No, the fact remains that there are no real parallels and if you see any, you’re inventing them.
I don’t know Dude. You were the one who put words into my mouth. Where’s your apology?
No, I stand by my original post: I asked a question. Asked it in what I thought was a non-threatening way (again with an open mind) and a bunch of you chewed through it. I expected better, but all I got was poorly-phrased rhetoric because you didn’t happen to like my comparison of Brown and Rushdie.
If Brown isn’t the threat you think he is, why is he making people nervous? Better yet, why is he making y’all nervous enough to attack me ? 
And no, I am not “messing with you”. All I did was ask a question and defend my reason for asking it. I am sorry that some or all of you refuse to see that.
And I don’t think the Opus Dei are “hiding in my closet”, but I respect the amount of research that was put into the book, so chill out yourself.
I think y’all are suffering from the misguided notion of “If you don’t know anything about it, then criticize it and maybe it will go away.”
In the end, I don’t give a rat’s ass if you agree or disagree. That’s your prerogative, as it is mine to disagree with you. What I objected to was the pseudo-intellectual way you went about it.
No apology.
Q
He’s out of hiding, but the rest is not true. Just last year, Ayatollah Khameini said that the fatwa is still in place just last year. The Iranian government has said that the only one who could rescind the fatwa was Khomeini. And there is still a bounty on Rushdie’s head. He came out of hiding because the government of Iran said it would not carry out the death sentence itself.
Great editing, me. :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=Quasimodem]
Asked it in what I thought was a non-threatening way (again with an open mind) and a bunch of you chewed through it. I expected better, but all I got was poorly-phrased rhetoric because you didn’t happen to like my comparison of Brown and Rushdie.
Brown isn’t making people nervous. Opus Dei, which gets treated very badly in his book, has asked for a disclaimer before the movie. They’re worried people will take his crap somewhat literally. The government of Iran and several other Muslim countries said that Rushdie himself was an apostate against Islam and called for his death. It’s really a different animal.
Because your tone is annoying, you’ve asked a question with an obvious answer, and because you’ve compared an excellent writer with a terrible one. Again, it has little to do with Dan Brown.
What are you suggesting we don’t know anything about? I’ve read both books and I know about the controversies around both. Your comparison is still bad, and people have explained why they feel that way. The responses you’re offering are pretty annoying: you’re insisting people didn’t understand your simple question and are “attacking” you because they’ve come to an obvious conclusion.
Hijack, for a breather.
Holy Blood/Holy Grail’s sales shot up in conjunction with Dan Brown’s book. They may have gained enough prifits from the publicit, to cover the costs imposed, but I doubt it.
Guest, can’t edit - didn’t proof read - D’oh! “Profits”, “Publicity”.
Members can’t edit either.
My tone was annoying because the OP was met with an annoying tone, Marley. Whether I have compared an (as you say) terrible writer with an excellent one is a judgement call, and I am willing to give you that point.
But what I suspect is happening is that some of you jumped on the bandwagon with some of the negative press you may have read, and it seems to be in fashion to come out and and agree with the “popular” disagreements.
With the exception of a couple of poorly phrased “let’s wait and see if any of his translators get killed” replies, I haven’t seen anyone post anything such as “Your comparison may be premature, Quasi, and here is why I think so…”
If that annoys you, Dude, then just suck it up. I bet it won’t be the last thing you’ll ever be annoyed with on SDMB.
Really, I do thank you for the replies, but I am taking a wait and see attitude whetgher you agree with me or not.
I doubt it too. The trial costs were at least $1 million dollars and the book hasn’t gotten higher than #5 on the New York Times bestseller chart. Even with all the worldwide increase in sales, it’s highly unlikely that they made back even half their costs.
The reason for this is that the proper response was “Your comparison is idiotic, Quasi, and here is why I think so…”
That’s what you’ve gotten. And from every single person. Do you know how difficult a feat that is? I have a Rule that states that “on the Internet, there is no proposition, however ignorant, silly, misguided, or just plain wrong, that will not receive the support of at least one other poster.”
And yet, you’ve gone and found one! Truly remarkable. We need to Threadspot this thread, or maybe even make it a sticky, because it’s doubtful we’ll ever see its like again! 
quasi, don’t ask replied to your OP with
A tiny bit snarky perhaps, but frankly, a rather good point and factual as regards the situation.
You personalized the snarkyness and defined the tone for the rest of the thread (IMHO) with your reply:
Dismiss a legitimate response with condescension in this crowd, and you may as well cover yourself with chum and go wading in a shark pool.
At least that’s my…opinion.
So it is your position (from what I am reading here) that when the majority is against your opinion or position, you should abdicate it or risk being ridiculed?
I thought you had more cojones than that, but I guess I’m…wrong…huh? :wally
Threadspot it, shit on it ,whatever you want to do, EM. But no apology from me, and apparently not one from you either, but that’s fine. I have stood alone before and didn’t mind a bit.
I don’t know what you’re trying to say here about the negative press. Could you rephrase it? Are you talking about critical reaction to the book?
Your comparison isn’t premature. The Da Vinci Code has been out for three years now, so there has been ample time for the whole thing to play out. Nobody has died or been threatened in connection with the book. No church or government has called for Brown’s execution.
The reaction to The Satanic Verses was swift and (literally and figuratively) very violent. The book was banned in a number of countries and was publically burned in some cases. People died in riots, bookstores were firebombed. The fatwa against Rushdie came less than six months after the book was published, and the bounty was placed on him a few days later.
The deaths that were related to translators and publishers did not come until several years later, although some of those dates have also passed. However, I don’t think there’s much point in waiting, since the fatwa played a major part in those deaths and there’s no death sentence against Dan Brown. A comparison of The Satanic Verses to the Muhammad cartoons seems apt. Not The Da Vinci Code.
Three years after his book came out, Brown has not been ostracized and threatened like Rushdie was. Not by .001%. The reaction to The Da Vinci code has been very quiet. Groups that are mentioned by name in the novel have offered rebuttals - requests for disclaimers, the publishing of books and Web sites, that kind of thing. People that felt their religion was referred to in The Satanic Verses went crazy. Sony gave in to Opus Dei because they want as many people as possible to see their movie. I strongly doubt anybody was afraid for his life.
Are you starting to see why you’ve gotten a unanimous response here?
What he’s saying is that you should consider the facts that have been offered in response to your position. Beyond Opus Dei asking for a disclaimer, nothing has been offered to support the comparison. However, I think a good amount of stuff has been posted against it.
Could some lunatic get it in his head to kill Dan Brown? Yes. Will some bishop somewhere put a price on his head or send out assassins to kill him? No.
I read the book, and don’t really understand why it’s such a phenomenon. It’s no better or worse than a lot of thrillers I’ve read over the years. I also don’t get the venom from people who seem to think Dan Brown is the worst writer ever. They must not read as many trashy thrillers as I do. Believe me there are writers who are much worse.
Try this one:
http://www.thedavincidialogue.com/index.cfm but it seems to be down right now.
I will not be boycotting. I really want to go see it.
Besides, boycotts typically don’t work. And if you want to argue something, you need to know what you are arguing.
Dan Brown has come up with nothing new. These ideas have been around since early Christianity. I find his reasoning ability hilarious though (and that is a personal opinion). I have said it many times before, we live in a media based society and they are the ones who have sensationalized it.
Nice strawman, Quasi. And don’t “putz” me, we’re not in the pit. :rolleyes:
Excuse me for gently trying to point out how you’re not helping yourself with how you’re presenting your ideas.
No, I don’t think he does, because it hasn’t even remotely happened in the three years his book has been on the bestseller lists, and it hasn’t happened to Baigent and Leigh, who purport to be writing nonfiction. If anyone would have been fatwa’d by the Catholic Church, I think it would have have been the authors he lifted his ‘research’ from, and not him.
And his books- all of them, inculding the one that isn’t even written yet(titled The Jerusalem somethingorother)- are now really damn popular because of the success of The Da Vinci Code. He is in no way expecting to become a pariah, and he is in no danger of an official Roman Catholic Church blessed assassination.
Also, as an ad hominem, the book’s literary value was comparable to bad romance novel writing.
Quasimodem, you’re getting pretty aggressive in this non-Pit forum. I strongly suggest you take a step back and really look at how you’re coming across.
Regardless of that, though, the Wally or “putz” smiley is considered an insult, and isn’t allowed outside the Pit when aimed at another poster. Please refrain from using it here.