by Dan Brown<\/i>
\nWell, first of all, kudos to my Dad for sending my Mum to Scotland, ostensibly to visit my gran, just to find me a paperback copy of this! I have managed to avoid The Da Vinci Code<\/i> thus far simply because I have been waiting for the paperback, for a couple of reasons – first, because $30+ for a hardback seems a little extravagant for a novel, and second, because I tend to read in bed, or at least in semi-prone positions on the couch, and hardbacks are heavy.<\/p>\n
\nIn the meantime, I found and read a couple of Brown’s previous works, namely, Deception Point<\/i> and Angels and Demons,<\/i> which is the first Robert Langdon novel (Langdon being the main character of TDVC<\/i>, slated to be played by Tom Hanks in the inevitable movie). I enjoyed both, but I have to say, I preferred Deception Point<\/i>. Brown’s books are in the same vein as Turow, early Clancy, and le Carre – good, old fashioned mystery-suspense thrillers, with a twist. In the case of TDVC<\/i>, the twist is religion, as it is in A&D<\/i>. Deception Point<\/i> deals with NASA and the U.S. government, proving that Brown does, in fact, have other interests.
\nTDVC<\/i> is a good book – it’s a fast, compelling read, and the characters in it speak as you would expect professors and cryptologists to speak; there is little pandering to the masses here, at least in terms of vocabulary. In fact, reading this with the knowledge that a movie is definitely in the works, I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not the screen adaptation will be ‘dumbed down’ a little. For instance:
\n“[it] is the ancient symbol for womanhood, and represents the sacred feminine and the goddess, which of course has now been lost, virtually eliminated by the Church… I should add that this concept of woman as life-bringer was the foundation of ancient religion. Childbirth was mystical and powerful. Sadly, Christian philosophy decided to embezzle the female’s creative power by ignoring biological truth and making man the Creator.”
\nNow, this is great stuff – interesting, completely plausible, and spoken in a vocabulary consistent with the character, who in this case is an Oxfordian who has studied the Holy Grail his entire life. On the screen, however, I’m not sure this level of vocabulary translates as well. I guess we’ll see.
\nTo reiterate, this is a good book – and follows the same kind of idea I first encountered in Angels and Demons<\/i>, which is perhaps why I wasn’t blown away by it here. Langdon in a Harvard symbologist (a rank of which we are reminded rather frequently) who accidentally finds himself involved in a highbrow intellectual game of catch-me-if-you-can, complete with shadowy Vatican figures, ancient legends, and the occasional car chase (including one with a SmartCar, and another with a custom-made Jaguar limo). So action-packed, but in a well-educated context.
\nIf I hadn’t read Angels and Demons<\/i>, I might have enjoyed TDVC <\/i>a little more, not least because the female love interest from A&D<\/i> is very casually written out of the story at the beginning of TDVC <\/i>to make room for a new one, which seems a little arbitrary, not to mention a little out of character, as it were, given the whole Cult of the Goddess aspect.
\nHaving said that, this is still a good book!
\nBrown is a tactful writer – he doesn’t assume that his readers are familiar with issues that are necessarily well-known to his main characters, so he builds the story around two characters whose fields of expertise are complementary, so they can explain themselves to each other. He also has his characters preface some of the these explanations with “as most people know” or “many people believe” before moving into an extrapolation – neatly ‘reminding’ the reader of information ‘most people know’ without coming across as an intellectual snob who assumes that in fact, very few people know much of anything.
\nBrown is also a good writer – he manages to create an aura of suspense, despite the somewhat predictable plot. In fact, part of the suspense (for me, at least) lies in wondering when, for Pete’s sake, are these characters going to see this really, really obvious thing that I figured out in the last chapter, and which is vital to the forward progress of the plot? At times, I felt a little like I do when I watch game shows like ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ if you see what I mean.
\nRecommendation – yes, definitely, but it is safe to wait for the paperback, which will no doubt be released in North America eventually. Also, in the meantime, I strongly recommend Deception Point<\/i> and Angels and Demons<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Dan Brown Well, first of all, kudos to my Dad for sending my Mum to Scotland, ostensibly to visit my gran, just to find me a paperback copy of this! I have managed to avoid The Da Vinci Code thus far simply because I have been waiting for the paperback, for a couple of … <\/p>\n