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I have heard a lot about The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown) in recent months. Mostly it was vague raving about how great the book is and how it is rather "difficult to explain, you just have to read it." That sort of thing. So during a recent trip to B&N, I picked it up.
I'm about halfway through it now and I have to say I'm pretty disappointed. There is no great writing in this book, in my opinion. Each character is one-dimensional and has virtually no discernible, individual identity. In fact I realized today that you could switch the male and female protagonists without the reader really noticing. Their backgrounds are different, but the difference between them is noticable in the explication only and their essential identities in the narration itself are quite similar.
Stylistically, Brown writes like Clive Cussler without the flair. His story is Indiana Jones without the grit and James Bond without the panache.
Furthermore, while the author has clearly researched the subject matter to an above-average extent, an alarming amount of the would-be shocking revelations in this book are already tired, over-used elements extracted directly from pop culture. If you've seen The Godfather Part III or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade you'll start to understand what I mean when you read this book.
I understand Brown's aim with these elements -- he is trying to tie them with historical facts to create a sort of DaVinci unification theory. One of the repeating themes of the book is the discovery of a revelation that has been right in front of everyone's eyes for years, but no one has noticed.
The problem is that the whole premise lacks surprise. It is painfully predictable. I'm halfway through the novel and I have yet to encounter a "shocking revelation" that I didn't already see coming pages and pages earlier. It's almost like watching a sports race on television in real time, while the announcer is two minutes behind.
I'm eager to get to the end now, because I have tired of the amazing turns of events that are anything but amazing. I'm pretty bored with italics conveying urgency in place of effective writing.
In short, I guess, don't believe the hype.
So Write Night is upcoming tomorrow; musn't forget it. There are no excuses anymore, remember?
Currently I am reading "American Gods," which won about a gabillion recent awards (Hugo, Nebula, etc.) and which is pretty darned good so far. Very novel concept and excellent writing. It's a bit of a stretch to call it science fiction; I'd say it's more like fantastic suspense. Or something.
The basic concept is that the gods of the old world were imported to the New World by their erstwhile believers. These are the really old gods like Odin, Ibis, Bast, leprechauns, etc. They have since become sort of stranded. They roam around in plain view as taxicab drivers or swindlers or thieves, exerting minor influence on the mortals around them and just trying to survive. They are mostly forgotten and in competition with the new American Gods, which I am just beginning to learn about at this point in the book. They seem to be gods of credit cards and pop culture and things like that.
The main character's name is Shadow, and as the book goes on I'm getting the feeling more and more that he is of some cosmic significance in this world, though I don't yet know what it is. It's great, gradual character development - at the start of the book he's just a convict, newly released from prison, with hardly an identity at all.
Sarah and I took a trip to Barnes and Noble the other day to pick me up some reading material, since I've been without anything decent to read for some time.
One of the books I picked up was I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. It's a classic of science fiction that, inexplicably, I hadn't yet read.
I finished it the other day. I was amazed at how well this book stands up despite the fact that a lot of it was written in the 1940's. If you changed a few dates, there's really not much else that would need revising to enable this book to compete with today's most hardcore sci-fi.
The thematic sides of it were the most intriguing, however. It deals with the idea of the robot more than anything else, from lots of different angles. Its an approach that feels like high philosophy and reminds me of Bradbury in a lot of ways (though probably Bradbury should remind me of Asimov; I'm just getting to them backwards is all!)
I heard a while back that a film is going to be made based on I, Robot. I look forward to that.
I suppose it would be good to talk a bit about what I've been reading lately. It might help me focus on the upcoming task.
The last book I finished was The Monkeywrench Gang by Edward Abbey. During our vacation in the desert of Utah, everyone we met told me I should read it. One of my brother's friends even named her dog after one of the main characters (Hayduke). Seeing as how I already owned the book because I was supposed to read it for a class in college several years ago and never did, I figured now was the time. It was a good read and our trip to the West really helped localize the setting and make it seem more real.
Before that, I read The Testament. That was my first John Grisham novel. That was a good read as well, though the main character was really depressing and the storyline was kind of bizarre. The quality of the narrative seemed to keep it grounded though; I had no trouble getting through it.
I'm not reading anything at the moment...nothing good on hand and hardly any time.. I'm always open to suggestions though.
