Istanbul The Scene Of Inferno
“Professor Langton!” a man’s voice shouted as they drew near.
A smiling Turkish man stepped out from under the octagonal cupola that covered the fountain. He was waving his arms excitedly. “Professor, over here!”
Langton and the others hurried over. “Hello my name is Mirsat,” he said, his accented English voice brimming with enthusiasm.
This building is seven hundred years older than Notre-Dame, Langton thought.
“Both Christianity and Islam are logocentric, meaning they’re focused on the Word. Christians like faces, Muslims like words.”
“Mosques and Cathedrals are startlingly similar. The traditions of East and West are not as divergent as you might think!”
I read his first book “The Da Vinci Code” and watched the movie because of Tom Hanks. I think right after finished the book in 2003, I read a bit about him, saw how he was trying to make it and to be popular; from being pop singer to an advice book writer for “a Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman”! All of that criticism about his first novel, and I didn’t like the marketing style etc. I didn’t read him again.
But this time, because of my beloved home town Istanbul, I think I will read his last book “Inferno”, just for entertainment purpose of course.
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Dan Brown’s highly anticipated new thriller “Inferno” was released yesterday. The book has featured on the front pages of many Turkish newspapers as a significant portion of the novel is set in Istanbul. The book has been published in 12 countries.
The story begins in Florence and then moves to Sienna. Later on, the novel’s mysterious events lead the characters to Istanbul, where the plot continues to unfold. The hero of the book, Robert Langdon, makes an important discovery in the Hagia Sophia museum. Earlier, two cover designs for the forthcoming book for the U.S. and UK editions had been also revealed, both featuring images of the Italian poet Dante. Brown was reportedly inspired by Dante’s epic poem “Inferno,” which was written in the 14th century.
“Inferno” features the return of renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, and centers on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces.
In his international blockbusters “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels & Demons,” and “The Lost Symbol,” Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.
Brown released the book’s title on his website on January 15, 2013, after prompting readers to help reveal a digital mosaic using social media posts, and revealed the cover in late February of 2013. The cover depicts the famous Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore located in Florence, Italy. He also published a sneak preview of Inferno along with a free ebook of The Da Vinci Code on March 17. The ebook was distributed to readers worldwide through online e-book stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble for free till March 24, 2013.
Inferno has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian and Danish for simultaneous release. The publishers hired a team of 11 translators who worked on the project at the headquarters of Mondadori in Milan between February and April 2012. They were reportedly sequestered in a basement, and worked intensively under strict security and secrecy.
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The Dan Brown Code
Dan Brown was born in New Hampshire in Jun 22, 1964. Brown was raised in New Hampshire, where his father taught math at Phillips Exeter Academy and his mother was a musician. He graduated from Amherst College in 1986. In 1991 he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as singer-songwriter and pianist. To support himself, he taught classes at Beverly Hills Preparatory School.
He also joined the National Academy of Songwriters, and participated in many of its events. It was there that he met Blythe Newlon, a woman 12 years his senior, who was the Academy’s Director of Artist Development. Though it was not officially part of her job, she took on the seemingly unusual task of helping to promote Brown’s projects; she wrote press releases, set up promotional events, and put him in contact with people who could be helpful to his career. When his music career failed to take off, Brown moved back to his home state in 1993 and became an English teacher at Phillips Exeter. She and Brown also developed a personal relationship, though this was not known to all of their associates until 1993, when Brown moved back to New Hampshire, and it was learned that Newlon would accompany him. They married in 1997, at Pea Porridge Pond, near Conway, New Hampshire.
In 1995 Dan Brown and his wife, Blythe, an art historian, wrote “187 Men to Avoid: A Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman”. The following year Brown became a full-time writer.
He eventually started writing fiction and his first novel, “Digital Fortress,” a techno-thriller about a National Security Agency cryptographer, was published in 1998. It was followed by “Angels & Demons” (2000), in which Brown introduced the fictional Harvard University symbologist and future “Da Vinci Code” protagonist Robert Langdon, and “Deception Point” (2001), which centers on NASA and a meteor found in the Arctic Circle.
The three books initially met with modest commercial success and Brown remained a little-known author until the 2003 debut of his fourth novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” which became one of the world’s top-selling novels.
Six years ago (before The Da Vinci Code), Dan Brown was a failed songwriter and a middling author desperate for a big break. Well, he got it. His book The Da Vinci Code became the most popular novel ever, transforming the New England native into an international celebrity.
His books have been translated into 52 languages, and as of 2012, sold over 200 million copies. Two of them, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, have been adapted into films.
Dan Brown came 12th in the Forbes list of the most powerful celebrities 2005. His net worth estimated $100 million dollars by 2012.
“Until I graduated from college, I had read almost no modern commercial fiction at all (having focused primarily on the “classics” in school). In 1994, while vacationing in Tahiti, I found an old copy of Sydney Sheldon’s Doomsday Conspiracy on the beach. I read the first page… and then the next… and then the next. Several hours later, I finished the book and thought, Hey, I can do that. Upon my return, I began work on my first novel – Digital Fortress – which was published in 1996.” – Dan Brown
Nil Taskin