Hürriyet Daily News appears in Dan Brown’s new book ‘Inferno’

In his latest book, Brown writes about Göksel Gülensoy (R), who accessed the tunnels underneath the Hagia Sophia in 2009, and quotes a Daily News piece. Hürriyet Photo, Levent Kulu

Dan Brown’s new book “Inferno,” which takes place in Florence, Sienna and Istanbul, also includes a reference to the Hürriyet Daily News and one of its articles. Brown has quoted a brief paragraph from a Hürriyet Daily news article on Göksel Gülensoy, who had accessed the tunnels underneath the Hagia Sophia in 2009.

With unprecedented access to underground tunnels and reservoirs that permeate the earth around Hagia Sophia, filmmaker Göksel Gülensoy discovered the history of the tunnels and made a documentary about his findings. In the film he explores spaces untouched by man for centuries.

Brown has quoted: “I believe what is beneath Hagia Sophia is much more exciting than above the surface,” he said. “I want to follow the traces of the two rooms under the abscissa for my third film.

The room believed to be the place where the first priest of Hagia Sophia was buried with his belongings has not been thoroughly searched before.”

From Florence to Istanbul

Brown also wrote that the hero of the book Robert Langdon has read more in Hürriyet Daily News, saying that, “Langdon sat down and eyed the article- a composite of various news sources including the Hürriyet Daily News.”

The story begins in Florence and then moves to Sienna. Later on, the novel’s mysterious events lead the characters to Istanbul, where the plot continues to unfold. The hero of the book, Robert Langdon, makes an important discovery in the Hagia Sophia museum. Earlier, two cover designs for the forthcoming book for the U.S. and UK editions had been also revealed, both featuring images of the Italian poet Dante. Brown was reportedly inspired by Dante’s epic poem “Inferno,” which was written in the 14th century.

“Inferno” features the return of renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, and centers on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces.

World-renowned writer Brown visited Istanbul in December of 2009, as part of the 50th anniversary of the Altın Kitaplar publishing company, which holds the Turkey rights to Brown’s books.

He spent four days in the city, and spent most of his time around the historic Sultanahmet district—one of the main location drops of his Inferno.

Brown was also taken to Taksim in the evening hours and was taken aback by the vast difference between the districts, Altın Kitaplar press representative told Hürriyet Daily News yesterday over the phone, adding that the writer, who also took a boat tour of the Bosporus, enjoyed a great interest from his Turkish readers and was frequently asked for autographs until he returned home on Dec.13, 2009.

Early reviews of Brown’s fast-paced fourth book in “The Da Vinci Code” series labelled it a “clunky” page-turner that will nevertheless delight his fans. Critics said the dark mysteries, mind-bending codes and history-laced tourism in “Inferno” will thrill Brown devotees, but panned him for passages they said were more suited to a Hollywood film script than a novel.