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Antievolution.org Discussion Board > From the Panda's Thumb > After the Bar Closes... > da vinci code

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guthrie Posts: 696 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 01 2006,22:47    Aye, only buy it second hand.  If I wrote as badly as Brown does, I would be chucked out of the writers group I am in.  The characterisation is shallow, consisting only of a few scenes designed to get you to empathise with the characters, although I suppose that is perfectly normal.   Then I spotted the actual bad guy half way through it, because it was so bleeding obvious.   What I found really funny was Brown claiming that much of it was based on real stuff- ie Leigh and Baigents opus, which was later exposed as lies because the people they'd based it on had made all their info up.   Deception Point was also annoying, because not only did it have over the top conspiracy guff that was soooo wrong, it also mangled the science at least twice.  You average reader wouldnt have noticed, but I get annoyed by these things.  They just show how Brown likes to rip things off without actually understanding any of the history or background, which to me just makes him another ignorant fool, unworthy of all the praise.

bourgeois_rage Posts: 117 Joined: Mar. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 02 2006,01:58    Quote Also Eco writes a little better. I'd say a lot better. And his research is more indepth, I think. Focault's Pendulum was a very good book, in my opinion. -------------- Overwhelming Evidence: Apply directly to the forehead.

Nebogipfel Posts: 47 Joined: April 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 02 2006,02:41    I found reading the DaVinci Code was like going to McDonald's and stuffing yourself with Big Mac menu's; great fun while you're doing it, but about half an hour later, you really wish you hadn't... I read Deception Point too, and while they both kept me turning the page to see what was going to happen next, the writing style was just terrible. Real "then they did this, then they did that" kind of thing; dramatic events foreshadowed with the subtlety of a brick over the head... Even Tom Clancy's prose is better ;-) (I realize I put a spoiler in - I'll take it out. Sorry)

dhogaza Posts: 525 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 02 2006,04:29    Quote Certainly. I'm adding it to the list. I love anything where there are dark and complicated secrets about society/government/religion. A bit off-topic, but if you haven't read it, you might well enjoy the first of the Holmes-Watson mysteries, "A Study in Scarlet". No sex, no rock-'n'-roll, but plenty of cocaine and bad violin.   And the novella wanders through the darker corners of the Mormon world in the American intermountain west, as interpreted by an Englishman (Doyle) who apparently had never been there.  Of course, my enjoyment of the story may be colored by being a non-Mormon who's spent a lot of time in Mormon country ... early Mormon history has its dark barely whispered-about moments, after all! "dark and complicated secrets about ...religion" Well, that pretty much covers Doyle's plot!

haceaton Posts: 14 Joined: Dec. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 04 2006,17:31    I can't comment on the book, but for some strange reason Mike Duggins from Campus Crusade for Christ sent me a letter today asking me to help fund a counter-point campaign. It came with a "Business Reply Mail" envelope, but sadly rule 917.243(b) of the US postal service won't allow me to glue it to a brick, so I'll have to see just how much weight I can stuff inside of the darn thing.

PuckSR Posts: 314 Joined: Nov. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 04 2006,18:24    I read half of the book....that was about all i could tolerate... If you havent noticed, Im a fairly obsessive guy(when I start something I finish it).   To sum it up.... Garbage poured on top of an interesting idea. The whole "alternative religion" stuff is interesting, but not originally Brown's work.   The 'original' portion is only mildly entertaining... The truly annoying part was the usage of Opus Dei... Opus Dei is a real organization, and it seems as if Dan Brown attempted to create a controversy by using their name and then demonizing them.... He was already writing a book about Christian mythology...you would think he wouldnt need to libel a real religious organization to get even more attention... Like everyone else has said.... read the books that Dan Brown lifted the background from... maybe catch the movie.... It just isnt a horribly interesting book....especially if you already doubt the accuracy of religious beliefs....

Bob O'H Posts: 2564 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 04 2006,19:15    Quote I can't comment on the book, but for some strange reason Mike Duggins from Campus Crusade for Christ sent me a letter today asking me to help fund a counter-point campaign. Perhaps you should send him a Bach fugue. Bob -------------- It is fun to dip into the various threads to watch cluelessness at work in the hands of the confident exponent. - Soapy Sam (so say we all)

stevestory Posts: 13407 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 17 2006,14:18    Thought you guys might like this snark from the NYT: Quote "The Da Vinci Code," Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence,...

qetzal Posts: 311 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 17 2006,14:32    I didn't read DaVinci Code, and I won't. That's because I read Angels and Demons. After that, I wholeheartedly agree with Faid - utter crap. Bad writing, worse plot. Totally ludicrous and unbelievable. Horrible characters - worse than in a romance novel. I don't have a single good thing I can say about it. After that, I'd rather be trapped in a room with Heddle, DaveScot, JAD, Carol Clouser, Blast, afdave, and thordummy than read DaVinci Code. Oh, wait - I have been in that room....

stevestory Posts: 13407 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 17 2006,14:36    Quote I'd rather be trapped in a room with Heddle, DaveScot, JAD, Carol Clouser, Blast, afdave, and thordummy I think I'd rather be on that Dateline sex predator bust than be in that room. (Put the phone down Dembski, I was just kidding. No need to call Homeland Securitah)

Arden Chatfield Posts: 6657 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 18 2006,04:31    Quote (stevestory @ May 17 2006,19:36) Quote I'd rather be trapped in a room with Heddle, DaveScot, JAD, Carol Clouser, Blast, afdave, and thordummy I think I'd rather be on that Dateline sex predator bust than be in that room. (Put the phone down Dembski, I was just kidding. No need to call Homeland Securitah) So, Steve, did you actually end up buying and reading the DaVinci Code, or did you go with one of the other suggestions made here? -------------- "Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

stevestory Posts: 13407 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 18 2006,04:50    I'll probably end up reading the DaVinci Code at some point. Yesterday I bought The Name of the Rose, and so that's going to keep me busy for a month or so.

guthrie Posts: 696 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 18 2006,06:11    I finished Foucoults Pendulum last week, still feeling the after effects.  Its the ideal antidote to Browns drivel.  I think I spotted some of the intellectual jokes, name dropping etc, but also distrubringly enough, I have heard of a lot of the groups and history mentioned in the story.

BWE Posts: 1902 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 18 2006,06:38    Focault's Pendulum might be the most complicated book I ever read. I read it before I read davinci code and boy oh boy are they different. Lot's of perspective. -------------- Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered When wished on the morning star Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it Look what it's done so far The Daily Wingnut

Faid Posts: 1143 Joined: Mar. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 18 2006,10:02    Quote (guthrie @ May 18 2006,11:11) I finished Foucoults Pendulum last week, still feeling the after effects.  Its the ideal antidote to Browns drivel.  I think I spotted some of the intellectual jokes, name dropping etc, but also distrubringly enough, I have heard of a lot of the groups and history mentioned in the story. Foucault's Pendulum has everything but the kitchen sink in: I think some priest even calls to Cthulhu at some point.  It's a religious conspiracy fan's Bible. Baudolino, however, was like Foucault's Pendulum in the middle ages: Felt like yesterday's soup to me. Still well-written, though; I guess that's what makes a writer. -------------- A look into DAVE HAWKINS' sense of honesty: "The truth is that ALL mutations REDUCE information" "...mutations can add information to a genome.  And remember, I have never said that this is not possible."

sir_toejam Posts: 846 Joined: April 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 21 2006,10:48    well, for better or worse, I'm going to catch the film version right now. I'll give a full review in a few hours. wish me luck.

guthrie Posts: 696 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 21 2006,12:38    Quote (Faid @ May 18 2006,15:02) Foucault's Pendulum has everything but the kitchen sink in: I think some priest even calls to Cthulhu at some point.  It's a religious conspiracy fan's Bible. Baudolino, however, was like Foucault's Pendulum in the middle ages: Felt like yesterday's soup to me. Still well-written, though; I guess that's what makes a writer. Yup, I saw the appeal to Cthulu as well.  But I understand the Illuminati trilogy by Robert Anton wilson is also a good read.   Wow, he even appears to have his own website: http://www.rawilson.com/main.shtml

sir_toejam Posts: 846 Joined: April 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 21 2006,15:16    Well, I'm sure those who hated the book are going to find this surprising, but I found it to be a well acted, well directed, well paced flick. there was some stress to keep the interpretations "open ended", which actually improved the premise over that of the book (even if only slightly), IMO. My main criticism would only be that it actually stuck too close to the book, and so tried to include a bit more than was really necessary at times. I've ceertainly seen far worse flicks in the last year. I'd give it a B grade overall. worth seeing if you like "action mysteries", and can stuff your conceptions of reality in a box for a while.

stevestory Posts: 13407 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: June 10 2006,14:35    Oh my god. I just finished The Name of the Rose, and I have never been more disappointed in a book. The climax--which I won't get specific about here because it's a spoiler, obviously--is the biggest let-down I have ever experienced in a work of fiction.

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