass density at which space and time are infinitely distorted by gravitational forces and which is held to be the final state of matter falling into a black hole.- a point at which the derivative of a given function of a complex variable does not exist but every neighborhood of which contains points for which the derivative exists.
6. Obelisk- Etymology: Middle French obelisque, from Latin obeliscus, from Greek obeliskos, from diminutive of obelos.Date: 1569- An obelisk is an upright 4-sided usually monolithic pillar that gradually tapers as it rises and terminates in a pyramid
7. Annihilation- To annihilate is to vanish or cease to exist by coming together and changing into other forms of energy (as radiation or particles).
8. Conclave- a private meeting or secret assembly; especially : a meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals secluded continuously while choosing a pope.
9. Swiss Guards- Italian Guardia Svizzera corps of Swiss-born soldiers responsible for the safety of the pope. They serve as personal escorts to the pontiff and as watchmen for Vatican City and the pontifical villa of Castel-Gandolfo.-The guards, who are independent of the Swiss armed forces, are employed by the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope, to whom they swear fealty in a ceremony at Belvedere Court. New recruits must prove that they are of Swiss origin, born in wedlock, Roman Catholic, unmarried, less than 25 years old, and healthy and free of physical deformities.
10. Necropolis- plural Necropolises, Necropoles, Necropoleis, or Necropoli (from Greek nekropolis, “city of the dead”), in archaeology, an extensive and elaborate burial place of an ancient city. In the Mediterranean world, they were customarily outside the city proper and often consisted of a number of cemeteries used at different times over a period of several centuries. The locations of these cemeteries were varied. In Egypt many, such as western Thebes, were situated across the Nile River opposite the cities, but in Greece and Rome a necropolis often lined the roads leading out of town. One of the most famous necropolises was discovered in the 1940s under the central nave of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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In retrospect, there are a few other things I should have pointed out. The pope had a child, which is probably enough to make the Vatican ban the filmmakers from shooting inside Citta de Dio itself. Oh, wait, they did. A speaker for the Vatican said they didn't even need to read the script: It had "Dan Brown" on it. But as director Ron Howard said in an interview... "Officially, we weren't allowed to shoot inside Vatican, but cameras can be made really small."
But I swear to (G/g)od/s [(G/g)oddess/es] this is not like the lame conspiracy theory presented in The Da Vinci Code. When I read that, it just left me with a rather unpleasant after-taste. The story could have been good, (the development was superb) had he not tried so hard to make it a "huge huge huge" issue. Which it became. But it wasn't, really. And made it a hype book. (See Mico Subosa's entry on hype books.) I guess that works for him though. And follow-up question: Would it really matter that much if Jesus had a child? I actually think that would be pretty great, since that would show that he really went through the things that normal people on earth go through. He was also "only human," right? Which meant he was a carbon-based sentient life form descended from early primates like the rest of us. I'm going to stop before start rambling about DVC.
Another point: the unification of science and religion. Hmm. I think we all know what happens when you suggest that.
All in all, it was a great read. REALLY. I'm not just saying that because I'm an agnostic who happens to like conspiracy theories. In fact, you'd appreciate it more if you were Catholic. Which you... probably are, since this is the Philippines. Excellent symbolism, a blend of fact and fiction, nerve-racking suspense, twists and turns, extremely cool ambigrams, and a mystery to end all mysteries. I've also been addicted to science fiction ever since. I will forever be thankful to this book for opening my eyes to the diversity of ideas in the world. (I was twelve when I read it.)
Don't get me wrong here, Brown is not the best writer out there. His prose borders on dreadful, and you often get the made-for-Hollywood-movie feel. He's commercial. I'm not saying "read this for literary appreciation" I'm saying "read this for entertainment." It's enjoyable, it's not a drag, and you can get a lot of useful facts along the way.
And regarding Brown's other books... Deception Point is also good. Another conspiracy theory, with Rachel Sexton and Michael Toland as lead characters. And it's not about religion, don't ring the Vatican. It's about a meteor that crashed on earth a few billion years ago, and may or may not give proof to the existence of life forms on other planets. Set in the Milne Ice Shelf. Also suspense-filled and very entertaining. Another "this-was-meant-to-be-a-movie-script-but-I-turned-it-into-a-novel" book. Digital Fortress, on the other hand, was like a watered-down and less engaging version of 24: I don't recommend it. I can't even remember what happened in that, except for a few scenes in a South American country that involved a jacket.
Out of his four novels (so far), Angels and Demons really stands out as the best one. I hear he has one about Freemasons coming out soon.
See the movie May 15, 2009.
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