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Grasshopper
I think the criticism aimed at Dan Brown’s novels is a reaction to the seriousness with which many readers have talked about his books. Its a little like the adults reading Harry Potter issue. No-one has a problem with adults reading whatever they like but when they start eulogising about it, as though it were a serious piece of work that other adults should consider reading, then the natural corrective balance of common sense has to kick in and point out that actually, they are children’s books, rather bland and derivative children’s books at that.
Sorry….its been a while since I got to dust off my Harry Potter rant……
I don’t have a problem with Dan Brown’s books myself, and as you say, they are rather throwaway pieces of holiday fiction, in that the plots are far-fetched, the characters cardboard and the dialogue risible. But entertaining enough in a superficial way.
That said, I don’t buy the line that all fiction should be throwaway. In so many areas of life, there is quality and there is popularity. Sometimes these things coincide, often they don’t. There should always be room for well-written ‘literary’ fiction, the sort of thing that will still be read in two hundred years time, long after the JK Rowlings and Dan Browns are long forgotten, the sort of thing that alters you life and changes you as an individual, that appeals both to the intellect and the passions. Unfortunately, the current state of the publishing industry militates against this.
(Edited by Aranalde at 7:49 pm on Nov. 11, 2005)
Well, after getting about quarter way through the unabridged version of War of the Worlds I needed something lighter.  Apart from the fact that Sophie Neveu, by all accounts, was a bit of a sweetie HeHeHe<br>As for the term ‘facts’, those that deride them seem to do so in a very circumspect manner.
ie.<br>"In The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown refers to Leonardo as a "flamboyant homosexual". In fact, historians don’t know Leonardo sexual preferences; it’s speculation based on circumstantial evidence, such as Leonardo’s close friendships with male students, a dismissed charge of sodomy, and the fact that he never married."
This arguement doesn’t prove that LDV was not a homosexual, merely questions the logic in Brown’s route to this opinion.  It doesn’t prove the fact right NOR wrong, it merely questions it.<br>
(Edited by Racing Daily at 8:31 pm on Nov. 11, 2005)
I agree with you Grass – I thoroughly enjoyed The Da Vinci Code.  It has a very interesting, if circumstancial, theory, even if it was ripped off from a more scholarly earlier work (whose authors were not exactly happy to be referenced in the form of Sir Leeland Teabing).
But not everyone has your sense of perspective, Grass. Some of the most basic knowledge about Leonardo and his work have been skewed by Dan Brown to service his plot.  It is not a textbook, and should not be trusted as one.  The number of people who seem to take Brown’s ‘facts’ as gospel is quite frightening.
Continuing Aranalde’s theme, you wouldn’t read Harry Potter and suddenly say, wow, look at this conspiracy to keep Muggles in the dark about the magic world, would you?  Some of The Da Vinci Code’s facts are about as realistic as a Nimbus 2000.
Sal makes some good points
Essentially, when you are writing about real people, there is a certain responsibility to the truth, or at least, not to bend the facts too far. In our increasingly dumb culture, where many people are growing up ignorant about a great many aspects of world history, that responsibility is greater than ever.
I also think there is a certain common sense mechanism within the British psyche – so we have no problem with a frivolous book written to entertain, or a children’s book being read by adults. But when people start to treat it seriously, the mechanism creaks into operation. It is the same mechanism that turns against vacuous talentless celebrities when we’ve had enough of them.
I’m not so sure that the responsibility lies with the novelist (beyond direct libel or wilful dishonesty). Novels such as Arthur and George, and Archangel take real people as a starting point and create great fantasy scenarios around them.
Dan Brown is probably partly to blame for the hysteria surrounding his book for marketing it as a serious theory, but ultimately the responsibility has to lie with the reader being able to accept that they are reading fiction, not a textbook.
Best book of the year so far for me has been Neil Asher’s ‘Line Of Polity’, and excellent sci-fi tale with great plot, memorable characters and a host of very grisly scenes…give it a try if you like the genre (and even if you want to try something new). The other book I’ve read of his is called Gridlinked, which is also very good. They have many of the same characters in the books, and Gridlinked is the first in the sequence.
Anyone interested in football will enjoy ‘Left Foot Forward’ by Garry Nelson (an ex-journeyman pro with a great writing style about his footie related experiences).
If you like historical fiction I’ld thoroughly recommend The Emperor Series by Conn Iggulden.
If you’ve got kids (aged 10+) get them ‘The wind singer’ by William Nicholson. It also has a sequel called ‘Slaves of the Mastery’. Cracking read.
Sorry Cruncher those kids are reading Mills and Boon and bribing someone to find a place to live
The lost generation of forumites – a horror story by Razor Razeen is well worth a read. Apparently it’s based on a true story of murder and boredom.
BRING BACK GERALD !
This should have been posted in the Easter Bunny murder thread and has nothing to do with books, but who the hell cares, and who the hell is checking ?
Glen was born in the mid thirties – clean cut, clean living, religion based, hard livin’ and working decade – tough life there over the pond – he missed the second world war – just too young and that regret of not serving engendered a creative longing to serve in another way and he produced a lot of sad regretful type songs
I reckon A la recherche du temps perdu should be mandatory reading for you all.
It would mean less rubbish being posted in here for a while.
Gladders is so controlling – I’d say he’s a closet authoritarian, but he’s actually admirably open about it!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I reckon A la recherche du temps perdu should be mandatory reading for you all.
It would mean less rubbish being posted in here for a while
I thought we no longer take notice of these “Johnny Foreigners”?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysI reckon A la recherche du temps perdu should be mandatory reading for you all.
It would mean less rubbish being posted in here for a while.
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I’ll try and find a spare year to get through the 7 volumes Gladders.
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