the horror
I believe that Dan Brown was a lecturer for those creative writing courses. Which explains a lot, because his writing is very much the standard for these courses. There is just so much focus on the plot, and on the action and suspense, that the narrative and characterisation are pretty much put to one side. It's a bit of a shame, because Dan Brown really does write about some intriguing subjects, and if he focused more of these other areas he would be a hell of a good writer.
I think Brown is in the same vein as other genre writers like John Grisham in that they have a good idea for a story, but either don't know how or choose not to take an aside and spend some time on the other aspects of telling a story other than advancing the plot
i believe reading that book was a complete waste of time. even if u manage to overlook the pitiful standard of his language and concentrate on the plot u r bound to be dissappointed by the ending. To spare himself the bother of having to think of a solid ending ,he merely lets the finish hang around somewhere between his slight insinuations and the reader's imagination.As to the number of twists u can give in a single story i believe there has got to be a law restricting it for the good of the readers who twist their necks following this wayward plot. on completion of this admirable novel there arose a conflict between my right hand which strugled to tear the volume to pieces and the other which insisted on throwing it into the fire. However commonsense prevailed and i donated it to the local library(which no one ever used,thank God).
finally! people with common sense! i just dont get the da vinci code madness... i really dont. i tried to be open minded and just enjoy it for what it was but even then.. it was horrible! every time i turned the page on this "page turner" i was rolling my eyes, waiting for the moment when something would happen in the book that gave credibility to my friends claims of it being fantastic. i mean people i really respected where telling me how great it was... i was shocked while reading it. its barely a pre teen book. and the claims of "history"make me fume... if your interested in the history read something real, not this. read the real books on the topic like an adult, not some made for tv crime series in print. its sad how little people really do read in this country.... we have so many brilliant books on the shelves of every barnes and nobles/library and this is the best thing they can find to read.
I can't believe I read this as it's so woefully bad. However, what makes this really bad is that I had read "Angels and Demons" and "Digital Fortress" first. In each case I felt as though I'd been suckered into read the book. To make matters worse all the books have the same plot - central character and companion of opposite sex have to solve a series of puzzles to solve/stop a disaster/crime, they turn to an expert to get advice who just happens to be the criminal mastermind, but it all works out in the end. YAWN!!!!
If I ever say I'm going to read another of Dan Brown's books please hit me to knock some sense into me.
I'm so, so glad there are other people out there who haven't fallen victim to this truly awful book (and the other truly awful books that follow it...)
Whenever the topic comes up among friends or at work, I have to stay silent, as they all look at me as though I've got two heads if I criticize it!
The premise of the story is interesting - it's just his writing style (or lack of) that's so truly dire.
Don't know how many of you are British, but Tony Robinson made a really good TV documentary examining the evidence as given by this book, and basically dismissed it as badly written, unimaginative tosh!
What really annoys me is that people are buying and reading this stuff when there are good authors out there who don't get 100th of the sales Brown gets! Grrr!
Yeah, it was lame...I would definitely agree that is in the same genre of John Grisham books-mildly entertaining, but complete fluff. Well, his earlier stuff was better than Dan Brown. And "Angels and Demons" is way worse as far as writing style goes...I think the only reason I finished it is I was flying while reading it and it was that or watch that Winn-Dixie movie AGAIN.
thanks people, I have finally found my kin. I too suffer the stigma of being a Dan Brown hater, having to hide my head in countless conversations about the brilliance of his novels....and to think I was really starting to doubt myself, and was even considering reading the Da Vinci Code again in case I had missed something.
