Oh Draconian Devil!
October 6th 2006 11:16
Well, I blitzed through the Da Vinci code today just so I could write a little something something here for you, my faithful readers (that's right, both of you!) so I hope you appreciate it.
My first intention of reading the book was so I could slag of Dan Brown as best I could. I was thinking of stereotypical characters, basic plotline, things like that. The main reason I wanted to do that was because I read Digital Fortress and was less than impressed. For the reasons I have typed above. But I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by alot of what I read. It was well paced, showed a lot of research (I won't go into alot of how badly applied alot of the "facts" are; suffice to say most of them are half true but at least he made the effort) and was well humoured in many parts. His main characters were mostly quite believeable, despite the fact that he pretty well has only two physical descriptions for them. Beautiful or deformed.
His flaws? His sense of humour in some parts is great and in others he lapses into well known jokes. Granted the jokes aren't bad but considering some of the characters, they were a little out of place. His way of tying facts together is sometimes a little too coincidental and he does tend to quote things out of context, which is frustrating. I am not going to go into a point by point rebuttal of his work but ten minutes of research on the net does take the wind out of most of the points Langdon brings up.
I guess one of the main things that made this novel only above average for me is the fact that I have read Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. If you really want a novel that is an absolute head twister and covers alot of the same ground that Da Vinci code did, this one is the one you want. The best summary I can give is this. The first quarter you read will leave you thinking "I don't think I know where this is going but this guy is GOOD." The second "I think I know where he might be going and this guy is AMAZING." The third "I have no idea at all where this is going, it scares me to think about it and this man is some kind of criminal mastermind." By the time you finish the book you think "It all makes sense. Thank God. This guy is bloody fantastic, I MUST go read The Name of The Rose." You should.
My first intention of reading the book was so I could slag of Dan Brown as best I could. I was thinking of stereotypical characters, basic plotline, things like that. The main reason I wanted to do that was because I read Digital Fortress and was less than impressed. For the reasons I have typed above. But I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by alot of what I read. It was well paced, showed a lot of research (I won't go into alot of how badly applied alot of the "facts" are; suffice to say most of them are half true but at least he made the effort) and was well humoured in many parts. His main characters were mostly quite believeable, despite the fact that he pretty well has only two physical descriptions for them. Beautiful or deformed.
His flaws? His sense of humour in some parts is great and in others he lapses into well known jokes. Granted the jokes aren't bad but considering some of the characters, they were a little out of place. His way of tying facts together is sometimes a little too coincidental and he does tend to quote things out of context, which is frustrating. I am not going to go into a point by point rebuttal of his work but ten minutes of research on the net does take the wind out of most of the points Langdon brings up.
I guess one of the main things that made this novel only above average for me is the fact that I have read Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. If you really want a novel that is an absolute head twister and covers alot of the same ground that Da Vinci code did, this one is the one you want. The best summary I can give is this. The first quarter you read will leave you thinking "I don't think I know where this is going but this guy is GOOD." The second "I think I know where he might be going and this guy is AMAZING." The third "I have no idea at all where this is going, it scares me to think about it and this man is some kind of criminal mastermind." By the time you finish the book you think "It all makes sense. Thank God. This guy is bloody fantastic, I MUST go read The Name of The Rose." You should.
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
I've never really understood why Da Vinci Code is so popular... And it's kind of frustrating that, now, when you go on tours of Rome and France, every second tour-guide sentence is obligatory crowd-pleasing Da Vinci rebuttal -- "Dan Brown got it wrong here because of x, there because of y..." etc.
Comment by Josh Z
Comment by K.L. Almeroth
Motherhood
To Josh,
I'm reading The Da Vinci Code right now....
I'm enjoying it, but it won't be my favourite novel....
Do like all the history in it...my archaeology studies go into bits and pieces of all he says...I'm fascinated by it all...
K.L.
Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
Sorry for not writing back any sooner, Orble didn't tell me about this one.....
I hope you enjoyed the book though.
JZ.