The Works of Dan Brown

[siena]

I have been known to develop a slight eye tic at the mention of this book. Hurts...so...bad...must...club Dan Brown to death with a copy of The Eight to show him how a real historical thriller is done.

[comfortablynumb]

I really enjoyed it. I thought it was an interesting, quick read. Also, it piqued my interest in things that I didn't even think about. I didn't have the illustrated version, so I would go look up the paintings online to see them and see if I could see the things the book would describe. I also got a few of my friends that don't normally read to read it. That to me is the best thing about it. I also feel the same way about Angels and Demons.

[Deleted]

I think this was quite possibly the worst book I have ever read in my life. The writing beggars belief and the ludicrous plot is so simple that a child of five could have figured out where it was going after the first few chapters. The only reason it's so popular is because it appeals to people who don't normally read and thus have nothing to compare it to.

I work in publishing and any time someone pipes up in editorial meeting about 'finding the new Dan Brown', I have to resist the urge to fling myself out of the boardroom window.

[messageunit]

Add me to the list of people who just enjoyed it for a mindless read. The prose was about equal to a lot of bestsellers today, but the subject was way more interesting than any of Danielle Steele's plots (I presume, since I've never read one.)

For those of you who have the hardcover edition, have you discovered the secret message on the book jacket? My dad noticed it this summer. Nothing earth-shattering, but maybe a hint what Brown's next book will be about.

[shiningstah]

MessageUnit I believe his next book is about the free masons and the founding fathers.

[snacktastic]

The only reason it's so popular is because it appeals to people who don't normally read and thus have nothing to compare it to.

I disagree. I liked the book. It didn't change my life but I liked it in general and consider myself fairly well-read. What I don't like are literary elitists who assume that anything that is mass marketed and perhaps unchallenging or at least, not brilliantly written must be popular because the common person is not as knowledgable as they are.

[siena]

I'm sure he's very depressed that "National Treasure" beat him to the punch.

It's not even the fact that his research is shoddy and suspect (besides which, Holy Blood, Holy Grail did it all first) that makes me see red, it's the lousy writing that gets me. It's just irritates me to see all of America raving about a book I find so intrinsically stupid.

[topher]

It is like the Britney of the literary world.

[messageunit]

MessageUnit I believe his next book is about the free masons and the founding fathers.

That does jibe with the "secret" message on the book jacket. He's certainly taking his time with it, though. If it was already in the works when DVC was published, it's been, what, two-three years now? Most authors who had such an unexpected monster hit would move things along a little faster, I would think.

[Deleted]

snacktastic said:

What I don't like are literary elitists who assume that anything that is mass marketed and perhaps unchallenging or at least, not brilliantly written must be popular because the common person is not as knowledgable as they are.

Oh, god, thank you. I posted in "Books You've Thrown Away" and mentioned Naked Lunch. I was just waiting for some deluded literary snob to come along and declare that I just wasn't "up there" enough to understand it. I go both ways -- I can enjoy a dumb thriller like The Da Vinci Code and I can also get completely obsessed with obscure books that others won't touch. But, yeah, Snacktastick, thanks for making that point. I've tried to push Joseph Heller's Something Happened on people for years -- no one seems to like it but I don't blame them for it or assume they're too unsophisticated to "get it." (In the Other Place there was a literary snob who seemed to make it his whole job in life to inform people how stupid they were for not appreciating certain books. I will not name names. But I'm glad to see that sort of thing isn't happening here.)

And yes, I'm on record as liking The Da Vinci Code, but I also recognize that it's not a classic piece of literature.