Dan Brown’s Inferno (2013) is quite unlike his earlier books in that here the
author turns an environmental activist in that he constantly reminds the reader
of the global ecological crisis and the problems of overpopulation. It reads
more like GB Shaw’s plays that carry some social message or the other.
Though in the earlier novels, it
was possible to suspend disbelief at the kind of code-cracking that Robert
Langdon practiced, this time it becomes a little bit tedious with the population
problem that is part of the discourse of the novel. He makes use of the
character of a slightly eccentric scientist Bertrand Zobrist to offer a
solution to the overpopulation problem and this is by creating a virus named
Inferno that has got serious consequences to the entire humanity.
The apocalypse is near and the
scientist being a fan of Dante has written all the codes in poetry. The
allusions and history reveal a lot about the culture and heritage of art work
as usual, the fun element is replaced by a seriousness quite unlike Brown. Like
all Brown heroines, Sienna Brooks is also quite smart and independent but she
turns mushy and cries on Langdon’s shoulder.
