Of puzzles, secret societies and untamed history. Review on Rule Of Four, The - Caldwell Thomasson

What follows happens to be an excerpt of an unpublished (Yeah somehow unpublished manuscripts, numerical puzzles and Ancient secrets seem to be the order of the day courtesy Mr.Brown’s bestseller) interview with the two authors- Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.

K: Hello Ian, Shall we get to the crux of the matter now; the characterization and authenticity of this piece of work?

Ian: Errrr…….I would like to clarify that we had no intention of writing a book and we were deeply involved in trying to understand progressions as far as math goes and paintings as far as our art classes go.We used to find history classes a bore as well. We got confused midway as sophomores and our notes and daily diaries got stolen and published as a book. In fact, the main characters, Paul, Bill Stein, Gil, Charlie and the protagonist apart from a dozen other curators, art collectors and Princeton professors are all members of housekeeping staff you know. Authenticity, did you say? You got a great sense of humour.

I am dumbfounded!

Thomason: I think right at the outset, let me warn you that these are very obscure and mystical theories that we have tried to explore. Moreover our characters need to be multilingual, multifaceted, multitalented and ofcourse drawing heavily from all the bestsellers of all times.

K: By quoting theories, are you trying to give TROF an element of truth, as in it being historical just as Mr.Brown wanted the world to believe and pursue Priori of Sion and Mary Magdalene theories??

Both I and T in chorus now!! It seems they found something provoking in what I said….

I & T: Hello! For one our readers would do well to show substantial interest in Hebrew, Greek, Latin (Quite literally and not as an idiom) for this text is about Hyprema… sorry forgot the spelling, a text written by a 15th century scholar who wanted to confound the world and gullible world is completely in its claws now.Whoever would try to find out the truth would be left in a trance.

So its as authentic as our literary skills you know.

K: What according to you will build up the interest of readers of TROF?

I: Ms. K, TROF is inspired by recent furore abt Christ and his personal life and hence the reference to Moses, his wife(ves), Old Testament and Michelangelo’s work since Da Vinci’s works are way too popular and people would get to know exactly what this hue and cry is all about. Secondly , just as Enid Blyton wrote about school stories, Kids loved Malory Towers and St. Clares; more recently Snapshots from Hell and Five Point

Someone have been getting rave revus, we decided to add a dash of campus life and what better than having Princeton’s hallowed atmosphere as the background??

K: Does that mean that this book is not supposed to fall in any particular genre?

T: Of course not! Its not some arodinary murder, search, secret unfolded kinda thriller.Please do not insult this treatise on an ancient secret which is going to shake the world with its revelations of Pre Christ world! It will surely provoke discussions about algorithms and numbers and moreover, it will dispel well established notions about religions as well. The skecthes in the book will prove it to you, how difficult and yet attractive the idea of studying these secrets can be.

K: Well, would you then have something to say to our readers just to conclude?

Again Doing Tango, T and I,

T & I: Its an intellectual book. We would request readers to be patient with the flow of the story.

K: Thanks a lot Mr T and I.

Both again: Thanks to Francesco Colonna, the genius…………………………R
30;…..

I fled the place.

Concluding comments:

Absolutely avoidable. With virtually an amalgamation of various so called truths about Moses, various paintings and sketches of well known artists and some algorithms, the authors apparently tried to evoke the interest of one and all, but the disconnect between various themes was way too glaring for me to enjoy the book.

In fact the backdrop being Princeton hardly helped. Be it Katie, the protagonist’s (The protagonist being a princeton grad or various other characters at princeton hardly contributed to any significant degree, the storyline.

The continuing theme that forms the essence of most works of fiction was conspicuous by its absence. For example, the paintball episode wherein the four main characters were supposedly having fun was followed by the arrival of Richard Curry, a scholar who seemed to have a fair idea of the secretbut these events did not in anyway help the proceedings. So many events seemed redundant and that made it boring.

Note: For those wondering why I did not describe the story in detail. As I said, there is no such interesting bit of “story” here. And I am too bored to pen the remnants of what I read that still unfortunately reside in my brain. I welcome you to slam an NU if you still want details.

Still for those who are fond of riddle mysteries, you could give it a try. The recommendation comes with a warning. Read it when you have absolutely nothing to read. Otherwise stick to good ol’ Nancy Drews, you are less likely to get mad at the literary community at large.

Keerti

P.S I am just reminded of the fact that its my b'day on MS today.Kind of silly for me to have to pen a revu on a moronic book like this!!!!!

HELP!Sob!Sob!