The Dan Brown Thread

[theclowhatter]

I find there isn't a thread based on this author and his works. So I decided to make one.

He has a new book coming out this May.

www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/product/9780385537858-item.html

In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces...Dante's Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante's dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust...before the world is irrevocably altered.

Books I read by him?

-The Da Vinci Code
-Angels & Demons
-Deception Point
-The Lost Symbol

I'm not saying his books are that great. Hell, Stephen King dislikes his thrillers.
I still don't get the hate and banning with the Da Vinci Code because

SPOILER: Click to show

The books deals that Jesus had a child and said bloodline is the true Holy Grail. And there was already another book that was written by somebody else that covers that as well.

I even don't like the slight changes they did in Angels & Demons movie.

I do like the puzzles that are printed on the jacket of the Hard Covers editions. It's an interesting way for the author to interact with his fanbase.

Anyone had thoughts on him?

[makoeyes]

I tried to read The DaVinci Code and never got passed the first few chapters. I saw the movie though. I also don't get all the hate, and this is coming from a Christian. The only character in the story who thinks Christianity is evil and ought to be destroyed is the villain, and instead at the end the good guys want to help the churches rather than destroy them. Or, at least that's how it was in the movie.

[theclowhatter]

Exactly. And Dan Brown is a Christian himself.

I know Da Vinci Code gets boring at the beginning, but it doesn't deserve all the controversy its' getting because it's a fictional thriller.

[reynard]

I had no idea he was coming out with another book. I have all his other books, and I used to like his work. It wasn't perfect, but it was enjoyable. The scenery and symbolism were great. But my interest in his work was lost when I read The Lost Symbol. As a story, that one was terrible. I actually had to skip to the end, which I never had to do before with any of his stuff.

[Ozymandias II]

My anger at the books comes from all of the numerous inaccuracies. The Illuminati were only formed in the 1700s and all they were was a group interested in promoting Enlightenment ideas. NOTHING MORE. Just because they had the perfect arcane organisation name doesn't mean they actually were one. The Louvre's entrance does NOT have 666 panes of glass, nor was it instructed to have them. ANTIMATTER DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOODNIGHT! Oh, this could go on...

I always got the feeling all the "controversial" stuff was just included so people would focus on that and not the blatant lack of research. "Oh, you're not mad at the books because of all of the inaccuracies presented as facts, you just can't handle the controversial subject matter!" Please.

I don't mind people liking these books as thrillers (hell, I like plenty of other things far more ludicrous than Dan Brown's books), I just don't like how people go on about how "factual" they are. There are MANY more reasons to dislike them than just the controversial "Ooh, Jesus had kids!" angle.

...that came off way more negative to you guys than I wanted it to.

[SkeksisGirl]

I was working in a Book Store when the movie came out and saw all the controversy... which was funny since my store carried the Holy Blood, Holy Grail book and others that were more fact based in the line of Christ than this book.

The problem with Dan Brown and what I'll just call "The idiots" is the same problem with the author of The Golden Compass and "The Idiots".

The Idiots: How dare this fictional book try and pull people away from the one and only true religion! BLASPHEMY!
People with brains: It's fiction, if you are questioning your Faith after reading one of these books, you've got a problem.

[reynard]

I had several issues with The Lost Symbol. The lecturing dialogue thing was really bad, and everybody else was doing it, not just Langdon. And the whole noetic science thing was so weak. I mean the implication was that they could give me people superpowers. But they never really bothered to go into any real impressive possibilities until they mentioned faith healers in, like, the 300s, and a novel is typically 400 pages.

And then there's Peter Solomon. It was Peter, right? Oh who cares. I'm confused here. Did he know all along that the lost symbol thing was fake? Did he know that when he gave Langdon that thing I can't remember? And the end result...I just have to ask...why did we go through all that again?! Why did all those people have to die! Some of them seemed like nice people!

And of course I don't feel sorry for Peter Solomon one bit. And I found the villain just gross and annoying.

[watersheerie]

I tried to read the Da Vinci Code, the book was so God-awful boring that I couldn't finish it. After that I just haven't had the urge to try and read any of his other books, mostly because they all sound the same (he's like the Nicholas Sparks of historical thrillers).

[reynard]

Generally, when it comes to the Langdon books, I think the plots get less important as time goes on. What I mean is, the stakes decrease.

For example, in Angels & Demons, we have an antimatter bomb in the Vatican big enough to blow the whole place up, and thousands of people, locals and tourists, are there for the election of the new Pope, along with all or most of the high religious authorities.

When that's the problem, it grabs your attention, it grabs the character's attention. If that thing goes off, it would blow up a whole country, countless people, damage a major religion, destroy countless cultural artifacts, so on and so forth.

In Da Vinci Code, the stakes aren't as big. They don't directly result in a loss of life. I mean, yes, if Jesus had children and was merely mortal, and you could really prove it, then it would have a significant impact on society and culture.

But in The Lost Symbol, what are the stakes? You've got the well being of a rich guy who probably deserves some if not all of what he's getting, since he wins the Worst Father of the Year Award. You've got a tape of government people doing Freemason things, which may not be that shocking, and which you don't really find out until late in the story. You've got the work of noetic science, whose results thus far are underwhelming and stupid to the point that you don't really care to begin with, and a Masonic bible safely stashed in the corner stone of the Washington Monument, which has nothing unique in it and whose words of wisdom are easy to obtain.

See what I mean?

[theclowhatter]

I loled at this commentary.

stephanicverses.blogspot.ca/2013/02/da-vinci-code-aka-da-fuck-am-i-reading.html