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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Haven't read it, never will either (Book Discussion)
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
With at least two centuries of well written books, full of original ideas, out there waiting to be read, and more being published each year, I can't see me being desperate enough in this lifetime to want to read anything by Dan Brown.
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Not read it, not going to (I suppose).
Doesn't look appealing to me. Got hold of the paperback for free, I think, but never even touched it. (Well, I have touched it, actually.)
Not reading 'Watchtower' either, BTW. FWIW.
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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narnie83
Shipmate
# 11009
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Posted
(a half-serious post...)
I'm with Stephen Fry when he descibes it as 'complete arse-dribble.' I'm very upset that I'll be forced to remember its existence every time I log on to the home page of this forum. I'm also upset that Audrey Tautou (the love of my life) is demeaning herself by appearing in the film. And why does such a lame book get its own board, along with The Bible and Church tradition???! There are hundreds of books rich with sources for theological debate and spirituality. Why not a Brothers Karamazov board, or Name of the Rose board, or Narnia, or even Harry Potter? Sigh. I'm just fed up with people saying, 'Oh, you do theology - what do you think of the Da Vinci Code?' Plus I'm one of those uncreative and contentious people that wilfully dislikes something just because it's popular.
Posts: 197 | From: Glasgow | Registered: Feb 2006
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
With at least two centuries of well written books,
And that's just the 4th and 5th Centuries CE!
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by narnie83:
And why does such a lame book get its own board, along with The Bible and Church tradition???!
Because "this board is sponsored by Focus Radio, who are providing a Christian response to the book on their website", I guess.
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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Goodric
Shipmate
# 8001
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Posted
Nope - there is no way i am going waste money or time to read something that lacks so much credibility.
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Happy Christmas Everyone You can find me here
Gone to a better place.
Posts: 7160 | From: You all know anyway | Registered: Jul 2004
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Alfred E. Neuman
What? Me worry?
# 6855
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chapelhead:
quote:
Originally posted by Gort:
I haven't read Da Vinci Code but enjoyed Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods". Does that count?
At least CotG had pictures.
That must be why I like comic books so much. So, if the Great Unwashed™ dismiss Christian tradition as easily they enjoy Indiana Jones movies... where's the harm? A bit of fun speculation and then let's watch Return of the Mummy.
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--Formerly: Gort--
Posts: 12954 | Registered: May 2004
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the_raptor
Shipmate
# 10533
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Balaam:
If you check out Brown's geographical facts, such as riding on the London Underground from Temple Bar to King's College, when Temple is the nearest Underground station to King's College, you see the accuracy of Brown's research.
That has nothing to do with research. That is about plot and pacing. It *is* a novel afterall, and even if all the other rubbish in it were true, the location of underground stations wouldn't matter.
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Mal: look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoe: Big damn heroes, sir!
Mal: Ain't we just?
— Firefly
Posts: 3921 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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QLib
Bad Example
# 43
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Posted
I thought the first half was relatively good. He gets a lot of his "facts" over in a relatively painless way, and it was much more interesting that HBHG. It got worse, though: none of the "twists" in the plot surprised me (perhaps because I had read the mind-numbing HBHG*) other than the chickening out at the end, which, in retrospect, I suppose had to be there to avoid legal action by Opus Dei.
The whole thesis is much less interesting and amusing than "Chariots of the Gods", IMHO, but perhaps that's because I first met CotG when I was still and adolescent.
*For reasons similar to Archimandrite's, except that my elderly devotee was not a blood relation.
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Tradition is the handing down of the flame, not the worship of the ashes Gustav Mahler.
Posts: 8913 | From: Page 28 | Registered: May 2001
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pimple
Ship's Irruption
# 10635
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Posted
I wasn't going to read it, because a trusted friend threw it out after reading half a dozen pages. But then an even more trusted friend (my wife) got it out of the library and enjoyed it.
Our tastes rarely overlap - for my wife, ISTM that the chief criterion is that a book should be at least six hunfred pages long. I prefer about 250...
Bless her! She gave me HBHG and DVC for my birthday. I'm half way through the annoyingly titillating former and have finally reached their thesis.
So Jesus was married? Is that it? I doubt if I'll finsh the book. Things like that don't shock me. Why shouldn't the (conceived out of wedlock) son of God get married? Why should not his parents, while we're about it, obeyed the implicit will of God and lead a normal married life?
I think I'll enjoy DVC much more, though. Sounds like one of those silly, rollicking historical novels I gave up years ago when I became a po-faced Christian....
[ 02. April 2006, 09:16: Message edited by: chemincreux ]
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In other words, just because I made it all up, doesn't mean it isn't true (Reginald Hill)
Posts: 8018 | From: Wonderland | Registered: Nov 2005
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Papio
Ship's baboon
# 4201
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rosamundi:
quote:
Originally posted by Custard.:
Only knee-high?
Knee-high stacks of books are too easy to trip over...
They're all stacked against the walls.
Deborah
I must admit that immediate thought was: "is that all?" ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Infinite Penguins.
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Posts: 12176 | From: a zoo in England. | Registered: Mar 2003
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-lucy-
Shipmate
# 10465
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Posted
Is it really worth reading?
I have bought the book and know the general storyline but have never got past the first few pages. I will go and see the film when it comes out but only because I will want to argue with people about it ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif) .
So does ANYONE think it is worth reading even if it is just for arguments sake?
Posts: 592 | From: East Yorkshire | Registered: Sep 2005
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Papio
Ship's baboon
# 4201
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by _-_-_lucy_-_-_:
So does ANYONE think it is worth reading even if it is just for arguments sake?
Well, Pants and Cometchaser both stated that they enjoyed it.....
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Infinite Penguins.
My "Readit, Swapit" page
My "LibraryThing" page
Posts: 12176 | From: a zoo in England. | Registered: Mar 2003
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Keren-Happuch
Ship's Eyeshadow
# 9818
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Posted
Various people have told me that it's unintentionally hilarious, and if I'd got round to reading it back then I might or might not have agreed with them. As it is, I didn't, and now there's such a huge hype around it, and sales soar every time anybody debunks it, I'm loath to give Mr Brown any royalties or even PLR.
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Travesty, treachery, betrayal!
EXCESS - The Art of Treason
Nea Fox
Posts: 2407 | From: A Fine City | Registered: Jul 2005
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Auntie Doris
Screen Goddess
# 9433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
quote:
Originally posted by _-_-_lucy_-_-_:
So does ANYONE think it is worth reading even if it is just for arguments sake?
Well, Pants and Cometchaser both stated that they enjoyed it.....
Yeah I read it, and enjoyed it (not sure it is something I should be admitting to though!!)
Auntie Doris x
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"And you don't get to pronounce that I am not a Christian. Nope. Not in your remit nor power." - iGeek in response to a gay-hater :)
The life and times of a Guernsey cow
Posts: 6019 | From: The Rock at the Centre of the Universe | Registered: May 2005
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alexamenos
Apprentice
# 11228
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
quote:
Originally posted by narnie83:
And why does such a lame book get its own board, along with The Bible and Church tradition???!
Because "this board is sponsored by Focus Radio, who are providing a Christian response to the book on their website", I guess.
That would be us, I guess.
Four reasons why we think DVC is worth discussing (in no particular order):
1. Because it's so big - the biggest-selling ever hardback adult fiction title, apparently.
2. Because of DB's claims that it's based on truth and history, i.e. not just fiction
3. Because it presses so many buttons in contemporary culture (e.g. all the Sacred Feminine / goddess stuff; the Church as a conspiracy, etc.)
4. Because so many people take it seriously - perhaps because they don't know much about the Bible or Church history.
Posts: 3 | From: Southampton | Registered: Apr 2006
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Papio
Ship's baboon
# 4201
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by alexamenos:
1. Because it's so big - the biggest-selling ever hardback adult fiction title, apparently.
And yet it is still apparently possible to believe that "people aren't stupid". Gosh.
If you are right about how well it has sold, than that is the single most depressing fact I have learned in ages.
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Infinite Penguins.
My "Readit, Swapit" page
My "LibraryThing" page
Posts: 12176 | From: a zoo in England. | Registered: Mar 2003
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alexamenos
Apprentice
# 11228
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
quote:
Originally posted by alexamenos:
1. Because it's so big - the biggest-selling ever hardback adult fiction title, apparently.
And yet it is still apparently possible to believe that "people aren't stupid". Gosh.
If you are right about how well it has sold, than that is the single most depressing fact I have learned in ages.
This comes from the Daily Telegraph, so it must be gospel.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Posts: 3 | From: Southampton | Registered: Apr 2006
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rosamundi
Ship's lacemaker
# 2495
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
quote:
Originally posted by rosamundi:
quote:
Originally posted by Custard.:
Only knee-high?
Knee-high stacks of books are too easy to trip over...
They're all stacked against the walls.
Deborah
I must admit that immediate thought was: "is that all?"
Those are the books that aren't in either of the 6 foot bookcases, the boxes under the bed, the four-foot bookcase in the sitting room, the drinks cabinet (I think I'm supposed to keep glasses in there or something), or the eighteen feet of shelving at my parents' house.
The man that's coming round to design my fitted bedroom furniture is going to have a bit of a shock, I think.
Deborah
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Website.
Ship of Fools flickr group
Posts: 2382 | From: here or there | Registered: Mar 2002
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Poppy
Ship's dancing cat
# 2000
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Posted
I read it as people kept coming onto another website where I post and saying 'Christianity is a lie cos Dan Brown says so, na, nah, na, na nah.'
I can speed read but it took about two hours as I kept chucking it across the room in irritation. It is daft, poorly researched, cardboard characters and a plot you could sketch out on the back of an envelope. I'm all for a mindless read at the end of a long day with a nice glass of wine and some ambient music but people take this stuff seriously and that is scarey.
On the other hand I know people who think dolphins are the ascended masters who are communitating from the 14th dimension so Dan Brown is sane in comparison.
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At the still point of the turning world - there the dance is...
Posts: 1406 | From: mostly on the edge | Registered: Dec 2001
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-lucy-
Shipmate
# 10465
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by alexamenos:
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
quote:
Originally posted by alexamenos:
1. Because it's so big - the biggest-selling ever hardback adult fiction title, apparently.
And yet it is still apparently possible to believe that "people aren't stupid". Gosh.
If you are right about how well it has sold, than that is the single most depressing fact I have learned in ages.
This comes from the Daily Telegraph, so it must be gospel.
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Posts: 592 | From: East Yorkshire | Registered: Sep 2005
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Papio
Ship's baboon
# 4201
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rosamundi:
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
quote:
Originally posted by rosamundi:
quote:
Originally posted by Custard.:
Only knee-high?
Knee-high stacks of books are too easy to trip over...
They're all stacked against the walls.
Deborah
I must admit that immediate thought was: "is that all?"
Those are the books that aren't in either of the 6 foot bookcases, the boxes under the bed, the four-foot bookcase in the sitting room, the drinks cabinet (I think I'm supposed to keep glasses in there or something), or the eighteen feet of shelving at my parents' house.
The man that's coming round to design my fitted bedroom furniture is going to have a bit of a shock, I think.
Deborah
Oh, ok. Fair enough.
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Infinite Penguins.
My "Readit, Swapit" page
My "LibraryThing" page
Posts: 12176 | From: a zoo in England. | Registered: Mar 2003
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Anselmina
Ship's barmaid
# 3032
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by _-_-_lucy_-_-_:
So does ANYONE think it is worth reading even if it is just for arguments sake?
It could be argued that there aren't many things worth reading. However, worthiness doesn't say whether or not it's enjoyable or readable!
The only way to know if you think it's worth it is to read it yourself.
Posts: 10002 | From: Scotland the Brave | Registered: Jul 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the_raptor:
That has nothing to do with research. That is about plot and pacing. It *is* a novel afterall, and even if all the other rubbish in it were true, the location of underground stations wouldn't matter.
Bollocks. Something that is supposed to be set in the real world should match the specs of the real world. If I started a "realistic" novel that in the first 100 pages said Chicago was only 100 miles from Miami, Florida, that would be as far as I read. When it's so easy to get facts like that right, getting them wrong is a sign of abject laziness, or total disregard for one's readers.
[ 02. April 2006, 18:46: Message edited by: Mousethief ]
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
I read it when the reserve list at the library got to be well over 1000, figured I ought to have some idea what my patrons were devouring so eagerly. I realized pretty quickly it was just rehashed "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", which I'd read back in the 80s cause I was interested in grail mythology. Wasn't overly impressed with HBHG, but it was fun. DVC struck me as being a mildly enjoyable potboiler. A beach book, you know what I mean. Left me scratching my head how it had suddenly gotten so big. I mean, it's not the quality of the writing, 'cause thats so-so. And it's not the conspiracy theory stuff, 'cause thats not original, and HBHG never made this kinda' stir, so why?
Now if you want strange conspiracies in real literature, I recomend Foccult's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco.
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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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kempis3
Shipmate
# 9792
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by alexamenos:
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
quote:
Originally posted by narnie83:
And why does such a lame book get its own board, along with The Bible and Church tradition???!
Because "this board is sponsored by Focus Radio, who are providing a Christian response to the book on their website", I guess.
That would be us, I guess.
Four reasons why we think DVC is worth discussing (in no particular order):
1. Because it's so big - the biggest-selling ever hardback adult fiction title, apparently.
2. Because of DB's claims that it's based on truth and history, i.e. not just fiction
3. Because it presses so many buttons in contemporary culture (e.g. all the Sacred Feminine / goddess stuff; the Church as a conspiracy, etc.)
4. Because so many people take it seriously - perhaps because they don't know much about the Bible or Church history.
There is a lot of truth in this posting.
Surely, just as raw fact, DVC is the literary phenomenon of our times -- good or bad; truth or lies; literature or rubbish; elitist or hoi polloi; loved or hated -- the book is a phenomenon.
The above quote covers some interesting points and these are worth discussing -- my view is that the church deserves all it gets for its the lies and deceptions it has done, and many people are waiting for anything to bring it to its knees.
The issue has already been discussed so many times on SofF and yet it still provokes discussion (now no doubt because of the film) and so it must have something to say for our times.
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Man plots -- God laughs.
Posts: 148 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2005
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Coot:
Haven't read it.
Life is too short to voluntarily read bollocks. There is too much important stuff that I need to read that I'm unable to, that I don't want to spend what little time I have available reading fiction.
Especially fiction critical of my faith tradition, and not critical in a constructive way.
I'm with Coot here, and for similar reasons. I shan't be reading it.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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BroJames
Shipmate
# 9636
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Posted
I've read it (but then I have to be prized off the ingredients list on the cornflakes packet at breakfast). I wasn't going to but a friend lent me a copy.
I rate it as a sort of Jeffrey Archer lite. Some echoes of Day of the Jackal, but less credible and less well plotted. Where he was writing about stuff I knew about it seemed to me to be mostly rubbish, and the excellent low key UK TV programme presented by Tony Robinson (who certainly has no religious axe to grind) made it pretty clear that most of the rest of the 'facts' were rubbish too.
Dan Brown's idea of the RC church as some huge high-powered secretive organisation was frankly laughable as was his conception of the early church.
A great deal of suggestio falsi and suppressio veri. I wouldn't care so much if the hunger for conspiracy theories didn't make so many so ready to believe it. So easy to believe in a black and white conspiracy compared to the real-life complexity of history.
[typo]
[ 02. April 2006, 20:32: Message edited by: BroJames ]
Posts: 3374 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2005
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
With at least two centuries of well written books,
And that's just the 4th and 5th Centuries CE!
Silly me!
I was thinking just of the modern novel...then there's all the non-fiction stuff.
Sigh! So many books, so little time...certainly not enough to waste on Danny Boy.
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Gextvedde
Shipmate
# 11084
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Posted
I read it because I'd seen so many other people reading it. My wife had read it first and warned me that it was crap (she likes trashy novels and didn't bother finishing The Da Vinci Code) but I must admit, I found it entertaining. Sure, it's badly written and factually complete bollocks (and since when has Maidstone been on the outskirts of London Dan Brown you pillock) but somehow it kept me going. Mind you, I was on holiday at the time and the sun, wine, food and rest may well have affected my critical judgement.
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"We must learn to see that our temperament is a gift of God, a talent with which we must trade until he comes" Thomas Merton
Posts: 293 | From: The Twilight Zone, near the M25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
I have to say that I don't understand the whole "I don't want to read fiction" thing.
Oh but that's easy. Because most if not all of the fiction I have read (outside Fantasy/Sci Fi) has been totally unrewarding to me. Why should I want to read any more of it?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Al Eluia
Inquisitor
# 864
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
What I guess those us of who are Christian have to face is that loads of folks who aren't Christian are much more comfortable with the notion of a married Jesus who had sex than with an unmarried Jesus who didn't. In this sexualised era, people who don't have sex "must have something wrong with them." Celibacy isn't seen as a sign of spirituality or holiness, but a sign of oddness.
Or a sign that you're a child molester! (I guess that goes under oddness.)
Last Xmas Mrs. Eluia gave the book to me. I made her take it back because of all I'd heard about the ahistorical crap he passes off as fact. It wouldn't bother me to read it necessarily, but I can get it from the library. I do not want to subsidize Mr. Brown.
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Posts: 1157 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jul 2001
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saysay
Ship's Praying Mantis
# 6645
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Posted
I’ve read it. It was recommended by a friend with a vague “well, it might help get people thinking about feminine aspects of the divine.” And I was curious and wanted to know what people were talking about.
I found it interesting to try to guess which new-age theory Brown was goiing to try to incorporate next. And I thought it was unintentiously hilarious in some spots.
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"It's been a long day without you, my friend
I'll tell you all about it when I see you again"
"'Oh sweet baby purple Jesus' - that's a direct quote from a 9 year old - shoutout to purple Jesus."
Posts: 2943 | From: The Wire | Registered: May 2004
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Petrified
Ship’s ballast
# 10667
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Posted
I shall probably try to read it sometime, but only because it has now taken over from Victoria Beckham's biography as the most common book on the shelves of the local charity shop.
It will cost 50p and the money goes to charity.
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At this time, a friend shall lose his friend's hammer and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o'clock.
SoF a "prick against Bigotterie"
Posts: 540 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2005
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PhilA
shipocaster
# 8792
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Posted
I read it and quite enjoyed it as a trashy novel - but that is all it is. Why anyone takes it seriously and actually believes that it is truthful is beyond me.
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To err is human. To arr takes a pirate.
Posts: 3121 | From: Sofa | Registered: Nov 2004
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
I also haven't read beyond the first couple of chapters of the Code. But for anyone who's interested, BBC Radio 4's "Book of the week" this week is excerpts from The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail which *ahem* covers similar territory. You can listen to it online by going here. If you really care that much....
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Jonathan Strange
Shipmate
# 11001
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Posted
This book is a literary version of the tweenybopper boy-band McFly.
Most people that I know who like it keep asking me the question, "What if it WAS true?" as a way of trying to open up a debate. My answer is always going to be "It isn't; go away."
Unfortunately they seem to respond, "Ah, but what if it WAS true???"
I conclude that the pleasure a lot of people derive from it is that they can annoy Christians with it.
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"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,
When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again"
Posts: 1327 | From: Wessex | Registered: Feb 2006
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Thurible
Shipmate
# 3206
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Posted
I was on the train once when every third person (old ladies with their knitting in their laps, be-suited businessmen, students, mums with kids, etc.) appeared to be reading it, so when a friend said he'd finished reading it and I could borrow it if I liked, I did.
It was absolute, utter, mindblowing crap.
It was quite a fun way to while away a couple of hours though - sort of like drinking Lambrusco. A complete waste of time but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Thurible
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"I've been baptised not lobotomised."
Posts: 8049 | Registered: Aug 2002
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The Great Gumby
Ship's Brain Surgeon
# 10989
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Posted
I haven't read it. I don't want to read it. I have a huge list of books I want to read because they're good, or interesting, and I really don't want to add trash like this just because everyone else has read it, especially if the general opinion is that it's crap.
OTOH, I can't stand it when people complain or criticise something (e.g. Jerry Springer The Opera) they haven't seen/read. If I want to tell people who ask me about it that I think TDVC is a load of bollocks, I've got to have read it first, if only for the sake of consistency. So the question is, do I read it just so I can enjoy talking about how crap it is? At the moment, the lure of proper literature is keeping me on the straight and narrow, but for how long?
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The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman
A letter to my son about death
Posts: 5382 | From: Home for shot clergy spouses | Registered: Feb 2006
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Pasco
Shipmate
# 388
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Posted
Drinks to the MASSES:
Merchandising Author Supplies ‘Secret Evidence’ Sensationalism
(Money Is No Trouble)
Posts: 997 | From: Domiciling 'ere, living locally. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gextvedde
Shipmate
# 11084
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Posted
Probably till you go on holiday and a friend lends it to you. In a moment of weakness you just can't resist it and before you know it, you've wasted two hours. Don't do it Gumby! You'll want that time back!
[ 03. April 2006, 10:59: Message edited by: Gextvedde ]
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"We must learn to see that our temperament is a gift of God, a talent with which we must trade until he comes" Thomas Merton
Posts: 293 | From: The Twilight Zone, near the M25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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CrookedCucumber
Shipmate
# 10792
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Posted
I would read the book if it were any good as a novel. The fact that it's full of inaccuracies about Christian tradition and Church history wouldn't deter me. After all, it is fiction. I wouldn't be reading it to learn about Jesus.
But is it any good as a novel? Or, perhaps more to the point, is it better as a novel than (say) Terry Pratchett's latest books, which I haven't had an opportunity to read yet?
My feeling is that there are far better books with claims on my time, so I doubt I'll be reading DVC. This is nothing to do with Christianity, and everything to do with the quality of fiction.
Posts: 2718 | From: East Dogpatch | Registered: Dec 2005
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
It's on my list to read. Right after War & Peace, the entire Left Behind series, Volumes 6 thru 9 of the Journal of Molecular Biology and Five Go To The Beach.
I may skim through the Collected Works of Shakespeare first, as well. If I have time.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Freelance Monotheist
Shipmate
# 8990
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Posted
I read it after having watched the debunking of it on The Beeb some time ago. My mum had bought or borrowed it and had mentioned that his grasp of grammar, incorrect use of words or making new ones up and the cardboard cutout characters made it appalling and she was right!
I live about an hour away from the Louvre and they actually had a sign up explaining the Priory of Sion thing, that the P and the S on the windows stand for something totally different, can't remember what though, but it's something like the initials of someone who helped build the museum.
I enjoyed the code breaking bits, didn't know about the Fibonacci Sequence and thought the anagrams were fun. Every so often, I'd exclaim "that's not a word!" or "that sentence isn't grammatically correct!" but still kept reading, but I hate leaving a book unfinished, however bad it is.
I most certainly will not be seeing the film, as films are never as good as the book IMHO, and this was a bad book!
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Denial: a very effective coping mechanism
Posts: 1239 | From: Paris, France | Registered: Jan 2005
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chive
Ship's nude
# 208
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Posted
I read it and I repent. Twas utter garbage.
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'Edward was the kind of man who thought there was no such thing as a lesbian, just a woman who hadn't done one-to-one Bible study with him.' Catherine Fox, Love to the Lost
Posts: 3542 | From: the cupboard under the stairs | Registered: May 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
When I discovered that I had met one of the people who appear in it, in real life, I considered reading it for five minutes.
Then I recalled
- my views of that person,
- what I heard reported of it,
- that a lot of that I recall from trashy women's magazines in the 1970s
- the pile of must reads that are already on my bookshelf
and my sanity drive reasserted itself.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by the_raptor:
That has nothing to do with research. That is about plot and pacing. It *is* a novel afterall, and even if all the other rubbish in it were true, the location of underground stations wouldn't matter.
Bollocks. Something that is supposed to be set in the real world should match the specs of the real world.
Mousethief - if this were true, Northern Exposure would have to be bombed off the face of TV-dom. but for some reason, otherwise intelligent people will come to me out of the blue to tell me how much they just LOVED that piece of roaring crap.
I just assume that most fiction is full of falsehoods. doesn't keep me from enjoying the story.
C
PS - this is not to say that I think authors shouldn't TRY to get their facts right. but if they are telling a fiction story, they should not be held tp the standards of a scientfic paper.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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