#269 - Deception Point

ENGLISH

Hello all, as you can read at one previous entry. I have finished reading Dan Brown's new novel, "DECEPTION POINT".

Even though in the synopsis it seems that this novel has something to do with alien, but mainly, this novel is not a sci-fi novel. This novel tells us about the competition between a president candidate and the current president before the next president election in The US; NASA's new discovery which was greater and more meaningful than NASA's accomplishment in making people walked on the surface on the moon; but in the end, it's figured out that the discovery was not more than a deception; the complications because of the global deception (because the president had already announced the discovery to the world; the deception had already been figured out before the president declared it, but political reason and common logic stopped that information to president's hand, eyes and ears, so president declared that 'fake' discovery). Just as Dan Brown's other novel, this is not really a light reading, some geological knowledge were also included in this novel, but don't worry, even though you don't understand what the hell geology is, but you still can follow and enjoy the story. The main characters: Rachel Sexton, Michael Tolland, President Zach Henry, Senator Sedgewick Sexton (Rachel's father), Dr. Corky Marlinson, Marjorie Tench, Gabrielle Ashe, and William Pickering.

Well, in this novel we still can see Dan Brown's traits in writing: thrilling, quick story (again, the whole novel tells us about many different things happened in only one night), 'requiring' some knowledge about something (but Dan Brown explained to us about the knowledge), etc. Of course, there are some similarities between this novel and Dan Brown's previous novel (The DaVinci Code (DVC), Angels and Demons (AD), and Digital Fortress (DF)). Beside the traits above, the other similarities are: there is one group of assasinator (Delta Force in DP --> Silas in DVC, Hassasin in AD, and Hulohot in DF), there is a mysterious person who was the brain and planner of the whole 'crime' (but actually he/she had a motive and believed that what he/she did was for the good of a society or human being), the murder of some innocent people, some advanced technology, etc.

However, there also exist some differences. If the assasinators were only one person in three previous novels, here, the assasinator was one group (3 people). Of course the places were also different, if in three previous novels they took place at some countries outside The US and The US itself, in DP, it took place only in The US (well, and also the open sea at The Arktik Ocean). If the first two novels (DVC and AD) were about religion and church, the third novel (DF) was about computer, this novel (DP) was about geology and (a lil') politics. In this novel, there was no code to break (but 'the code' itself was the deception actually, and 'breaking the code' also means reveal the truth; so, I'm not sure this is a difference or similarity... :D).

Btw, while I was reading I guessed who was the 'mysterius guy' who planned all things. Hmm, at first I almost guessed the wrong person, but as time flew (:P), I changed my mind and guessed the other person, and I was right!! Yaaay... . He3... :) Hmm, in the end, I think this novel is an interesting novel to read, probably still not as controversial as DVC, but the storyline was good (at least for me).

::: DECEPTION POINT (front cover)

::: DECEPTION POINT (back cover)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hallo hallo, seperti yang bisa dibaca pada sebuah postingan yang lalu. Aku sudah menyelesaikan membaca novel baru Dan Brown, "DECEPTION POINT / TITIK MUSLIHAT".

Walaupun di sinopsis kayanya novelnya berhubungan sama alien, tapi sebenernya, novel ini bukan novel sci-fi loh. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kompetisi antara kandidat presiden dan presiden saat itu sebelum pemilihan presiden di Amerika; penemuan baru NASA yang lebih hebat dan berarti daripada prestasi NASA membuat manusia berjalan di bulan; tapi pada akhirnya ketahuan bahwa penemuan itu adalah muslihat belaka; komplikasi akibat muslihat global ini (soalnya presiden kan sudah mengumumkan penipuan ini ke seluruh dunia; muslihat sebenernya udah terungkap sih sebelum presiden mengumumkannya, tetapi alasan politis dan logika umum mencegah informasi ini sampai ke tangan, mata, dan telinga presiden, jadi presiden mengumumkan penemuan 'palsu' itu). Seperti novel-novel Dan Brown sebelumnya, ini bukanlah bacaan yang enteng banget, beberapa pengetahuan geologi juga dimasukkan dalam novel ini, tapi jangan khawatir, walau nggak ngerti sama sekali apaan sih geologi itu, masih bisa mengikuti dan menikmati ceritanya koq. Tokoh-tokoh utamanya: Rachel Sexton, Michael Tolland, President Zach Henry, Senator Sedgewick Sexton (ayah Rachel), Dr. Corky Marlinson, Marjorie Tench, Gabrielle Ashe, dan William Pickering.

Hmm, di novel ini kita masih bisa melihat ciri khas Dan Brown dalam menulis: menegangkan, alur yang cepat (lagi, novel ini keseluruhannya menceritakan serangkaian hal berbeda yang terjadi dalam semalam saja), 'membutuhkan' pengetahuan tentang sesuatu (tapi Dan Brown menjelaskannya dalam novel), dll. Tentu saja, ada dong beberapa kemiripan antara novel ini dan novel-novel Dan Brown sebelumnya (The DaVinci Code (DVC), Angels and Demons / Malaikat dan Iblis (AD), dan Digital Fortress / Benteng Digital (DF)). Di samping ciri-ciri di atas, beberapa kemiripan lainnya: ada satu grup pembunuh (Delta Force di DP --> Silas di DVC, Hassasin di AD, dan Hulohot di DF), ada seseorang misterius yang merupakan otak dan perencana dari keseluruhan 'kriminal' (tapi sebenernya dia punya motif sih dan percaya kalo yang dia lakukan itu adalah untuk kebaikan sekelompok tertentu atau manusia), pembunuhan beberapa orang nggak bersalah, teknologi yang maju, dll.

Tetapi, ada juga lah beberapa perbedaannya. Kalo pembunuhnya adalah seorang saja di novel-novel sebelumnya, disini, pembunuhnya satu grup (3 orang). Tentu saja tempatnya juga berbeda, kalo di novel-novel sebelumnya tempatnya adalah di luar Amerika dan Amerika sendiri, di DP, tempatnya keseluruhan di Amerika saja (hmm, juga di lautan terbuka di Samudra Arktika sih). Di dua novel pertama (DVC dan AD) dibahas tentang agama dan gereja, di novel ketiga (DF) adalah komputer, maka di novel ini (DP) adalah tentang geologi dan (sedikit) politik. Dalam novel ini, nggak ada kode untuk dipecahkan (tapi 'kode'nya sendiri sebenernya adalah muslihatnya itu sih, dan 'memecahkan kode' bisa berarti mendapatkan kebenaran; jadi aku agak nggak yakin ini adalah perbedaan atau persamaan... :D).

Btw, waktu lagi membaca, aku juga menebak siapa 'orang misterius'nya yang merencanakan segalanya. Pertamanya sih aku nyaris nebak orang yang salah, tapi seiring dengan berlalunya waktu (:P), aku berubah pikiran dan menebak orang lain, dan aku benar!! Yaaay... . He3... :) Hmm, akhirnya, aku rasa novel ini adalah novel yang menarik untuk dibaca, mungkin nggak se-kontroversial DVC, tapi jalan ceritanya sih bagus (paling nggak untuk aku).