Blog 5A

Book: The Deception Point
Author: Dan Brown
Pages read this week: 125
Pages read this semester: 643
Weekly style: Questions

Summary
Geologist Charles Brophy was murdered by unknown assassins in Arctic. Rachel Sexton, daughter of likely Republican Party Presidential nominee, Senator Sedgewick Sexton, works in National Reconnaissance Organization. She manages intelligence reports for the President Zach Herney who is running for reelection, but has been out of public life for a week. She refuses her father’s offer to work for his campaign. She is summoned by the President for some unknown and secret reason. The NRO director William Pickering sends her to him hesitatingly. Rachel is sent to Arctic by President Herney, asking her to verify a recent NASA discovery which will kill Senator Sexton’s criticism of overspending on NASA. President’s main advisor, Marjorie Tench, decides to face Senator Sexton in a CNN debate. At Arctic, Rachel is thrilled to find out that NASA is planning to announce this discovery on a grand scale. And two of the four civilian scientists present there to authenticate the discovery are celebrated Oceanographer and documentarian Michael Tolland, and award winning astrophysicist, Corky Marlinson.

Que. 1: Write down a line or quote from the book that interest you. Tell what you like about the quote and what it says. What does it make you think about?
“Never trust a politician.” (Chapter 12, Page 74)
Ans.: One day, my AP Government teacher, Mr. Marr, asked us, “How can you tell a politician is lying?” We gave all sorts of answers, like, his eyes have a dirty look, he looks unconfident, he could not find right words, he avoids questions on a topic etc. Mr. Marr, after rejecting all sorts of answers, gave a reply which established that the question was basically a joke. He answered, “His lips are moving.”
Well, I have grown up in the biggest democracy of the world, India. Politics is a daily part of one’s life. I was attracted to it as a child. When I was 8-9 years old, I had more interest in newspapers and political news on TV than Aladdin or Winnie the Pooh. That is why I have political convictions and ambitions too. I like how this quote depicts public hatred of elected officials, and this is indeed the lesson I have learned from my experiences. Politicians are most untrustworthy persons in the world. Not all, but most of them. However, what really interests me is then why do we believe them. They are the policymakers, and we have made them what they are today. We say that they need to change. Oh really! I think we need to change even more. I know that in this country, there are not a lot of choices. The question is who created choices. Ultimately, it is us, the citizens. We don’t want to change. We wish to stick with old guns. May be it’s right too. Still, out attitudes need to change. We cannot say that ‘government is a problem” as long as we don’t participate in it and don’t wish to change it. [An interesting fact: India is going for general elections in April-May. Some organizations have asked for an option for the voters which will say,” I don’t want to vote for any of the candidates listed. I am not satisfied with them.”]

Que. 2: Why did you choose this story? Has it met your expectations so far? Why or why not?
Ans.: The main reason behind me choosing the story is my illness. Over the spring break and the following week after that, I was sick very badly. I needed something to kill my time. So, I decided to go with Dan Brown again.
I had been interested by the idea of the story. And since it involved bits and pieces of politics and conspiracy, I decided to go for it. So far, it has met my expectations almost completely. The story is sophisticated, fast paced and many sub-plots run simultaneously. However, I am looking for more political stuff.