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Your thoughts on Dan Brown

"The Lost Symbol" represents several lost hours I'll never get back. Blech. Surely there is at least one criticism out there somewhere that says it is the 'DaVinci Code with Masons'. Longer. More boring. More plot holes.

I thought that DaVinci Code must have set a new record for anticlimatic endings. It has nothing on The Lost Symbol, where the story ends about 2/3 through.

Accepting Brown's research is sort of like accepting that because there really is an England, and castles - there is also a Hogwarts Castle.

The movie though, I liked. Of course I'd watch just about anything with Audrey Tautou.
 
I found it interesting that he claimed what he said in The Lost Symbol was true. Its certainly entertaining if your into that sort of pop culture fiction/drama, but most of the plot points are pure mythology. For example, in the book one of the major things is there is supposedly a masonic altar and room of reflection deep under the Capitol. No such thing exists - there are rooms under the capitol and every inch of space is being used by someone due to there being so many people there and such limited office space. You couldn't hide anything under there. I also found it kind of amusing because to my knowledge no one in the US uses a chamber of reflection beyond a handful of lodges, so its interesting hed pick that to to be part of his plot (although I guess the Chamber does provide enough spooky imagery for the un-initiated).
 
Greedo, I can't see that Dan has done ANY original research because every novel of his "borrows" (and I use that term carefully) heavily from existing conspiracy theory books from the last four decades, and he hasn't presented a truly original idea in anything he's written so far.

He hasn't "uncovered" anything new at all -- unless you allow that to mean new FOR HIM.

I find it rather insulting that he trots out these "discoveries" like he was the first to ever suggest them.

As a novelist, I think he didn't do quite a bad job with Deception Point. That was the only one of his I actually enjoyed the process of reading.
 
I've read A&D, DC and LS. Quite frankly, I wish I hadn't read the latest book. I was already getting burnt out on fiction in general and LS sealed the deal.
 
The only one I read was 'Angels And Demons' and there are worse things to read (probably), I was reminded of a line by Stephen King, about lackluster films, in which the the only taste left in your mouth is that of the popcorn. I didn't know much about the historical Illuminati, but IIRC, didn't this book say outright that The Secret Shadow Lords existed long before Adam Weishaupt?
 
Dan Brown is no Ecco the Dolphin, for that matter.
 
BaaBaa said:
..., but IIRC, didn't this book say outright that The Secret Shadow Lords existed long before Adam Weishaupt?
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Yeah that somewhat annoyed me. Utter nonsense. Didn't he at some point even claim DaVinci himself was an Illuminati? :rolleyes:
 
Probably. I have a vague memory of saying 'this is bullshiiiii, man...'. The 'Holy Blood/Holy Grail' writers could have picked up on that, as the grandmasters or whatever of the Priory of Sion were (again, IIRC) were a list of European notables....

Long story short, it's a dopey book and the only thing cool about it are those puzzley brands.
 
In my view, "Lost Symbol" was a bit of a dud. I'd read two other books by Brown (no relation) and I basically spotted all of the major plot twists. The plot might not have been so obvious if I hadn't read the other books.
 
I have to disagree about Deception Point. I find it by far the most ridiculous of Dan Brown's story lines. A U.S. election hinging on the burning political issue of funding for NASA? Hello, remember the economy, crime, education, foreign policy, taxes, the environment, health care, gay rights, abortion...?

By comparison, anti-matter bombs and centuries-long conspiracies protecting the secret bloodline of Jesus are totally plausible.

Respectfully,
Myriad
 
I have to disagree about Deception Point. I find it by far the most ridiculous of Dan Brown's story lines. A U.S. election hinging on the burning political issue of funding for NASA? Hello, remember the economy, crime, education, foreign policy, taxes, the environment, health care, gay rights, abortion...?
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Not to mention that the entire conspiracy involved some serious research into biology, paleontology, etc. Ever check out the NSF funding for geology? Not that great. Though he was right that if the government WERE to do something like this (they don't know enough to do so, in my experience), the public would never figure it out.

Yeah that somewhat annoyed me. Utter nonsense. Didn't he at some point even claim DaVinci himself was an Illuminati?
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Yup. Which is funny--DaVinci was a bit of a flake. It took him so long to paint The Last Supper that the plaster was pealing before he was done, and his patron had to bully him to finish it. He had more in common with Leonard of Quirm from Discworld than he did someone who could orchestrate a centuries-long conspiracy.
 
The Charnel Expanse said:
He's a poor man's Umberto Eco.
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No. He's the Umberto Eco of destitute, semi-educated morons.

I have to confess that the only Umberto Eco books I've read are The Name of the Rose, which I loved, and Foucault's Pendulum, in which I thought Eco indulged in intellectual snobbery to a degree that was detrimental to my reading experience. He is smart and has encyclopedic knowledge of history, but I felt like he was showing off in that book. That was mildly irritating, but naturally nowhere near as infuriating as Brown trying to do the same by displaying whatever crap he's managed to find on google.
 
Greedo said:
Hi Jrefers! :)

I've been thinking about this after watching an interview with the above mentioned author on his newest work, "The Lost Symbol".

I have to say here, that I haven't read it, nor am I really planning to.
I've only read "Angels and Demons", back then I was a kid, so I'm not quite sure if I'd like it today ;) . Otherwise, I've watched the movie adaptation, as well as "The DaVinci Code".

Anyway, in an interview he went on how he is indeed a great skeptic, and that everything he said about the Freemasons was true and how he had to do such extensive research. After all the book took him six years to finish Now, again, I haven't read the book, but considering his track record of making CT nuts go nuts (although I realize one only needs to mention the word 'Mason' for them to do so ;) )...

He also thought the most shocking thing he "discovered" was a painting inside the Capitol's dome wich depicts George Washington looking down as a god :jaw-dropp :rolleyes:

I'm a bit skeptical of his claims. What are your thoughts on this matter?
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OK, I first read The DaVinci code, and enjoyed it as a rollicking work of fiction. Suspension of disbelief, etc. Load of bovine excrement, but so what?

Then I moved on to Digital Fortress.

Never before have I shouted at a book. The whole premise was such utter rot.

Turned me off him forever.
 
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