Funny, I just had a conversation about this with a friend. The DaVinci Code is not that well written IMHO and fairly superficial. It isn't very intellectually challenging. A better mystery set in France, US and the Middle East is THE EIGHT by Katherine Neville. It is a much better mystery than DaVinci Code.

I wouldn't waste your time reading either book; Brown is a seriously bad writer.

If you want a well written book about a secret organization within the Catholic church, try Daniel Silva's "The Confessor," a much more intelligent approach to the subject.

Powell, I eagerly await your book.

All: if Brown's prose appeals to you, try one of the books in the "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" collection of winners of the San Jose State University contest for purple prose à la Bulwer-Lytton. They're a hoot.

>>isn't very intellectually challenging.<<

Does every book have to be "intellectually" challenging? Can't some books be simple fun?

Wow, you must all be really really smart. I am incredibly humbled. I liked both books. Chalk one up to the simpletons. :-)

I'm another one that thought the writing of Demons and Angels was truly horrid and hackneyed. "Dark and Stormy night" cliches is right. But I will give him credit for an interesting plot. I hated trying to read the bad writing, but I was interested enough in his storyline that I suffered through it to get to the end. Which was pretty stupid I thought, but I give him credit for keeping me in the book to the end.

Joelle

I'm with Grasshopper all the way!

If writers had to wait for people with college degrees to approve their writing, they won't get anywhere fast!

And does this mean that people with high school degrees will be totally incapable of appreciating good literature?

A good book appeals to a broad range of people. I happen to like Dan Brown's books. It doesn't seem to matter which one should be read first. If you enjoy fast-paced popular writings, then this writer is for you. The settings in Paris and Rome are bonuses.

I've finished three of Dan Brown's books and am starting on the fourth: Deception Point.

I'm also reading a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, an Asian-related book "Whte Swans", a cookbook, a "mystery" by Patricia Cornwell, and several travel guides in preparation for my summer travels. Each book enriches my life in a different way.

ucsun: enjoy Dan Brown's books! He's popular because he writes well.

Just easytraveler
Just three college degrees which I hope I don't throw in people's faces :)

Easytraveler,

But you don't understand all these "intellectuals" have an absolute right to speak, you see their books are way up there on every bestseller's list! Oh, no, that's right, they haven't written a book, or at least a book a publisher wanted to publish...but of course, that's probably because it's too good for the stupid masses like you, me and all the others who like to be entertained when reading a book. :)

Books THAT are bestsellers, not books WHO are bestsellers. Blimey, take your own advice, slag, and do a better job of editing.

Daft American. No first from Cambridge for you, sweetie, I bet.

I didn't know that gave out DEGREES to high school graduates. I thought they received DIPLOMAS in the States.

Everyone knows that American schoolchildren lag behind European schoolchildren in academics. And I see some of them are posting tonight on this forum. Cheers, Yanks.

Ucsun:

Just to clarify my previous post. The second book link I posted is "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". It caused a sensation when it was released in the mid 80s. It has provides a lot of great historical research on many of the topics Brown touches on in both his novels. The authors then leap to certain conclusions, at times based on a very limited amount of substantiated fact. However, they DO lead you through their thought process and provide a solid bibliography, so you are given sufficient detail to intelligently accept or reject their conclusions. . It covers 2000 years of history and travels from the Middle East to Ireland, and every point in between. You do not have to accept their conclusions to appreciate the history. It is also a RIPPING great read and unfolds like a great detective yarn

The first link I posted, Foucault's Pendelum, is a very enjoyable fiction book, written by a very erudite author, that you either love or hate. I think you would love this book, if you have already read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Umberto Eco's most famous work was "The Name of the Rose".

I read both of Brown's books recently and I will give you my honest opinion. I read Dan Brown's books because I had read the above and wanted some escapist fiction. I did feel very cheated. I was annoyed about a lot of things, including the obvious errors that any decent editor should have corrected. I don?t think Dan has EVER been to Paris or Rome and obviously did not have access to a map of either city when he wrote the books. His characters are caricatures, in the most appalling manner. His dialogue is "50's Comic Book". There is no wit, humour or excitement. He wrote scripts that will be turned into movies. Hopefully, the actors will bring more content to their roles than Dan was capable of writing.

Mostly, I was annoyed that he shamelessly plagiarized other, far superior works, and got away with it.

Just my opinion ?

regards ... Ger

>>I don?t think Dan has EVER been to Paris or Rome and obviously did not have access to a map of either city when he wrote the books<<

Actually he has travelled to both cities extensively. I certainly don't think that his books are perfect. I did think that the ending to Angels & Demons, in fact the whole love story portion was kind of silly. But I did enjoy that book, I haven't read The Da Vinci Code yet, and I will read it. I personally really enjoyed Angels & Demons (despite the love story aspect) because I had just returned from Rome and enjoyed being there again while reading his book.

ThinGorjus, I am glad to see you are putting your English degree to work by proofing my post. Thanks, I make errors sometimes.

For easytraveler: You mentioned reading a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez sp? Is is One Hundred Years of Solitude? I have heard (Oprah) that it is a great book but I wanted some feedback from others.

Tulips, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is very good. But I liked "Love in the Time of Cholera" more. Right now I'm reading a book of short stories "Strange Pilgrims". So far they have been in Geneva and Rome.

By the way, since Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature, that might make his work suspect to the literati on this board.

I suppose the DaVinci Code is intellectually challenging if you read at a 7th grade level. McDonalds sells the most food in the US of any restaraunt. It doesn't mean that the food is good or good for you. Read whatever you want. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION the book is not worth reading.

TinaRose,

>>suppose the DaVinci Code is intellectually challenging if you read at a 7th grade level. <<

NO ONE said it was Intellectually challenging....it seems you may have a problem with reading comprehension.

I didn't realize you were only allowed to have an opinion about the writing of a book if you were best selling auther.

Oh wait. You can *like* a book if you are not a best selling author. But you can't dislike a book. Got it.

JOelle

I enjoyed Angels and Demons much more than the Da Vinci Code...
I have read also Digital Fortress and found it very boring , but of course ,I dont have a technical mind, and could not relate to the story..
Also I have read The Eight by Neville and the Magic Circle, I believe from the same author..

If you plan to go to Rome, read the A&D first, despite that the author made a mistake in describing the location of a certain church,the book is very interesting..

Blimey, I always thought ThinGorjus was a fashionista. Why all the Cockney slang with degress from Dartmouth and Penn?

I am a Cockney. I was born in the East End of London, coming to the US when I was 10 years old. My father is American, my mother, English.

I was at Buckingham Brown & Nichols, Dartmouth, and Penn, where I learned to drop my Cockney dialect. However, it is still a large part of who I am.

Even though I have a MA in English, I admit that I am no great grammarian. My area of expertise has always been Shakespeare and 20th-century American Literature, especially the Southern writers, Flannery O'Connor and Faulkner.

One of the reasons (and why I am so blatantly criticized) my spelling so is bad is because I am going blind.