Dan Brown. Good Author or Bad author?.?

Question

What do you think & why?

Answer 1

Bad authors become best sellers because they appeal to the lowest common denominator. Dan Brown, like many other "Best sellers" writes flat and uninspiring prose and usually takes a good idea like "the DaVinci Code" for example and makes it too boring to get through without wanting to go through it with a red marker and actually CHANGE the prose.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson committed similar blasphemy with the continuation of Frank Herbert's Dune cycle. The ideas were good, the whole exploration of Frank Herbert's universe from an earlier period could have worked...but the richness of Herbert's original writing style was utterly GONE.

But anyway, back to Dan Brown. I don't think he's a bad writer. I think he's an incredibly lazy one. His works don't suck, they just aren't any good because whenever I read his (or similar authors) booksI get through the stories only because I hate leaving books unfinished. I judge an author by his or her ability to make me go "Now THAT is a good sentence." Dan Brown hasn't done that. His ideas are good. Solid. But if I'm gonna pay hard earned money for a book, it's gonna be one that seduces me.

Answer 2

I will give below my opinion I wrote to some TV channels and News Papers.

The world is seriously concerned and the Christian World (especially the Roman Catholic Church) is hurt through a book of an individual that contains his own manipulations. That too on a subject of more than two thousand years old with no adequate evidence for the views he has.

Dan Brown is nothing but a cunning writer where he found a safe base to start his game. The base from where he started his book is already well known to the whole world and so he had no doubt that his book would a best seller. His mind is nothing better than that of a crazy street boy who tries to spoil or tarnish a sculpture or a statue or a painting that was admired by rest of the world. He succeeded in doing it. The act can be compared with that of the Talibans who destroyed the Budha’s statue. Here, I am not comparing their aims.

Now to the Christian world and the Roman Catholic Church I have a question. If your God is powerful, why don’t you leave the matter to Him to handle? Is not your almighty God powerful enough to handle a Dan Brown, if his views are against Him?

Dan Brown, Salman Rushdie, Kazantzakkis etc.are all such writers who had another indirect aim in their minds that fame is easy when they try to tarnish a famous matter. Keeping aside their literary talents there is nothing worth admiring. But they succeeded and the media and whole world are being fooled. Moreover, when one religion is insulted the rest rejoice. This is another key point of their success.

Answer 3

Definitely a good author. Just because he wrote a FICTIONAL book and people started to believe it was real shouldn't detract from his skills as an author. Having read all four of his books (Da Vinci, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, & Digital Fortress) I can tell you that every book was well written, very detailed, and suspenseful with excellent character development. He has written true page-turners which millions of people have read... at the very least he should get props for getting so many people to turn off the tv for a few hours and expand their minds a little with a book.

Answer 4

great, i've read angels&demons, the davinci code, and deception point. i'd have to say that deception is by far the best, but i loved the other two as well. i think that people look to far into his books and start major controversies that cover the news for weeks instead of more important issues. i believe that the world needs to realize, although he may be trying to get a point across like so many other authors, that a book's sole purpose is for entertainment, and looking at that aspect only makes him a good author. if an author can keep you on the edge of your the seat throughout the whole book, then they must be good.

Answer 5

I know this is only my opinion but I believe he is a great writer. He knows a good story and how to tell it. He knows how to take readers on an exciting, breathtaking adventure ride, and keep us interested. And the facts he presents is presented in a casual style, he doesn't try to beat you over the head with a textbook legend of the facts he stuffs in, the facts are easy to read and fun to follow. And Dan Brown lets the audience participate a bit, get a little brain exercise. And his characters are interesting, carboard or not, it's up for debate, and you either like them or hate them. And at the end, he knows how to throw in a little twist that makes you jump out of your seat and go, "Oh, yeah." He's a writer that knows what story he wants to tell.

Answer 6

A good author. Brown writte compelling books that are a treat to read. However, like many authors in the supermarket he relies on a formula and simple plot devices. If you are looking for literature look elsewhere.

Answer 7

Great story teller, but a terrible writer. His stories are very catching. The plot, something that many of the "great" writers seem to have no understanding of, plays a huge role in his books. So, whether or not you think he is a good author all depends on your ability to ignore his terribe writing style and absolute lack of classic writing skills and simply enjoy a good story.

Answer 8

I think he's good at coming up with stories, but bad at actually writing them.
His books - and I've read pretty much all of them - are like action movies on paper. The characters are two-dimensional, and they never develop. Instead, it's purely the plot pushing things forward.
His writing style is, in my opinion, overly simplistic. It reminds me of watching a Scooby-Doo mystery - he even has parts where the main characters get together to plan - and then the chapter ends. Just like in the cartoon, where the gang would plan the trap - right before going to commercial.

So, like I said - good stories, but poor writing. I guess that makes him an "ok" author, in my book.

Answer 9

I think he's very good at spinning an enjoyable story (regardless of whether it's real or, as in this case, not) but his style of writing with the short chapters and simple sentences lets him down and prevents his book being anything more than something to read on a plane and leave there at the end of the flight.

Answer 10

Bad. I am not sure he wrote the entire book. There have been accusations that he didn't and I believe them because the writting is too inconsistent. Also if Robert Langdon is so brilliant why did he continue to make incredibly stupid choices? I'm leaving the Louvre, no I'm staying, I'm on my way out, oh no I thought of something so I'm going back (It's called a cell phone use it outside as you're running away!) Anyway I thought the quality was poor and the story only marginally interesting.