The power of Dan Brown’s novels to send readers stampeding into bookstores continues with his latest blockbuster, “The Lost Symbol.” Rich in themes of religious and governmental conspiracies, they leave many readers wondering if his thrilling stories are really true.
In creating the Discovery Channel’s “Hunting The Lost Symbol,” a two-hour examination of Brown’s novel, the producers had to figuring out what was going to be in the book.
Executive producer Ron Ziskin and his team needed a six-month jump on the book’s publication to begin their work.
But given that “The Lost Symbol,” whichdeals with Freemasonry and the U.S. government, was surrounded by a level of security usually reserved for nuclear codes and Harry Potter books, Ziskin couldn’t get an advance copy of the book or access to Brown, who had signed an exclusive deal with NBC.
So Ziskin and his team, like a cadre of real-life Robert Langdons (Brown’s symbologist protagonist), started sifting through clues, hoping to uncover the secret to this great publishing mystery.
“There were web sites involved in speculation on what the book would be about,” says Ziskin, “and books published about what the book was going to be. His publisher also created a web site, and put out a number of speculative clues.”
A messy amalgamation of theories to say the least, but Ziskin and his team hired several of the world’s greatest code-breakers to help them decipher clues, and turned to some high-level Masons with supposed inside knowledge of the book’s contents.
In the process, they uncovered some great, provocative information.
“We learned that the book would have something to do with the founding fathers,” says Ziskin, “but we thought the Masons themselves were concerned that the book might make George Washington out to be a potential spy for the British. That turned out not to be the case.”
With the book’s publication finally shedding light on the mystery, the producers, now fully aware of what was in it, crammed to ensure that the special dealt with the realities of “The Lost Symbol,” taking viewers on a tour of sites in Washington, D.C. with supposed Masonic ties.
“We were able to find everything Dan found,” says Ziskin. “He used certain facts about underground tunnels, and the fact that there is an architect of the Capitol who has access to things. We were able to go on the same tour [of the Capitol] he took, so much of what you’ll see in our special is the same thing he was looking at. We tried to look at it through this eyes, and then show you how he used it in the book.”
In “The Lost Symbol,” Langdon teaches classes about the design of the nation’s capital, and talks about how the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol are all aligned with the constellation Virgo, which is known as “the sacred feminine.”
“Hunting The Lost Symbol” examines phenomena of this sort, trying to determine its true significance in the greater scheme of things.
“We take both sides of these issues and let the public decide,” says Ziskin. “Yeah, there may be an alignment of the monuments, but was that just because there was interest in astrology when these monuments were built?”
The special also closely examines little-known aspects of fringe science that Brown addressed. In “The Lost Symbol,” the head of the Smithsonian, Peter Solomon, researches Noetics, which centers on the power of the mind. The special delves deeper into this actual science, which has fascinating implications for mankind.
“You can call it ESP, or remote viewing,” says Ziskin. “It’s about the expansion of the mind. Mass prayer is an example, and how it’s used to heal people.”
Given that “The Lost Symbol” was the fastest-selling novel in history, with one million copies selling on its first day, Ziskin is confident that hardcore Brown fans will relish this in-depth examination of the author’s work.
“Dan Brown touched on a theme so huge in this country — conspiracy, and ideas that are hidden from us,” Ziskin says. “From Cheney’s undisclosed location to Area 15, people are fascinated by conspiracy, and that’s what Dan deals in. People are always trying to crack that code.”