March 2, 2005

The Da Vinci Code

I finished The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown over the weekend. Like finally read it after half the world has read it and lauded it to the skies.

While I don't share the enthusiasm and view of some readers who have proclaimed it the best book they've ever read (frankly if this is the best, I shudder to think what they've been reading so far), I must grant Brown some points for his brilliant idea of stringing research done by historians, archaeologists, astronomists, scientists etc, into a mystery novel.

While I'm skeptical as to how much of the so-called "facts" presented are truly facts, it does make for quite an interesting read at some points. I mean, some of the puzzles are pretty clever.

However, Brown's style of writing is to me, just mediocre and really, just plain bad at some points. The language isn't compelling and there were times I found him to be overly descriptive. Like I would find myself thinking, "I didn't need to know THAT." or "I could have figured that out for myself thank you very much."

Overall though, a passable read but it definitely won't be on the list of my Top 10 books of the year.

Posted by DSD at March 2, 2005 8:43 AM
Comments

There are litrary novels/non-fiction work that I would call "beautiful" (like your splendid choice, "Reading Lolita in Tehran") and mass market titles that are merely fun and entertaining. I don't believe Dan Brown is aiming for artistic heights or layers of meaning in the language. When I read mass market paperbacks, I never read for language; they hardly ever contain lovely, sharp lines of prose. This is more plot and clever puzzles.

Posted by: monoceros at March 3, 2005 11:34 PM

Finally I find someone who shares the same view as me regarding Da Vinci Code. Yes some of the puzzles are clever, but overall plot to me is just so-so.

Posted by: crystallime at May 26, 2005 10:45 PM