Why do people think Dan Brown is the next best thing since sliced bread?

Question

I hear his name everywhere, and even my mother is a big fan - even though I have a strong suspicion that her IQ is higher than his... - but I've read one book of his, and in all fairness, the only thing I liked is the fact that his work drew attention to the TOPIC!

As far as I'm concerned, his writing is very basic and very poor (for a language teacher), there was no spirit in the story, he didn't do enough research, and then he dares to write it down and publish it. The end was very predictable, and I'm sure knowledge of the topic as well as knowledge of pshychology of the individuals lacked.

Reading the one book put me off of reading any of his others.

So WHY is he so bleeding popular?!

Roddy Dolye does that for me ;) and at least his read has interesting plots and more realistic dialogues! ^.^

Yawn; his books are NOT realistic. The dialogues and the personalities of his characters are very poor and obviously forced. And about the church... I'll just leave you in your ignorance there. There's more about the church than people know, but obviously Dan Brown isn't meant to be the one to tell us that, as his understanding of what exactly goes on behind closed doors there, is very poor as well, along with half the world's population.

The fact that none of these 'secret organisations' have yet put a price on his head, and that he still walks around with nothing to fear but mad evangelic lunatics, proves that he was FAR OFF the mark.

Well, Kevin - I've been interested in the topic that he wrote about in that certain book of his I was talking about, and not only did he only come up with things I've known for years and so is old news, he had a serious misunderstanding about it and came to very wrong conclusions.

Answer 1

Sliced bread was one invention which would have been better not invented. The only Dan Brown novel I've read was The da Vinci Code, 'cos my daughter lent it to me and I didn't have anything else to read at the time. Plagiarism, inaccurate (At one stage they go into a Paris Railway Station near the Stock Exchange and Opera (Gare St. Lazare) and come out from the 'same' station in an industrial zone with ethnic overtones (Gare du Nord - which isn't exactly industrial)) and quite frankly, da Vinci experts would not have taken til the end of the book to figure out the message was in mirror writing.
Might be alright for people who think Paris is in Texas, but I thought it was a load of garbage . and this has nothing to do with blasphemy or sacrilege. If I ever find myself with nothing to read in the future, I'll pick up the telephone directory!

Answer 2

I might ask the reverse question, why does everyone like to bash him for his writng? I mean you ciritcize him for writing what he probably thinks is good writing that took him a lot of time and effort.

To answer your question though, his books appeal to the masses, people who might like to read but don't want to spend hour after hour deciphering dialogue or reading about descriptions of places like many "classics."

He typically has a simple plot that follows a clear direction to a logical conclusion. They are not hard to understand yet interesting enough to hold attention. His dialogues and exchanges are to the point, essentially like normal people would speak. I'm not really sure where your jabs on his research comes from...he certainly researches his topics far more extensively than say 95% of authors?

Basically, he's writing for people who want to read, not for literary snobs to critique. If you want to delve into a literary masterpiece, go pick up a Doestoevsky or Dickens. If you want to have a good time and easy reading then pick up a Dan Brown.

Answer 3

It has the combination of being easy to read with excellent pacing and an attractive plot outline.
That's why the reading masses buy it - so that they can really enjoy a story without trying too hard.
For those with more discerning literary palates, you're right, the language is poor. The dialogue is at points, trite and contrived. The conclusions are also usually unsatisfactory. That said, they are not bad to read even if you are used to better things of greater substance and intellect. It is afterall, nice to just switch off sometimes.

Answer 4

Well, that... I don't know. But hey, I guess everyone has a different opinion. I'm totally in love with JK Rowling's books but people just CAN'T see why. They don't understand and neither do I. Lol ;)

Answer 5

easy reading , doesnt make u think ... u get films like it , easy watching ... sometimes ppl like to read/watch stuff that doesnt require much thought....

Answer 6

all his books are very realistic. They may even be secretly true about the corruption of the church

Answer 7

marketing, hype and muppetry.

i dont think he is either.