Thread: Da Vinci Code

I found the Da Vinci Code to be a real letdown, after all of the hype. The plot was only mildly engaging, and it wasn't even written that well :/ Still see people wandering around and saying how good it is though...

I aint read it yet but two of my close mates say it's an excellent book. (These are not the sort of people who follow crowds either. If they say something is good then that is what they think of it, not what the media / society says it is)

I was in two states of mind whether to give it a try or not. I didn't want to read it because it's a commercial success. I know that just 'cos something is popular doesn't mean it's good (Crazy Frog anyone? )

But on the other hand I don't want to avoid the book because alot of people (particularly on this site, who are heavily into reading) say that it's basically naff, self-indulgent pap (I love that word)

I will probably read it in good time and decide for myself what I think of it. I'm not one of those people who can dissect a book; examine the styles, themes and other quirks etc. If a book interests me, it interests me.

And away I go....

The writing is the worst writing you can possibly imagine. It took me about three days to get through the first chapter...but then I don't know if the writing gets better, or if my brain repressed some of my knowledge of good books, and then I could read it just as well as any other book. Only a few places towards the end did I look up and say, "That's the most cliche sentence I've ever read." Or, "Jeese, this guy really can't write."

Having been to Paris, Edinburgh, and London as a tourist, I thought it fun to follow the story through those cities, trying to remember if that's how it was. I'm not sure if it would do the same for someone whod never been. I felt like it romantisized Paris and made London feel dirty...but then I already though Paris was romantic and London is dirty...so I guess it would read the same if you hadn't been to the settings, except Edinburgh, it didn't feel right in the book at all.

I love history and I'm mildly interested in secret societies, so I enjoyed the plot immensley. At the beginning you feel like it might be a real plot, with a real climax and end, but it's not, it starts out strong and then oooooooooozes to the end, but the history and mystery stays with it.

When I was done I read "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells and I again realized how badly Dan Brown writes.

I'm glad I read it, but I won't recommend for or against.

Originally Posted by huni

Has anyone read the little book called "The Da Vinci Cod. a fishy tale"?

That was written by a professor at my uni! Well, from what I know it was...
I ain't read 'The Da Vinci Code' but apparently there's mentions of my uni in it too...(so someone who has read it says but I wouldn't know)

Originally Posted by The Thing

I would recommend Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'. It's clever and intelligent and moves along at a cracking pace.

It’s neither clever nor intelligent.

Originally Posted by waylander

I know of all the places Brown has mentionned, having lived in Paris and in the Saint-Sulpioe church district for long years.

As far as I know he gets the geography the wrong way round at the end, too. His other novels fare no better in getting the location right and make mistake after mistake, which is shambolic given that Brown claims to visit all the locations involved in his fiction.

Originally Posted by aliceedelweiss

I really like dan brown, and wanted to read the de vince code. But my dad(i'm only 15 -_-) said its too anti religion so he doesn't approve of me reading it.

Has your dad actually read it or is he a God-fearing hype monkey? You get a lot of these people who are ready to protest against things without knowing what they are actually doing or saying. Politicians are good at this when children get murdered and a film, game, or singer takes centrestage to shoulder the blame, when the blame is always on the parents.

Originally Posted by The Thing

When I said it was intelligent I was referring to the little puzzles littered throughout.

The puzzles were so obvious that the reader was able to solve them pages and pages before the main characters who are, supposedly, qualified in this sort of thing. Their diplomas, should this be the case, are probably cheap photocopies with their names scribbled on them. I doubt Robert Langdon could do a Soduku.

Originally Posted by The Thing

You will find it under the FICTION section of your local bookstore.

Yes, but the outcry isn’t because it’s fiction it’s because of the biggest bit of fiction prior to the narrative which states that a bunch of crap is true.

Originally Posted by Lizra

I came to the conclusion that he just wanted his knowledge to be expressed in a novel form.

He doesn't have any knowledge.

Originally Posted by huni

Yet I couldn't put the book down. He can't write for peanuts in any real sense but does he hold your attention and create suspense? Yes for me he did.

Originally Posted by Marsieux

I will concede the fact he kept my attention in some unexplainable fashion.

The reason for this is that he’s using a plot device. It’s the short chapters that end with incident that mean you just have to read on. Unfortunately for Dan Brown with four books under his belt (five, if you count his torrid The Traveler under the pseudonym of John Twelve Hawks) he doesn’t know any other plot devices. Actually, it would seem he doesn’t know any other plots.

Originally Posted by Marsieux

Everybody I know told me that it is probably one of the best books they've ever read. Sheep, every last one of them!

Not necessarily everyone is a sheep for enjoying it. They may not be readers and, as such, The Da Vinci Code is a book (of 500+ pages) that they have managed to get through all by themselves. By having read no other books they have no basis upon which to ground their praise and it is therefore enjoyable to them.

Originally Posted by EmuJenkins

Stephen King beats him out when it comes to crap.

You’re right, because no body produces more crap than Stephen King.

Originally Posted by valeca

If I had to name something about the book I didn't like, it'd be the constant use of making the reader wait...

So, you didn’t mind the clumsy writing which began on page one?

Originally Posted by Talia_Brie

So far it's a very well paced story, and it reminds me a lot of the writing style that Matthew Reilly uses. Reilly is an Australian author who writes frantically paced action thrillers.

I would describe both Brown and Reilly's work as being 'unputdownable' (which is a really terrible word gaining common usage, but that's a whole other argument). But in saying that I'm not necessarily saying the books were excellent, just that they are difficult to put down.

A friend of mine described Matthew Reilly’s writing as being “the literary equivalent of picking at a scab” and, after reading a couple of short stories on Reilly’s site, I can only agree. Reilly is one guy who really doesn’t know how to write. He doesn’t know how to use italics, punctuation, or words. And his! Sentences get. Real short. Like this! KEERPOW! It’s fiction for those with attention deficit disorder – one story, for example, had 40 individually titled chapters within seventeen pages.

Originally Posted by NoWorries

I love history and I'm mildly interested in secret societies, so I enjoyed the plot immensley.

If you haven’t read it already then I thouroughly recommend Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco, the definitive novel on secret societies, conspiracy theory, and history.

If you haven’t read it already then I thouroughly recommend Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco, the definitive novel on secret societies, conspiracy theory, and history.

I agree. It covers a lot of the same ground as Dan Brown, but in a much more effective and intelligent plot.

Eco is another writer who has obviously been influenced by Borges. At least what little I've seen of his writing.