Does anyone agree that Dan Brown's 'novels' are literary crap and appeal to the likes of Sun readers only?

Answer 1

I have read 3 of his books. I really do not know if I could stomach any more. Wow. Where to begin. The concept - good. The description of the action taking place - good. The plot twists - dime a dozen. And the stories at face value - GAG!

These books are what I call the Harlequin of fiction. They are purchased by the drove by those that are looking for a read, but have never so much as picked up a classic, award winner, or something that has substance. The books are all terrible.

I have read Davinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Digital Fortress. All three had plot twists that were mostly predictable, with the exception of the last one that came out of NO WHERE - and generally did not make sense.

For example in Davinci code - he required a reason for Sophie and her uncle to be on difficult terms, and so ohhh - orgy with his secret society trying to protect something works. WHAT group of people trying to keep information secret would gather for ANY reason other than an emergency to ensure the information remains compartementalised. C'mon. Her suddenly betraying her agency to help the main character. Unlikely. The bank situaiton - a tool to create some suspens. Ohhh for a plot twist. The bank manager suddenly wanting in on it. Let's not forget the englishman who conveniently lives nearby. How well, convenient! Then all the sides get turned upside down. The butler is a spy, The friend is a bad guy, and the cops are still clueless. And our leading lady suddenly discovered to be the one at the end of the story to be what we have been looking for the entire time.

Angels - Starts with someone dying, like davinci. Mr. Langdon being the one who is under suspicion, like davinci. The stolen device, oh this is new.The leading female being related to the dead man - davinci. The running and hiding . I think we saw this in davinci did we not. This time it was rome, not france and england. Howabout people dying systematically. We've also seen this. Now here's where things get interesting. He survives a fall from a helicopter at god knows how many feet. and water saved his life? ha ha! not going to happen. I'd love to see someone jump out of a plane and survive without a parachute. He just cant die can he. The revelation of the HUGE plot twist. The man trying to help Mr. Langdon and his female lead stop everyone one, suddenly is discovered to be the bad guy.

Now I understand Angels & Demons came before The Da Vinci Code, but I read them in the wrong order (go me) hence the comparison in that order. These are just a few of the parallels between the two books.

This doesnt include the fact that the author offers to intros that state the 'secret societies' and what not are real, and what they are hiding is plausible, but yet in both books we see things that are not plausible and not possible. Primarily in Angels. The faster than hell ship, and falling from an unknown height. Right there discredited ANY work this author as being considered one of the better writers of our time. He's not. His stories are gimic driven, formulaic and boring.

I havent even touched on Digital Fortress as Brown seems to have stepped away from his chosen material , however it still follows the same format for his gimics and the formula for a great novel. Hmmmm. Worked for one, change the subject matter, it'll work for more right? HA HA! no.

Now I can go on and on about Dan Brown and is fictional status as a good author, but my ramblings are barely cohesive as is and im really just putting down my initial reaction to the question. Don't consider this my well thought out answer because that could write a novel on it's own.

Answer 2

I like the theory of the story behind the novel The Da Vinci code, but thought the quality of writing (the literary standard) was pretty crap to be honest.

It took me a long while to pick up Da Vinci Code, mainly because of all the hype. I was told it was very heavy going by many people, but still haven't been able to work out where they thought it started getting tough to read!

The depth of knowledge of Opus Dei, a Parisien gallery, and two churches in London and Scotland, were not enough for me to find any appeal in the book or its characters.

I've read historical/factual books on the Marion Conspiracy/Theory (that Jesus had a wife and child) and am interested in the idea, hence the appeal that finally drove me to read the book. Although they are far from new theories they are still interesting and relevant today. Just not enough on their own to keep a novel enjoyable, in my opinion.

The film was abysmal, and if you hadn't read the book you wouldn't have a hope in hell of understanding the meaning in the film. It is confusing to follow (even having read the book), particularly as I watched it with someone who hadn't read the book and I had to try to explain things, unsure as to whether or not the film would bother to explain it later! It has certainly been dumbed down.

I think the film was made on the basis that most people would have read the book first... Which is silly because it seems a lot of people just wait for the film rather than bother to read a book!

I've not read any of his other books yet and am in two minds as to whether or not to do so. I think I would enjoy the ideas again, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with the poor writing.

I think I would read them if they were lent to me, but I wouldn't pay to read them.

As far as plausability and reality goes, I would concede that what Mr Brown himself states is correct, it is novel based on factual places and actual societies, but it is a story, or theory, at the end of the day.

CG.

ps, I read The Daily Mail and The Times :)

Favourite books:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Hobbit
Vanity Fair
The Picture of Dorien Grey
Wuthering Heights

Just to give you an idea of what I would normally read in comparison.

Answer 3

Not "literary" but certainly "crap".

The Dan Brown books are certainly designed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and to do so they use the following devices:
* very short chapters ending on cliff-hangers and alternating plot streams. These encourage the reader to read just one more chapter and impart a sense of excitement.
* have puzzles easy enough for the reader to solve before the characters in the book. This encourages the readership to think that they are very clever.

And that's about it. Otherwise the characters are one-dimensional and the plots derivative.

Not likely to appeal to anybody who has been exposed to better written books.

Answer 4

I agree Matthew about those short chapters with cliffhangers, which is part of writing a good interesting novel.

Sadly, Dan Brown's writing is boring. When I am reading a good novel, I can't wait to see the next page. I read "Angels & Demons," and "The Da Vinci Code," and I did not like them and the worse thing is that, as lover who reads novels, they I will not leave a book even if it is not interesting. hoping that it will get better.

No way, think it took me at least 3 months to finish each of his novels, when I had nothing else to read or do.

And stupid me, I went to see the movie which was the same book and boring.

Answer 5

I've read two of his novels, and yes, they are literary crap, but no, they appeal to all sorts of readers, if you take them for what they are. Writers like Brown, Stephen King, JK Rowling, Dean Koontz, John le Carre, etc. have no intention of writing "literary" works along the lines of Richard Ford, Graham Greene, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison, Will Self, and that lot, but they are great diversions--what we like to call "beach reads" or "airplane reads". I'd much rather take "Angels and Demons" on a plane to pass the time than "Beloved," but the latter will challenge me more than the former.

Answer 6

For the most part, yes. I hate the way there's no characterization throughout the story: the characters are basically flat and remain the same people at the end of the story that they were at the beginning. Beyond that, the plot-driven narrative follows a pretty predictable formula. And the ideas it presented aren't even original, they've cropped up in thrillers in the past. But he must have done something right, even if it's only make millions and millions on the sale of his books.

Answer 7

Hey! I like The Sun! But to say "The DaVinci Code" is his best novel, is not to rate his writing in general as good literature. I don't think it's crap, but it's pretty formulaic.

Some people here think that Dan Brown is the best thing since sliced bread or Shakespeare. But then again, people in Shakespeare's time mostly thought of him as a run-of-the-mill playwright. And they didn't even have Page 3 to turn to!

Answer 8

I'd say it depends on how one's tastes and Dan Brown's goals as a writer mesh--yours obviously don't "mesh" with his! I read a wide variety of books, and I can see how one can get caught up in the IDEA behind "code"...it brings to mind a child's enthusiasm as she digs holes in the back yard looking for fossils. Does he write books of great literary merit that will be studied for their style in college classrooms for years to come? More than likely no...but I dare say he's laughing all the way to the bank, don't you? The problem with writing is, not everything is going to appeal to everyone.

Answer 9

umm no i dont agree. I read all kinds of books from the great classics to the modern books of today. I don't think books are classified correctly. Like harry potter is going to be a "classic" in the future. Now i love the books but i really don't see how they classify as a classic. i wouldn't call dan brown's books the next classics but they are good and offer a different perspective.

Answer 10

Based on only "The Da Vinci Code" (I've not read his other stories) I have to say that I don't agree. I found the book, the research behind it and the intertwining of history and fiction to be very intriguing.