I am trying to get my 15 year old son a birthday present. It’s been a real struggle. Other than a super duper $1,000 gaming computer, he doesn’t want anything.
He’s not a reader, but he did really enjoy The Davinci Code. He read it in 1 sitting and then re-read it. He then read Dan Brown’s other book.
Putting aside the fact the book is not particularly good on many levels - it’s about the only non-assigned reading he’s done all year. So I’d like to get him a book or two that are of the same basic page-turner format. A smattering of history and conspiracy is a big plus.
So - anybody have any book suggestions for a 15 (soon to be 16) year old boy who like the Davinci Code but not much else?
Hm. “The Eight” by Katherine Neville might fit the bill. Also anything by Gary Jennings, although they’re not mysteries. Lotsa history though, and fun.
I enjoy James Rollins. His books are pretty fast paced with a lot of action. If you’re looking for something more ‘factual’ (using that term loosely), then Creepers was pretty good, as was The Alexandria Link. Both have a little history in the action. Good Luck!
Have you considered Guns, Germs and Steel? It’s non-fiction, but it’s “chatty” in tone, easy to read and has a lot of the Rube Goldbergesque “for the want of a nail…” type chains of events that made The DaVinci Code so fun. Except, of course, that GG&S isn’t entirely horseshit. (And I say that as someone who enjoyed The DaVinci Code for what it was - enjoyable to read horseshit.) My 14 year old son, also a reluctant reader, quite enjoyed it.
How about the Bible? […waiting for groans and laughter to subside…] There are translations geared toward children with illustrations, and it’s full of adventure stories. It’s arguably one of the most important and influential collections of books in history. And if he decides to become an atheist, he will do so from knowledge rather than ignorance.
ETA: Plus, it ties in directly with the book he already likes.
There’s this book Foucault’s Pendumlum by Umberto Eco. It’s plot is exactly the same kind of plot as that of The Da Vinci Code. But Pendulum is a genuine honest to gosh good book.
But some people think it is not an easy book. Indeed, it does start out with the protagonist spouting out a lot of difficult references to historical and literary tidbits. If someone were to try to actually read through and understand every bit of this opening section, they would quickly get lost.
But you’re not supposed to read it that way.
Anyway, once you get past that part and accustom yourself to the style which allows for it, the book really is pretty mindblowingly good.
Get it and just pretend you didn’t know it was so “hard.” Maybe he won’t even find it “hard” as not everyone does. See what happens.
Lightweight adventure story, plenty of fun? Try Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. The movies was meh, but the book’s a hoot.
Admittedly, it’s lacking depth when it comes to history (just a smattering of WWII and Vietnam–but lightly for both), but there are plenty of conspiracies and a lot of page-turning.
If you’re going to recommend something “heavier” than Brown’s book, why not The Illuminatus Trilogy? It’s not as intellectual as Foucault’s Pendulum (which I loved) but it definitely weighs more. Conspiracy upon conspiracy. Layer upon layer. Sex & drugs. (Maybe not a good gift from a parent.)
A shorter option is Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo. Voodoo, Osiris & The Last Templar are involved in skullduggery & derring-do. During the Harlem Renaissance.
I’d go with something by Ken Follett. Most of his pieces are action-packed page-turners involving spies, deceipt, betrayal, hot women who also have brains, etc. I ate that shit up when I was 15.
Moreover, they’re all set in real, researched time periods and around events that really happened – and sometimes interaction with people who really existed (Churchill, Rommel, etc.). Good stuff.
It’s not really like the Davinci Code at all, but if he likes history (real history in this case) mixed with suspense/violence, check out Devil In The White City. It’s a non-fiction book presented in a fictional style that’s very compelling. It’s about Daniel Burnham (the architect behind the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893) and H. H. Holmes (the mass murderer). It’s a fascinating book, all the more so because it’s a true story. Interestingly, by the latter half of the book I found my self more excited to find out what happened next at the fair than with Holmes. Typing about it here makes me want to break it out and read it again, which I believe I’ll do tonight.
This is exactly the book I recommend to anyone who tells me that they enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. It is simply brilliant. One my Top 5 of All Time.
I don’t know if anyone else does this, but this is one of books that I use to “gauge” people - i.e. if someone tells me that they read this and that they enjoyed it, they automatically get moved up onto the “Very Cool People” list I keep in my head. Frylock and Bridget Burke, consider yourselves moved.
