The Man behind the Code
Dan Brown, lahir
pada tanggal 22 Juni 1964 di Exeter, New Hampshire, Amerika Serikat, adalah
seorang novelis yang terkenal lewat berbagai karya fenomenalnya, seperti “The
Da Vinci Code”, “Angels & Demons” dan “The Lost Symbol”. Nama Brown mencuat
ketika novelnya, “The Da Vinci Code” yang diterbitkan pada tahun 2003,
menimbulkan kontroversi di berbagai kalangan akibat jalan ceritanya. Namun
rupanya di luar jalan ceritanya yang menimbulkan banyak kritik dan perdebatan,
buku tersebut sangat laris di pasaran, dengan kisah seru sang tokoh utama
Robert Langdon dalam memecahkan kode, simbol, serta konspirasi di dalamnya.
Buku ini berhasil membawa Brown sebagai salah satu penulis yang paling
diperhitungkan di abad 21. Hingga kini, buku-buku Brown telah ditranslasi ke
dalam 40 bahasa dan pada tahun 2009 tercatat telah terjual sebanyak lebih dari
80 juta kopi di seluruh dunia. Bahkan dua dari buku-bukunya, “The Da Vinci
Code” dan “Angels & Demons” telah diadaptasi ke layar lebar dengan aktor
kawakan Tom Hanks sebagai pemeran Robert Langdon. Buku ketiga yang juga
diangkat ke layar lebar, “The Lost Symbol”, akan dirilis filmnya pada tahun
2012 ini.
Dan Brown tumbuh
besar di tempat kelahirannya, Exeter ,
New Hampshire , Amerika Serikat.
Tak heran apabila ia tumbuh menjadi orang yang sangat menyukai misteri, kode
dan teka-teki, karena Brown dibesarkan dengan teka-teki buatan orang tuanya
sendiri. Ayahnya adalah guru matematika, yang bersama sang ibu juga adalah
seorang penyanyi dan musisi. Brown’s
interest in secrets and puzzles stems from their presence in his household as a
child, where codes and ciphers were
the linchpin tying together the mathematics, music and languages in which his
parents worked. The young Brown spent hours working out anagrams and
crossword puzzles, and he and his siblings participated in elaborate treasure
hunts devised by their father on birthdays and holidays. On Christmas, for example, Brown and his siblings did not find gifts under
the tree, but followed a treasure map with codes and clues throughout their
house and even around town to find the gifts. Brown’s relationship with his
father inspired that of character Sophie Neveu and Jacques Sauniere in “The Da Vinci Code”, and Chapter 23 of that novel was inspired by
one of his childhood treasure hunts.
Mungkin tidak banyak yang tahu
bahwa sebelum beralih profesi menjadi seorang penulis, Dan Brown sempat menjadi
seorang penyanyi dan penulis lagu. Bakat musiknya ini terasah seiring
lingkungan keluarga yang merupakan keluarga musisi. Ketika menuntut ilmu di Amherst College , baik bakat musik maupun
menulisnya terasah. Brown bergabung dengan klub menyanyi Glee dan bertindak
sebagai writing student untuk penulis
tamu Alan Lelchuk. Pada tahun 1985 ia mendapatkan kesempatan untuk belajar
sejarah seni di University of Seville ,
Spanyol selama setahun. Lulus dari Amherst
pada tahun 1986, Brown memulai karirnya sebagai seorang musisi. Pada tahun 1991
ia pindah ke Hollywood untuk merintis
karirnya. Brown bahkan masuk ke National Academy of Songwriters, dimana ia
akhirnya bertemu dengan Blythe Newlon, seniornya yang lebih tua 12 tahun yang
akhirnya menjadi istrinya kini. Setelah sempat memproduksi album sendiri pada
tahun 1993 dan 1994, Brown dan sang istri akhirnya pindah ke New Hampshire . Di sanalah Brown akhirnya
mengubah haluannya. Dari menulis musik dan lirik lagu, ia menulis sebuah cerita
novel.
Dan Brown terinspirasi untuk
menulis sebuah novel thriller setelah
membaca novel berjudul “The Doomsday Conspiracy” karya Sidney Sheldon. He started work on “Digital Fortress”, his debut novel, setting much of it in Seville , Spain ,
where he had studied in 1985. Pada
tahun 1996, Brown berhenti dari profesinya sebagai guru sekolah untuk fokus
menulis. Pada tahun 1998, novel pertamanya “Digital Fortress” terbit. His wife, Blythe, did much of the book's promotion, writing press releases, booking
Brown on talk shows, and setting up press
interviews. A few months later,
Brown and his wife released “The Bald Book”, another humor book after “187
Men to Avoid: A Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman”, which he wrote
with his wife in 1995. Brown subsequently
wrote “Angels & Demons”
and “Deception Point”, released
in 2000 and 2001 respectively, the former of which was the first to feature the
lead character, Harvard symbology
expert Robert Langdon.
Dan Brown’s first three novels
had little success, with fewer than 10,000 copies in each of their first
printings. His fourth novel, “The Da
Vinci Code”, became a bestseller, going to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list
during its first week of release in 2003. It is now credited with being one of
the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold worldwide as of
2009. Its success has helped push sales of Brown’s earlier books. In 2004, all
four of his novels were on the New
York Times list in the same week, and in 2005, he made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most
influential people of the year. Forbes
magazine placed Brown at number 12 on their 2005 “Celebrity 100” list, and estimated
his annual income at 76,5 million USD. The
Times estimated his income from “The Da Vinci Code” sales as 250 million USD.
Dan Brown’s fifth novel, also third
novel featuring Robert Langdon, “The
Lost Symbol”, was released on September 15, 2009. According to the
publisher, on its first day the book sold over one million in hardcover and
e-book versions in the U.S. ,
the U.K. and Canada ,
prompting the printing of 600,000 hardcover copies in addition to the five
million first printing. Brown has stated that he has ideas for about 12 future
books featuring Robert Langdon.
Sang istri, Blythe, berperan
sangat besar dibalik pembuatan setiap buku-buku Brown. In interviews, Brown has said
that his wife is an art historian and painter. When they met, she was the
Director of Artistic Development at the National
Academy for Songwriters in Los Angeles . During the 2006 lawsuit over alleged
copyright infringement in “The Da
Vinci Code”, information was
introduced at trial that showed that Blythe did research for the book. In
one article, she was described as
“chief researcher”.
Kesuksesan
buku-buku Dan Brown membuat para sineas Hollywood
tertarik dan berlomba-lomba untuk mengangkatnya ke dalam kisah layar lebar. In 2006, Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code”
was released as a film by Columbia
Pictures, with director Ron Howard. The movie starred Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. The next film, “Angels
& Demons”, was released on May
15, 2009, with Howard and Hanks returning. A movie adaptation of “The
Lost Symbol” is confirmed to be in
production for 2012 release.
Sepanjang karir menulisnya yang
masih tergolong muda, Brown berkali-kali dihadapkan pada kritik pedas atas
kontroversi yang terkandung dalam cerita-ceritanya. Ia juga pernah mendapatkan
tuduhan plagiasi dari beberapa pihak. Namun Brown berhasil memenangkan semua
tuntutan tersebut, karena meskipun merupakan cerita fiksi, memang setiap novel
yang ia tulis adalah berdasarkan riset nyata yang dibantu oleh sang istri
sendiri. Because of the
research-intensive nature of his novels, Brown can spend up to two years writing them. In an interview with Matt Lauer on
“The Today Show” in September 2009, Brown said, “I do something very intentional and specific in these books. And that
is to blend fact and fiction in a very modern and efficient style, to tell a
story. There are some people, who understand what I do, and they sort of get on
the train and go for a ride and have a great time, and there are other people
who should probably just read somebody else.”
Minatnya yang
sangat besar kepada misteri, teka-teki, kode, simbol, sejarah, seni, membuat
Dan Brown berada di posisinya kini, sebagai salah satu penulis jenius yang
dimiliki oleh dunia. Setiap karya-karya Brown akan selalu menjadi yang
ditunggu-tunggu oleh para pembacanya. Tidak hanya sanggup memacu adrenalin,
kisah yang dibangun Brown juga mampu menghadirkan pengetahuan-pengetahuan baru.
His books are everlasting, and the
readers will always be anticipated for this brilliant author’s next writing.
“That
is the definition of faith; acceptance of that which we imagine to be true,
that which we cannot prove.” –Dan Brown
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