# Dan Brown - Crap
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 15, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167 "2005-02-15T09:20:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/21 "2005-02-15T17:46:31Z")
I don’t understand Dan Brown pile-ons: why is it so hard for detractors to accept that some of us might find his books to be both mindless _and_ quite entertaining?
I started with _The Da Vinci Code_, and, while I never took anything in it as gospel (heh), I thought some of the speculation was interesting. And it was a good read! Not every book has to be profound or brilliant to be worthwhile (or popular). _Angels and Demons_? Yep, the exact same story as _Da Vinci_, just set in a different country and the characters have different names. But still, pretty enjoyable. The only other one I’ve read is _Deception Point_, which I liked the least but still found to be entertaining.
I won’t read any of his other books – from what I understand I’ve already seen the best of his work – but I won’t pretend that I didn’t enjoy the ones I _have_ read, despite their sometimes far-fetched, oftentimes mind-candy aspects. 🙂
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/22 "2005-02-15T17:46:51Z")
Entertainment for those who think his style stinks: [Language Log](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000844.html)
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### Author:  [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/23 "2005-02-15T18:18:17Z")
When I bought my mp3 player, it came with a promotion for [audible.com](http://audible.com) which included the first chapter of The Da Vinci Code. So on the long flight home from Italy, I had a lot of time on my hands, and I decided to listen to it.
I made it all the way through the first chapter, but it was easily the most painful 15 minutes of my life. I re-wrote every other line in my head because the man is enamoured with passive voice. Sorry, that’s a habit you need to break long before you are actually publishing. I don’t read books so I can do the author’s job for them.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/24 "2005-02-15T18:20:06Z")
I liked Dan Brown better when he was called David Morrell
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### Author:  [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/25 "2005-02-15T19:04:42Z")
Oh, I forgot… no thread about Dan Brown would be complete without a link to [Dave Barry’s take](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/9018213.htm?1c) on writing _The DaVinci Code_.
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/26 "2005-02-15T19:41:37Z")
And one more relevant thread for, uh, archival integrity, I guess…
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=231463&highlight=Vinci](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=231463&highlight=Vinci)
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### Author:  [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/27 "2005-02-15T20:23:34Z")
I’m with \*\*Misnomer \*\*on this one. I read _The Da Vinci Code_ and _Angels and Demons_ and enjoyed both very much. Didn’t take either of them the least bit seriously, and have had to talk several friends out of believing every word. But I don’t feel the need to dismiss them as crap.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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### Author:  [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/28 "2005-02-15T20:34:34Z")
I guessed the actual owner of the “trusted friend’s” account in _Digital Fortress_ about six seconds after I read the username; it was an anagram of another character’s name. The characters who were stumped by this amazingly convoluted encryption scheme are supposed to work for the NSA. Let me tell you, the folks I know who work there love wordplay, obfuscated clues, and counter-intuitive tricks. And also: they aren’t stupid one-dimensional drama queens.
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### Author:  [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/29 "2005-02-15T20:49:37Z")
> [@monster](#):
>
> I’m not brilliant, but I saw it right away.
Oh yes, you are 🙂
I read _Da Vinci_ and while I thought it was entertaining, I was a little disappointed by the writing, even for entertainment, and how easy the clues were. I mean, I was thinking…there’s no way it can be that obvious, because I’m pretty stupid about these things. But by the end of the book, I realized that I was at least smart enough to figure these out.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/30 "2005-02-15T20:56:51Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> Message to Brown: Umberto Eco sounds erudite _because he is_. You’re not.
I’m conducting an experiment. I currently have _The Da Vinci Code_ sitting on the shelf immediately next to Eco’s _Foucault’s Pendulum._ Next to _Pendulum_ are _Island of the Day Before_ and _Baudolino._ So far, the books have remained peacefully juxtaposed; no damage, no fire, no radiation.
I’m thinking I need to raise the stakes. Should I add _Angels & Demons_ on the other side of _Baudolino_, or should I put Wilson & Shea’s _Illuminatus_ on the other side of _Da Vinci_?
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### Author:  [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/31 "2005-02-15T21:04:53Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> I’m conducting an experiment. I currently have _The Da Vinci Code_ sitting on the shelf immediately next to Eco’s _Foucault’s Pendulum._ Next to _Pendulum_ are _Island of the Day Before_ and _Baudolino._ So far, the books have remained peacefully juxtaposed; no damage, no fire, no radiation.
>
> I’m thinking I need to raise the stakes. Should I add _Angels & Demons_ on the other side of _Baudolino_, or should I put Wilson & Shea’s _Illuminatus_ on the other side of _Da Vinci_?
What you should do is add _The Name of the Rose_ to drown out the odor of compost.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/32 "2005-02-15T21:50:42Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> I’m conducting an experiment. I currently have _The Da Vinci Code_ sitting on the shelf immediately next to Eco’s _Foucault’s Pendulum._ Next to _Pendulum_ are _Island of the Day Before_ and _Baudolino._ So far, the books have remained peacefully juxtaposed; no damage, no fire, no radiation.
>
> I’m thinking I need to raise the stakes. Should I add _Angels & Demons_ on the other side of _Baudolino_, or should I put Wilson & Shea’s _Illuminatus_ on the other side of _Da Vinci_?
Would it be cruel for me to sandwich _The Da Vinci Code_ between _A Theory of Semiotics_ and _How to Travel with a Salmon_? Would Dan Brown run out of the room crying? 😃
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/33 "2005-02-15T22:10:33Z")
Another crap writer, with whom I confused the OPs subject is Dale Brown. He may be an ex pilot, but his novels are far too full of histrionics.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/34 "2005-02-15T22:13:22Z")
I read the first two chapters of the Da Vinci Code.
Conclusion: It’s not for grown-ups. The prose is utterly artless.
My coworker, however, is fanatical about the book. I have no doubt that this is due to her hatred of the Catholic church. She has passed it all over the office with admonitions of you have to read this! Look what the church has done!
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### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/35 "2005-02-15T22:21:07Z")
> [@Slacker](#):
>
> I thought _Da Vinca_ was OK, and _Angels and Demons_ was OK+. Good “blow through it in 2 days” reading when there’s nothing on TV.
I read them both back to back in about the same time frame (it was for a book club). I thought A&D seemed like a rough draft. He turned it in, the teacher marked it up with red and then ink, then he turned it back in and it was slightly better.
It seemed like (for both) there was a relatively decent (not great, but decent) mystery story in the middle of a bunch of crap. After he tells the story 4 or 5 more times, he might actually have an ok book.
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### Author:  [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/36 "2005-02-15T22:40:32Z")
_The Da Vinci Code_ made the rounds of my GF’s office a few months ago. I’d already read it (OK beginning, blah middle, terrible ending), so when one of her coworkers finished it, I gave her a copy of _Foucault’s Pendulum_, explaining that it had a similar theme (age-old conspiracies, which she really gets into), but that it was _much_ better-written, and had better characters and a more engaging plot.
She didn’t read it. She returned it to me unread (and I already have a copy).
😕
I give up.
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### Author:  [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/37 "2005-02-15T22:42:38Z")
I don’t get why everyone likes them. Even though I’m not that smart, I’m smart enough that I saw through the plot and the puzzles well before most other people did. I tell everyone that thinks it’s an interesting book that too. I totally figured it out and knew all the facts that were misrepresented in the book. I read lots of history and stuff, just as a hobby, I’m not erudite, but I totally got why it sucked. I usually get why stuff really sucks when everyone else likes it.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/38 "2005-02-15T23:00:09Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> Message to Brown: Umberto Eco sounds erudite _because he is_. You’re not. You don’t have his imagination or even vocabulary. Give up. Please.
I don’t like Dan Brown.
I also don’t like Umberto Eco.
I actually think both are poor writers, just from opposite ends of the scale.
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### Author:  [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/39 "2005-02-15T23:02:33Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> I don’t like Dan Brown.
>
> I also don’t like Umberto Eco.
>
> I actually think both are poor writers, just from opposite ends of the scale.
I can understand not liking Umberto Eco, but I have to say, I cannot wrap my mind around the idea that he is a poor writer. I know this is a Dan Brown thread, but perhaps you wouldn’t mind elaborating a little?
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### Author:  [@look\_hergo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_hergo)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dan-brown-crap/290167/40 "2005-02-15T23:58:44Z")
Read both \*\*DaVinci Code \*\* and \*\*Angels & Demons \*\* with my husband. (He received them as gifts.) I read them aloud in a breathless, dramatic fashion, and ended each chapter with the “dum-dum-_dum_!” that you know Dan Brown would have put in himself, if his editors hadn’t convinced him otherwise.
About four chapters into the DVCode, I stopped reading and put the book down. “I can’t stand reading this,” I said. “This is so \*obviously \* written to be a best-seller.” (Meaning that it was pop-culture pap written to appeal to the greatest common denominator, like a tabloid.) My hub now enjoys ribbing me about all those authors who work so hard _not_ to write best-sellers.
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