I turn to my fellow Cafe Society Dopers in hopes that you have some suggestions for me.
For a gift, I am looking for a book that is “like the DaVinci Code.” Now, I am one of those annoying people who goes into a fit of the vapors over The DaVinci Code, and now my snobbery is coming back to haunt me because I need to get a gift for a person who likes books like The DaVinci Code.
The elements that I think she likes about it are: the religious themes, the historical themes, the conspiracy themes, general mystery/adventure, and fiction. I don’t think she would like a non-fiction book about similar topics, as I gather what she likes about the The DaVinci Code in the first place is that it is fiction so you can suspend your disbelief. In a perfect world, I would like to find a new novel that is currently (and easily) available in hard cover.
This request is a little stranger … I’m looking for a children’s book, or a YA book, that deals with issues related to being popular in school (middle school or high school). In my head, I feel like I read about a million of these books when I was a kid … but now I can’t remember any specific ones. I would especially like to find some titles that look at things like how you learn to be yourself in the face of pressure to be like the crowd in order to be popular.
Current or older titles are fine. The catch is that I need to use these in a presentation to a mixed-age group, so I would rather not get into any situations that are too mature in terms of sex, drugs (or rock and roll, I guess).
In response to 1, I give my highest recommendation to The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton. On the surface level it is a story about an English Policeman who adopts a double identity to infiltrate a worldwide terrorist organization. However, that would be kind of like saying that Hamlet is about a guy who sees a ghost. It does have everything your friend is looking for: history, religious themes (in spades), conspiracies, adventures, and mystery, as well as high doses of humor and weirdness. Overall I would say that it’s the best short novel I’ve ever read. It’s not new, since it was published in 1908, but it has been in print ever since then (which tells you something) and should be available in any bookstore.
Can’t help with the YA book but Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt has everything your wife is looking for. It’s about the search for a lost gospel and goes back and forth in time from the present to the first century. There’s a conspiracy and some action/adventure stuff, and it’s also funny. The first century protagonist is a right hoot.
The Name of the Rose often gets compared to “Da Vinci Code”. It’s considered a little more “intelligent” than DaVinci Code. (However, some people would substitute “intelligent” with “pretentious complexity.”)
It comes in hardcover via Everyman’s Library edition which I like.
Among Eco books, Foucault’s Pendulum is, IMO, a closer comparison. It’s got everything - secret societies, occult conspiracies, theories on religion. It’s one of my all-time favorite books, but I admit it can be a bit difficult to get through at times. Well worth the effort, though.
Another suggestion is The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. Lots of humor to go along with all of the conspiracy stuff.
Without a doubt, Foucault’s Pendulum is one of the great head-benders of all times. I first read it eight years ago and I’m still trying to grasp how the plot actually works.
(On the downside, there are a few scenes that violate the family-friendly requirement.)
Great book, one of my all-time faves, but it’s a little more challenging to read than I would think the Da Vinci Code is (not having reading the Da Vinci Code due to a lack of red-hot pokers.) About the same level of difficulty as Lot 49, another all-time fave.
It would be a riot to read what Dave Barry would come up with as a historical conspiracy book!
This is a great list and some of them I am putting on my own list (isn’t that the worst thing about shopping for holiday gifts?). For The DaVinci Code-esque book, The Club Dumas is looking like the front-runner based on the fact that a nice hard cover copy is available at the closest possible bookstore to me.
Thanks again for all your suggestions! One mental note I made for myself is to ask sooner the next time this comes up so that I will have time to order titles if necessary.
I just read a YA novel that might fit. It’s called How Not to be Popular, by Jennifer Ziegler. It’s about a girl who is tired of losing friends every time she moves so she decides not to make any friends at all. Not a brilliant book, but solid and light on the objectionable content.
For the DaVinci Code lover, how about Angels and Demons, also by Dan Brown?
