Angels and Demons

Type: Prose
Genre: Fiction
Author: Dan Brown
Year Published: 2000
Main Characters: Robert Langdon - a Harvard professor of symbology
Leonardo Vetra - a scientist and priest who works at CERN and
invented antimatter
Vittoria Vetra - a scientist and adopted daughter of Leonardo
Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca - the Papal chamberlain who was
in command when the Pope died
Cardinal Saverio Mortati - eldest cardinal in the conclave
Maximilian Kohler - director of CERN

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Summary

Due to the death of Leonardo Vetra, Robert Langdon was called by CERN's Maximilian Kohler to verify the symbol in the victim's chest. With enough knowledge on symbols, Langdon was surprised to see that the one on the victim's chest is authentic. But, he is still confused as to whether the suspected secret society is really the one responsible for it. After the revelation of some evidence and discovery that the antimatter was missing, it was then that Langdon confirmed that the ancient brotherhood Illuminati must have done the crime. With that, Langdon together with Vittoria was taken to Vatican City where they find themselves helping the Church in stopping the explosion of antimatter and finding the four missing cardinals (Preferiti). As their search continue, a lot of new information on the brotherhood and its symbols are unveiled. And, so many shocking secrets and stories start to unfold too.

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Probably one of the greatest and most controversial books of the century. Dan Brown was more than successful in getting everyone's attention through his novel. The existence of the locations in the story along with some facts captured the readers' interest and made them get hooked to the book. In fact, you'll get so engrossed in reading it that you won't even notice that you have almost reached the end.

The plot is not like those of any other mystery novels. There is a twist in every chapter. And I bet you would never be able to predict the ending unless of course, it's your second time to read the book already.

It is impressive how Brown was able to come up with such fiction. How he was inspired to create a story on the famous places of Vatican. He must really have a very 'illuminated' mind to be able to produce a very bold imagination for the future of the Church, and Science.

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Memorable lines from the book


“Religion is like language or dress. We gravitate toward the practices with which we were raised. In the end, though, we are all proclaiming the samething. That life has meaning. That we are grateful for the power that created us.” -Vittoria Vetra

"Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searchingfor truth, that which is greater than ourselves." -Vittoria Vetra

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

"You are misguided. A church is more than mortar and stone. You cannot simply erase two thousand years of faith . . . any faith. You cannot crush faith simply by removingits earthly manifestations" - Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca

“Science can heal, or science can kill. It depends on the soul of the man using the science. It is the soul that interests me.” -Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca