May our philosophies keep pace with our technologies. May our compassion keep pace with our powers. And may love, not fear, be the engine of change!
Origin – the latest science fiction mystery thriller best seller by Dan Brown. Brown attempts to answer the most intriguing universal mysteries of mankind – human creation and human destiny; in other words, where did we come from and where are we going? In a typical Brownish way, he answers these questions, stirring up a hornets’ nest, treading between science and religion through his favourite character, Professor Robert Langdon; trying to prove or un-prove – The dark religions are departed and sweet science reigns. Leaving it open for interpretation.
Edmond Kirsch, a futurist and an atheist, who blames the Palmarian Church for the death of his mother, meets the three most powerful religious leaders (Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Valdespino, Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Köves, and Muslim Allamah Syed al-Fadl) in Catalonia, Spain. He informs them about his discovery and how it was going to be the end of all religions. Soon after that meeting, two of three leaders (Jewish Rabbi and Muslim Allamah) are brutally murdered. Despite a warning voicemail from Bishop Valdespino, Kirsch was going to go ahead and announce to the world his discovery at the Guggenhiem museum in Bilbao, whose director is Ambra Vidal, the future queen of Spain.
That evening, Spain is in turmoil with the ailing king who is breathing his last and the future king, a modernist, torn between religion and modernism. In this dramatic setting, right after Kirsch completes his introductory presentation and just before announcing the big discovery, he is murdered even more dramatically right in the presence of the hundreds that had gathered at the museum and over millions that were watching his presentation. From that point, starts the cat and mouse game – Langdon and Vidal wanting to find the 47letter password (a line from Kirsch’s favourite poem) that would help them release to the world, his discovery. Langdon and Vidal are aided by Winston, who is Kirsch’s most sincere and devoted personal secretory, an AI (Artificial Intelligence, a computer sitting in a remote lab in Spain).
How Langdon and Vidal find the password and release the discovery, fighting all odds and perils on the way forms the crux of the novel. We know right from the beginning, the involvement of a person called “Reagent” in the murders. However, who is this Reagent who is orchestrating the events that night? What is the Reagent’s motive? The needle of doubt moves from the surviving Bishop Valdespino, to the prince and future king of Spain, to the ailing king who is out there to protect the religion, to the pope of the Palmarian Church, to the others in the Royal Palace – each having their own strong motive to ensure that the discovery is buried deep down, never to surface, ever.
Though Kirsch’s discovery is unfolded and narrated in a very convincing way, neither his theory on creation nor destiny is actually jaw dropping. It is the identity of the Reagent that comes as a shock. There is a lot of food for thought at the end, and if that’s what the future holds, it certainly is scary. And Science, in a weird way, ominously fulfills the religions’ philosophy, as quoted by Brown, in this novel
- Historically, the most dangerous men on earth were men of God… especially when their God’s became threatened.
- Martyrdom is at the heart of all religion.
The timing of the release of this novel is just amazing – right when Sophia robot is garnering all attention as she is the first robot to be given citizenship (Saudi Arabia) and the various interviews with Sophia that are available in the internet. We can see the bubble forming, wherein all over the world everything is moving towards automation and Artificial Intelligence is becoming the core processors, eliminating all the regular low paid jobs, in the near future. The kind of human destiny that Kirsch predicts may actually not be that far away, after all…
This book is certainly worth the read, for its fast paced action packed drama – will certainly be a page-turner until the very end…
My rating – 4.25/5
A few quotes from the book that I liked
… the teachings of all religions had did indeed have one thing in common. They were all dead wrong.
When you see me face-to-face, I’ll reveal the empty space.
From the depths of my deepest despair, I have risen to the moment of my most glorious service.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster
My friends, I warn you, evil will swallow us whole if we do not fight force with force. We will never conquer evil if our battle cry is “forgiveness “.
The Expanding eyes of Man behold the depths of wondrous worlds
Life not only obeys the laws of physics, but that life began because of those laws.
Love is from another realm. We cannot manufacture it on demand. Nor can we subdue it when it appears. Love is not our choice to make.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Sometimes, all you have to do is shift your perspective to see someone else’s truth.
Love truly is not a finite emotion. It can be generated spontaneously out of nothing at all.