The station at the beginning is Washington D. C.’s Union Station, and the ending of the film (after the awkward splice with “Bobby” showing up out of nowhere) is in Lamy, New Mexico. At one time, Lamy was the closest stop to Santa Fe. Now there is a branch line to Santa Fe, and you can take an excursion to Lamy from Santa Fe and have lunch.

Thanks to Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, for pointing this film out on Facebook. The Philbrook in Tulsa Oklahoma has amazing collections of American Indian Art, including Quincy Tahoma, and also a deep collection of historical art and other objects.

If you would like to see more films about railroads and other stuff, go to http://www.archive.org/details/passenger_train

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Book: Decoding the Lost Symbol by Simon Cox

Simon Cox, a native of Britain who lives in California, took time away from his research of alternate history and organizing his vast collection of CDs to talk to us about his new book,Decoding the Lost Symbol which demystifies Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

As everyone in the universe probably knows by now, Brown specializes in complex puzzles and codes based on real life organizations, rituals, works of art and architecture. Brown’s work has been seen by some as  travel literature as well as thriller. That leads to criticism for inaccuracy by as many people as those who follow his hero, Robert Langdon’s travels around Rome, Florence, and now Washington D.C.

In a sense, Simon Cox stalks Dan Brown. Since Angels & Demons, Cox has quickly followed each Dan Brown book with a book that explains the facts behind the thriller. Here are excerpts from our conversation.

Me: I was expecting more debunking. You are actually rather easy on Brown.

Simon Cox: I actually admire the way Brown has brought some subjects into the public eye. He got so much hammering for The DaVinci Code. We have to remember they are novels.

Me: And since they are fiction, why do we need factual explanations?

SC: I think so many things in the Lost Symbol people are going to wonder about, they are going to be confused, they are not going to know what it’s all about, they are not going to understand what the deeper elements are, that’s why I thought there was room there for a guidebook if you like.

Me: In Decoding the Lost Symbol, you explain that it would be impossible to immediately get from Freedom Square to the Metro Stop that Robert Langdon takes and that there is quite a distance from the stop nearest the National Cathedral to the Cathedral itself. (Both actions are key to the action of The Lost Symbol.) Any other general cautions for tourists who take the book as travel literature?

SC: You shouldn’t use this book as a guide for Washington D.C. Because if you do, you are going to have a very strange trip. (He gives the example that although the amazing piece of art, Melancholia, by Albecht Durer is in the National Gallery of Art, and seems to contain an important clue for his work, Langdon looks it up on the computer. Cox says, following the book is always caveat emptor.)

Me: Because you has researched alternate history all over the world, do you personally travel a great deal?

SC: Research for me has always been an excuse for travel.  I did a book on Atlantis because it gave me an excuse to travel to the Mediterranean and other places.

Me: Do you have time for reading other than the voluminous research you do?

SC: As far as fiction, Dan Brown is about it. When it comes to travel, I have a huge collection of travel journals, especially the older ones. I have a wonderful Baedecker from 1896, of Egypt. I still use it as a guide to see some of the places that are off the beaten track.

I find modern guide books a bit stale. There is not much personal comment in those books. I am a huge fan of Wilfred Thesiger, and especially his books about travels in the Middle East. The Arabian Sands… Southern gulf of Oman and Yemen, which I visited. ..I enjoy visiting that region because it is almost like a blank canvas, because there has been so little research and archaeology in some of these places.

Me: I have to ask, have you ever met Dan Brown?

SC: I have not met Dan Brown, or his wife, who does the major research for his books. (Other than before he came famous, when they corresponded because Cox was doing a magazine feature in a magazine he edited) And I don’t have any idea what he thinks about my books. But I’ll tell you what, I like to meet him and buy him a pint at my local pub and thank him very very much for paying my mortgage.

Besides his web site and somewhat neglected blog, you can keep up with Simon Cox at Twitter (@FindSimonCox)

My thanks to Simon &  Schuster imprint Touchstone for a review copy of this book. Washington Monument photo by Zach Stern. It is well worth clicking on the photograph to explore more of his pictures at flickr. And look at his names. He calls this one mournument.

See more about Dan Brown’s books : The Lost Symbol, Angels and Demons

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Book: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

This note is a perfect example of why I prefer to call my articles here “discussions” rather than “reviews.”  I have not read Dan Brown‘s newest book, yet.  However, when I heard that the Smithsonian site was listing free museum day around the country tomorrow, here, September 26, I just had to point you toward Dan Brown’s, The Lost Symbol .

So tomorrow go to a museum near you for free, and then when you can, go to Washington D.C. to see the sites there.

You see, Dan Brown  hung out a lot in Washington D.C. museums in the writing of this book. And Washington D.C. tourism office wants to help you tour the sites in the book.  Just go to the D.C. tourism website. You’ll get a tour to find all the Lost Symbol(s) , including those hidden at the Capitol Building, Washington Monument, Mt. Vernon, Botanic Garden, and OF COURSE–The Spy Museum, and other sites.

Related Posts: Many people used Dan Brown’s previous books as guides to sites in Rome and I talked about the movie Angels and Demons here. For another thriller guide to Washington D.C., I recommended a series by David Baldacci. Doesn’t anybody set romances in D.C. ? I’m sure there are plenty of historic novels, not to mention comedies.

If you like this post, please pass it on by clicking on the buttons below or giving it a Tweet, but remember, the Free Museum Day is one day only, September 26, 2009. But the Washington D.C. sites will be waiting for you any time.

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I did not catch these interviews when they first aired, but they make an appropriate  follow-up to the post on thrillers to read before you go to Washington D.C.

Three video clips of interviews of David Baldacci were conducted by the Book Maven, Bethanne Patrick and published on her blog, Author, Author for WETA.

Interview I about the book, Divine Justice, and southwestern Virginia where Baldacci grew up.  (February 4, 2009).

Interview II about Divine, Virginia and about Baldacci’s Wish You Well Foundation, which promotes literacy, book by book by book. (February 5, 2009.)

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Capitol Hill at Night, by Thomas Hawk at flickr.com

Destination: Washington D.C.

Are you setting off for the inauguration? No? Good choice.  Wait until the crowds thin out.

All eyes turn toward Washington D.C. on January 20 every fourth year.  Trivia moment:  Presidential inaugurals used to happen on March 4.  Then I was born on that date and since the country could not have two such important events on the same day, the President was moved to January 20.  Well, that’s the way my mother told the story.

Oh, sure, it is a good idea to read some history, and maybe the biography of Thomas Jefferson (for whom the main building of the Library of Congress is named) or Abigail Adams (First First Lady in the White House).

But to truly feel like an insider when you travel today’s Washington, add to your travel library the David Baldacci’s series about a group of misfits in D. C. who outsmart all those guys with big shoulders and blackberries who belong to alphabet agencies. The books are guaranteed to have you looking behind trees and wondering about the guy lurking on the marble steps.

• Camel Club, first in the series.
• The Collectors , my personal favorite, perhaps because it involves books and the Library of Congress will be next if you are reading them in order.
• Stone Cold , next up, is named for the leader of the gang, Oliver Stone.
• Divine Justice , the latest in the series, is also the last, according to the author.  I heard Baldacci speak at a conference in November 2007, and he said that Divine Justice is the last of the Camel Club series.

Once you have read yourself into a totally paranoid state bred by all those thrillers you have read, visit the Spy Museum.  It will convince you that you really are being followed.

With so many books set in D.C.,  from history to mystery, we just may have to revisit this city in a later post. Your suggestions?

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