From the Rome and Vatican City of Angels & Demons to the Paris of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown brings Americans to tour their capital, Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia). This was the intention all along, as Brown himself had revealed in an interview. Many of those who anticipated the work began rediscovering the architecture, the monuments and public buildings, and the symbols strewn throughout the capital and its Capitol Building that grace the American edition dustcover. (Even Americans at times confuse “capital” which is from the Latin word “capitalis,” meaning chief and, in this case, the seat of government, and the Capitol, from Latin “Capitolium,” the temple of Jupiter at Rome on the Capitoline hill).
Most Americans will be familiar with some of these places, although fewer will have seen and been through the new U. S Capitol Visitors Center, just opened in 2008. The Center provides access to the Capitol itself, where the two branches of the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, carry out their work of legislating. While visitors to the city cannot possibly avoid the sight of the Washington Monument even from a distance, far fewer have risen to its magnificent observation deck. Other places in Washington mentioned in the novel may be less familiar, as Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon rush from place to place. They escape the basement of the Capitol through underground passages to the Library of Congress (yes, they do exist). There is also a transportation system that Senators and Representatives use to travel to their respective offices, now located in separate buildings. The National Art Gallery, home to the engraving by Albrecht Dürer, is mentioned, but Katherine and Robert with no time to spare will use a computer to access a digital print. The triangular pyramids in the courtyard of the Gallery are never brought to light. The U. S Botanic Garden, located to the southwest of the Capitol, also makes a brief appearance, but the action quickly moves to the National Cathedral and then to the House of the Temple on 16th Street. The Temple is just a few hundred yards north of arguably the most famous building in Washington, the White House, which serves as residence and office of the President of the United States. Ultimately the novel brings us back to the Washington Monument and then to the Capitol in the completion of a circle through the city. Katherine and Peter never get outside the District to Virginia, where the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is located. But its operatives are hard at work and the Director of its Office of Security appears miraculously at the Capitol. The Office’s existence is mentioned as a “Fact.” It is not all that secret for a recent employment opportunity listed on the Internet described its functions: “The Office of Security supports the CIA’s mission by providing a comprehensive, worldwide security program that protects CIA personnel, information, facilities, programs and activities, and technical capabilities.”
Brown’s website offers its own online “A Reader’s Guide to Washington, D.C.: In the Steps of The Lost Symbol” which emphasizes the fact that “Architecture is itself a central character in Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.”
DAN BROWN “A READER’S GUIDE TO WASHINGTON, D.C.”
www.danbrown.com/html/novels/theLostSymbol/tour_dc.html
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS VIRTUAL TOUR
myloc.gov/exhibitspaces/Pages/default.aspx
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
www.cia.gov
THE LOST SYMBOL SET OF D.C. PHOTOS ON FLICKR
www.flickr.com/photos/bom_mot/sets/72157622269892249