The Da Vinci Code

Bes

Bes

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Ok bought this book a couple of years ago and only just got around to reading it....

What on earth is all the fuss about? It's incredibly poorly writtern with wooden one- dimensional characters... Every chapter seems to try and end on a cliff hanger and after 106 chapters it gets rather tiresome. The plot has more holes than a swiss cheese- The French police giving orders to the British police??!

It seems to me it's clearly aimed at those who want to sit on the train and make people think "ooh look at me I'm reading a book about art and religion" Dan Brown has done a good job of trying to make people feel clever when reading this book; dividing it into many short chapters, feeding his audience some art and religeous history in bite- sized chunks, and writing it in a way that makes the reader think they are in on some big secret about the church.

Utter tosh. And people say the film is 'not as good' as the book- it must be the worst film since Battlefield Earth.
 
Ha, your spot on mate, i think its a book aimed at people who dont really read a lot and dont have anything to compare it to.
 
Dont know about the book having not read it, but i went to see the film at the weekend and it was very good, one of the best films i have seen in a while
 
His other books are slightly better - the only reason DVC did as well as it did was because of all the arguments and controversy that surrounded it
 
Takhisis said:
His other books are slightly better - the only reason DVC did as well as it did was because of all the arguments and controversy that surrounded it
"Don't beleive everything you read in books" - Some Italian Bishop (on the Da Vinci Code)
 
well, i read, constantly! I must have over a 1000 books in my collection so far ( i hate throwing them out :) ) and i must say, i liked it!

Its like one of those films that you watch just for the entertainment.

You obviously read it expecting it to be something amazing because of all the hype, it isnt, it is however a good way to pass 6 hours. Its an interesting story, that brings in bits of truth here and there to keep you interested.
 
I think the OP is being a little harsh tbh.

Most people will have bought the book to see what all the fuss was about (like me) and not for the shallow reasons stated.

As for it being aimed at people who wish to appear intelligent whilst reading it, I think you're wrong there too. The book is clearly written to take advantage of people's fascination with the story of the holy grail and is aimed at people who enjoy a good conspiracy theory.

The book is far from being the best book I've read but then, it's far from being the worst either.
If you forget about all the controversial stuff and just read it as a fiction novel it's quite a decent light read.

I agree with Takhisis, his other books are better.
 
You could also read The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Simon Prebble, the book Dan Brown was cleared of plagerising. It isn't a novel but it does delve rather deeply into the theories (or facts) surrounding the continuing legacy of Christ. That way you will not only appear to look intelligent but you may actually learn something other than the hype, or should I say trype (sic), put about by DVC.
 
MNuTz said:
well, i read, constantly! I must have over a 1000 books in my collection so far ( i hate throwing them out :) )

Cool - a kindred spirit :D

I've recently listed all my books and I'm up to 740 entries (some of them are box sets or compliations so its more like 760-770 books) :)

I have to admit I read Digital Fortress in one go in about 4 hours (I started it at about midnight :o ) whereas DVC I read over a couple of days.

I heard a description of DVC which I thought was very good and very true - its a good book of fiction, based on another book of fiction.
 
Takhisis said:
I have to admit I read Digital Fortress in one go in about 4 hours (I started it at about midnight :o ) whereas DVC I read over a couple of days.

Digital fortress was a very gripping story. I had trouble putting it down and going to sleep.
 
I agree, I'm a big reader too and found it very difficult to put DVC or digital fortress down. They are very good thrillers and I think he thoroughly deserves the fame he now has.

All stories are borrowed to some extent, there is very little written these days that feels truly original.

Jeff Noon being one such truly original author I think.
 
willd58 said:
Ha, your spot on mate, i think its a book aimed at people who dont really read a lot and dont have anything to compare it to.


Totally agree with sharing a house with 4 women I dont get the see the TV much (watch the world cup in the pub) so I really do read a lot and I dont think its that good of a book, I think that it needs a lot more depth

Stelly
 
Well I loved it, managed it over 2 days when I was off work ill. Its a very easy read and it had me hooked!

And the film was awesome, the ending made me cry :o :D
 
Bes said:
Ok bought this book a couple of years ago and only just got around to reading it....

What on earth is all the fuss about? It's incredibly poorly writtern with wooden one- dimensional characters... Every chapter seems to try and end on a cliff hanger and after 106 chapters it gets rather tiresome. The plot has more holes than a swiss cheese- The French police giving orders to the British police??!

It seems to me it's clearly aimed at those who want to sit on the train and make people think "ooh look at me I'm reading a book about art and religion" Dan Brown has done a good job of trying to make people feel clever when reading this book; dividing it into many short chapters, feeding his audience some art and religeous history in bite- sized chunks, and writing it in a way that makes the reader think they are in on some big secret about the church.

Utter tosh. And people say the film is 'not as good' as the book- it must be the worst film since Battlefield Earth.

DVC is a great book in the way that Raiders of the Lost Ark is a great film. Yes, there is a religious story but it's primarily a swashbuckling adventure.

You should've read it when you bought it, all the hype and 'controversy' has given you a preconceived idea of the book.

Brown had used exactly the same story and character formula in his previous book, Angels & Demons which it did quite well so he stuck with it. I've posted the (pseudo-mathematical) formula he uses to write his novels here before but it's been pruned. I'm loathe to post it again because of the obvious power it holds. I call it, The Da NBrown Code.
 
I agree with the OP - thought the DVC was a triumph of hype over quality.

The basic premise is an entertaining one, but the book is poorly written, as are his other novels.
 
willd58 said:
Ha, your spot on mate, i think its a book aimed at people who dont really read a lot and dont have anything to compare it to.

I think you're right. I don't read much and I found it to be an interesting book to read thanks to the "cliff-hangers" edging me on to read more. I also thought it was a nice conspiracy theory even though it's a lot of tosh.

I think there's definately a lot of snobbery towards The Da Vinci Code from critics about the writing style Dan Brown uses. Annoyingly for them the public don't seem to care much about their opinion.
 
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