Dan Brown

DapperGent · 17-02-2005 03:24AM

It'll probably make for a good movie.

sceptre · 17-02-2005 03:30AM

fenris wrote:

"The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" is a more factual book written by researchers, a fantastic read that can fuel some hugely entertaining arguements with almost any bred of our bible bashing brethern!

Well, I wouldn't say it's more factual now, but it's The Da Vinci Code without the plot and without the entertainment if that's vaguely the same thing:)

skywalker · 17-02-2005 10:08AM

SofaKing wrote:

Digital Fortress is a bit dodgy. Mr. Brown seemed to do next to no research on the subject of cryptography.

Its a decent read though if you couldn't care less about details of the subject.

agree entirely. i enjoyed digital fortress but the technical inaccuracies kinda distracted me somewhat. id say deception point is head and shoulders above the others tbh (havent yet read angels and demons so may stand to be corrected)

omnicorp wrote:

Its very good, but you have to remember it's ful of cr@p and you're not to take it too seriously.
(It's a work of fiction)

for once i find myself completely in agreement with omnicorp, first time for everything.

and lads can you not take off your critics hats and enjoy his books for what they are. life must be fantastic when all you do all day is pick apart the faults in everything.

ven0m · 17-02-2005 10:26AM

Have to say I've mixed feelings about Dan Brown & find his work at times to be very formulaic. Don't get me wrong, he writes interesting material, but after reading all four of his books it's very easy to see how close they are to each other in terms of the story-development & end-results; i.e. something wierd happens, someone out of place goes on the sherlock-holmes tip while having someone chase them down & hunt them & in the end the 'heel' is someone you realise you shoulda spotted earlier on, while being deluged with facts that have been twisted to suit the author's artistic needs.

I liked 'The Da Vinci Code', HATED 'Digital Fortress', 'Deception Point' was average but I really did like 'Angels & Demons' simply cos I do like stories involving the Illuminati, & it was an amazing story with some very grisly stuff in it & I'd MUCH rather see that made into a movie than 'The Da Vinci Code'.

My 2 cents.....

::: ven0mous :::

pickarooney · 17-02-2005 10:30AM

tinkerbell wrote:

However, the one thing that bugged me was his description of the Louvre. My bf whisked me away to Paris shortly after I read the book and when we went to the Louvre, it was different to how Brown had described it. From reading the book, it made it seem like the Mona Lisa was in a separate little room of it's own, flanked by the Virgin of the Rocks on one side and the other painting on the other side. Yet in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa is just part of a big hall thingy and the Virgin of the Rocks is way off down the hall from it.

Or maybe I just picked up the description wrong in the book, who knows! :rolleyes:

Of course that wasn't the real Giaconda you saw

stevenmu · 17-02-2005 10:46AM

Dan Brown is just a Tom Clancy wannabe. I enjoyed 3 of his books (deception point was a complete waste of time), but they were very formulaic. If anyone wants better written, better researched techno-thrillers with much better plots (and can tolerate a little pax americana) check Clancy's books out.

cousin_borat · 17-02-2005 10:46AM

He's a poor mans Umberto Eco, ok, but does not deserve all the fuss

omnicorp · 17-02-2005 11:40PM

He is a bit overrated, isn't he.
He'll probably disappear with tha money after the movie.

colin300 · 18-02-2005 12:51AM

yeah he probably is but what can you do.
He got $6 million for the rights to all his books which is crap considering the ideas behind his stories are good and directors and film producers know how to pad stuff out. if only he put the extra bit in and maybe put in a few pages at the beginning saying about the charaters instead of when he needs it just saying oh yeah robert langdon 5 years ago learnt this.
I hate english but know a good story is based on good charaters and you get this by telling you there history instead of just adding it in.

I think he needs to take a few english classes himself.

MojoMaker · 18-02-2005 12:58AM

You guys should put some of your shoulder chips up for sale on Ebay. :rolleyes:

Who cares if he's a good writer or a crap writer? The man himself doesn't make any claims one way or the other. The reality of the matter is that he is a multi-millionaire novelist. He may never win a Booker for his efforts but at least credit him with the intellligence to tap into a fertile market and fulfill an obvious demand for engaging popcorn fiction.

mycroft · 18-02-2005 01:10AM

MojoMaker wrote:

You guys should put some of your shoulder chips up for sale on Ebay. :rolleyes:

Who cares if he's a good writer or a crap writer? The man himself doesn't make any claims one way or the other. The reality of the matter is that he is a multi-millionaire novelist. He may never win a Booker for his efforts but at least credit him with the intellligence to tap into a fertile market and fulfill an obvious demand for engaging popcorn fiction.

No i just despair for what it means about popular fiction and how easily the masses can be seduced with such dross

colin300 · 18-02-2005 01:20AM

this will show u how disappointed someone can get.
I have all four of his books and when the sale was on i got them all so i was saving a bit then!! then when I read the back of the digital fortress i said this should be good so i decided before i read it i will read up on code breaking i love computers and all things computers and codebreaking and ciphers and all that (if anyone has any books on this topic in fiction please tell) so I went and bout the Code Book by Simon Singh. Absolutely brilliant it goes into the history of codes from nearly the beginning of them and also how people break unknown laguages from thousands of years ago and also how ciphers work today. Also how insecure we are with computers these days. I am bout 30 or less chapters from the end I aint a reading fanatic I'm sure i could read it in a day but just like keeping them going for at least a week get the moneys worth you know. Its a fiction story not exactly what I was going for its a story about people and a machine and a code why cant he go into detail after me buying a book to go over it before i start i am glad i did but all i want is a bit of food for the brain not rubbish like digital fortress is.

besty · 18-02-2005 02:49AM

i think because his books have become so popular, it has become cool to slate them and say you thought they were ****. he should get credit for putting together a good story in the da vinci code i think. granted it may not be everyones cup of tea, its extremely harsh to say it is utter **** as some have before me.

ixoy · 18-02-2005 10:51AM

besty wrote:

i think because his books have become so popular, it has become cool to slate them and say you thought they were ****. he should get credit for putting together a good story in the da vinci code i think.

The reason myself, mycroft, and a few others have been speaking up here is that the popularity of the books seems to be completely disporportionate to the quality of writing, research, etc. I guess it can be even more irritating for those who've read novels that deal with similiar themes, that are better written, but that get over looked because Dan Brown was just lucky enough to be seen to be the "first" to do this.

The novel's alright as a disposable airport read but I don't really think it's all that deserving of much further analysis or praise. Regardless of that, I still would be hard pressed to believe anyone who thought Dan Brown was actually, in any way, a decent writer (as opposed to researcher)...

Dr. Loon · 18-02-2005 11:44AM

Well, why don't all you academics and master novelists and scholars get up off your árse and write better? Fúck sake! I don't think Mr. Brown gives two fúcks what you pseudo intellectuals think. He's minted at this stage. He's written a good piece of fiction. An easy, yet enthralling read. Fair play to him.

Somebody above put it perfectly, go sell those chips on your shoulders. It really is "cool" to slate the man isn't it? Much the same way people often slate Stephen King although his book sales tell another story.

Bunch of moaning twats ye are.

For truly boring/repetitive you can't beat Tom Clancy.

Half way down the page for the plot generator;

Here

Sorry link doesn't work cos of swear filter. It's Five Shítty movies.

ixoy · 18-02-2005 12:04PM

Dr. Loon wrote:

Somebody above put it perfectly, go sell those chips on your shoulders. It really is "cool" to slate the man isn't it? Much the same way people often slate Stephen King although his book sales tell another story.

Chips on our shoulder? Whuh? We're just having a little discussion going. I think chips would be more accurate if were spending our extra time campaigning for Brown's execution rather than idling away time at work/college....

I genuinely wanted to like "The DaVinci Code" and, to some extent, it's fine as a sort of trashy thriller that you can chuck away after you've read. I was just disappointed by the quality of the writing, given that I'd heard so many rave reviews about it. I just thought you could have had a really excellent novel using those facts (probably because of Neal Stephenson from my mind) and was disheartenedby what I read. It's easy and accessible.. perhaps I just hoped for more.

super_furry · 18-02-2005 12:07PM

God forbid someone have an opinion. The Da Vinci Code is a below average work of fiction, that has somehow gained this huge following by people intent on believing it's real.

Dr. Loon · 18-02-2005 12:51PM

super_furry wrote:

God forbid someone have an opinion. The Da Vinci Code is a below average work of fiction, that has somehow gained this huge following by people intent on believing it's real.

Everyone can have their opinion. That's mine above. "Below average work of fiction"? Oh yes.... the rest of the book reading public are stupid, but you're superior intellect craves more?

Easy, and accessible seems to sell I'm afraid. Most people don't want to have to trawl through an overly complex book. That's just the way of things.

stevenmu · 18-02-2005 01:03PM

Dr. Loon wrote:

For truly boring/repetitive you can't beat Tom Clancy.

Half way down the page for the plot generator;

Here

Sorry link doesn't work cos of swear filter. It's Five Shítty movies.

Have you actually read any of the books or just watched the movies, which have very little in common with the books themselves

Dr. Loon · 18-02-2005 01:05PM

stevenmu wrote:

Have you actually read any of the books or just watched the movies, which have very little in common with the books themselves

I have yes. Very boring. In my opinion of course.... very similar plotlines.

stevenmu · 18-02-2005 01:10PM

Dr. Loon wrote:

I have yes. Very boring. In my opinion of course.... very similar plotlines.

Fair enough, personally I think they're some of the best books I've read, but if you've read them and didn't like them .....

Dan Brown

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