Overall Rating and Opinion of Inferno

[krsteinb]

Vintage Dan Brown and much better than "Deception Point" or "The Lost Symbol." My favorites are still "Davinci Code" and "Angles and Demons" - If you liked these two, you should also like "Inferno."

[L_Therese]

Overall, I wasn't incredibly impressed. Like the Dan Brown's other books, of which I have read several, the plot is designed to be exciting and fast-paced, exploring art and well-kept secrets and larger moral/philosophical questions. Unfortunately, Mr. Brown seems to go about this very much the same way every time. I thought this book was remarkably predictable even to the plot-twist at the end. Furthermore, like the larger problems that so many of Mr. Brown's books attempt to address, the overpopulation issue was regrettably over-simplified. Certainly population growth overall is increasing exponentially, and the characters are correct when they suggest that this creates a problem. However, the issue is dynamic and currently being addressed by governments worldwide in ways that they believe their societies can sustain. An aging demographic (such as is seen in many northern European and Asian cultures like Germany, Sweden, and the Republic of Korea) comes with its own problems as health care costs skyrocket and the burden of financing social security falls on a much smaller working generation. It is imperative that something like overpopulation be addressed gradually, or the world can expect governmental overthrows right and left. However, as much as Sienna and the others are supposed to be brilliant thinkers, they never even think of the havoc that they're wreaking for the next generations as the infected population ages. It really detracted from the realism of the characters.

[samuyama]

One of the things I didn't quite like about Inferno was the, in my opinion, overly high regard for academic intelligence. Dan Brown makes a clear link with Sienna's incredible IQ and the rest of her exceptional abilities (athleticism, acting ability, charisma, street smarts). It's almost as if a high IQ will somehow make you some kind of super human. These are all separate forms of intelligence that aren't measured with IQ.

Tell me if I'm reading too much into this. I just feel stuff like this adds to the reverence towards high IQ, which disregards many other forms of intelligence and doesn't measure much more than potential at that. If it helps my argument at all I have a measured IQ of 120

Samuyama,

While I would agree that IQ and academic intelligence isn't everything in life, I would say that Dan Brown had to develop Sienna's character this way to make the plot believable. Sienna's high IQ lends itself to her development in all areas of her life, with the possible exception of her moral compass. Speaking in line with the book, if you are going to to have a storyline that includes destroying a huge portion of the Earths population through a single point of germ warfare, you are going to have use characters more intelligent that some redneck building pipe bombs in the shed behind his house, or some terrorist with a bomb in his underwear on a plane.

Just my thoughts, and I have no idea what my IQ is, I don't suppose the scale goes that low.

Thanks for that response, I guess that would be the case in doing something so large scale. As for your own IQ, you seem to have a solid grasp of putting letters together in a way that makes sense so can't be that bad

[M-Allmon]

What a page turner! I couldn't put it down! Would definitely recommend! I was starting to lose interest in the series but this book brought it back!

[standi69]

I just opened Inferno and it starts off great! I can't wait to finish and discuss everything with you

[The Bookaholic]

I am just about to start reading it, thanks to all of these posts, it looks really good and I am a great fan of Dan Brown's work. I am so happy to have a good book to read, thanks for the suggestion

[britt1125]

One of the things I didn't quite like about Inferno was the, in my opinion, overly high regard for academic intelligence. Dan Brown makes a clear link with Sienna's incredible IQ and the rest of her exceptional abilities (athleticism, acting ability, charisma, street smarts). It's almost as if a high IQ will somehow make you some kind of super human. These are all separate forms of intelligence that aren't measured with IQ.

Tell me if I'm reading too much into this. I just feel stuff like this adds to the reverence towards high IQ, which disregards many other forms of intelligence and doesn't measure much more than potential at that. If it helps my argument at all I have a measured IQ of 120

Samuyama,

While I would agree that IQ and academic intelligence isn't everything in life, I would say that Dan Brown had to develop Sienna's character this way to make the plot believable. Sienna's high IQ lends itself to her development in all areas of her life, with the possible exception of her moral compass. Speaking in line with the book, if you are going to to have a storyline that includes destroying a huge portion of the Earths population through a single point of germ warfare, you are going to have use characters more intelligent that some redneck building pipe bombs in the shed behind his house, or some terrorist with a bomb in his underwear on a plane.

Just my thoughts, and I have no idea what my IQ is, I don't suppose the scale goes that low.

I believe that he gave her a high IQ because it wouldn't be quite normal for a person to know as much as he did about a subject they have not actually study unless they was a quick book learner. For the most part I believe that IQ is pretty much just book smarts. It dose not count for most things you would learn out of a class room environment. Plenty of people know many things that life it's self teaches them and they do not have a high IQ but are extremely intelligent in what they do. Many things in life are not taught from a book or can not be taught from a book. IQ test do not cover life lessons there for they do not really tell you how smart you are. Just how book smart you are. That's my opinion about them anyways.

[Gulmohor]

Dan Brown is back with an excellent creation with Inferno. I loved as he took his readers through the rich artistic gallore and its richness. The stitching of the plot with its twists alongwith the character and a diverse geographic description is mesmerising.
I have read all the books of Dan Brown and I must say that I loved "The DaVinci Code" the most but "Inferno" has its own feel.
Dan Brown proves his expertise in research and storytelling through captivating narrative in this book.

[The Bookaholic]

Once I am done reading Inferno, could anybody reccomend any other good Dan Brown books?

[JenniferBoyce]

Once I am done reading Inferno, could anybody reccomend any other good Dan Brown books?

I enjoyed "Deception Point" and "Angels & Demons". If you haven't read the books before "Inferno" it might be interesting to start at the beginning of the series and work up to that book! Enjoy!

[Misaela]

Someone recommended it before, and now that I saw it's the March book of the month, I'll give it a try.

[pkumbla]

DI have enjoyed the "Da Vinci Code" and "Angles and Demons" and I am sure Inferno will be good read. Trying to get hold of this book in my local library.

[Lhall22]

I really enjoyed Inferno; I didn't want to stop reading. I liked learning a little about Dante's Inferno. I will admit though, with Dan Brown's books, as much as I find them interesting, I sometimes feel like the explanations of things goes over my head. It's like I'm being taught something at school instead of reading a good book so I sort of get bored with those parts. but as I said, otherwise I really enjoy his books.

[JenniferBoyce]

I really enjoyed Inferno; I didn't want to stop reading. I liked learning a little about Dante's Inferno. I will admit though, with Dan Brown's books, as much as I find them interesting, I sometimes feel like the explanations of things goes over my head. It's like I'm being taught something at school instead of reading a good book so I sort of get bored with those parts. but as I said, otherwise I really enjoy his books.

I would agree with that statement. A lot of times it seems as if he assumes that the reader already knows a general history before they picked up the book. While he does do a good job of explaining, sometimes it gets confusing.

[krichardson]

I loved Da Vinci Code and Inferno is just as good. I enjoyed the detail and twist I have come to love about Dan Browns writings. I would recommend this book.