Dan Brown

[The page master]

im just starting to read the da vinche code ive heared its really good , im in to it already , i know its abit common but i find it really intresting .

does anyone know if im ment to read angels and demons first ??? ..

[Rosalind]

'Angels and Demons' comes chronologically first, but there's no continuity, so you don't need to worry. I have heard, however, that 'Angels and Demons' is much better than 'The Da Vinci Code.' I've only read 'Da Vinci,' so I don't know. Personally, I thought it was fun, but I don't know what all the fuss is about.

[papayahed]

'Angels and Demons' comes chronologically first, but there's no continuity, so you don't need to worry. I have heard, however, that 'Angels and Demons' is much better than 'The Da Vinci Code.' I've only read 'Da Vinci,' so I don't know. Personally, I thought it was fun, but I don't know what all the fuss is about.

What Rosalind said.

[Mark F.]

Hmmm, I've read his three other novels (that's not really clear is it?). What I mean is that I haven't read Angles and Demons. I started with Da Vinci Code which I enjoyed even though it's rubbish. Then I read Disruption Point and found myself guessing everything that was coming next after reading less than half of the novel. Finally I read Digital Fotress and now I was guessing it all from the start. So once you're through with one of his novels, in your case Da Vinci Code, leave the others alone. It's always the same story, just different characters (although the man is invariably a professor and the girl a government agent).

[Erna]

It's not my own experience, but I've heard the before what Mark F. said. A friend of mine had read first 'The Da Vinci Code' (as did I) and after that 'Angels and Demons'. She had the feeling she was reading the same story again, so I didn't even try.

[underground]

the dan brown formula: take one educated, single, nearly-perfect man. take one sharp, single, nearly-perfect woman. invent a world crisis and insert a lot of facts to make it look credible. put both man and woman in the case. add one assassin or three. let some unimportant characters die. let the man and the woman approach near-death. let the ostensibly-trustable person to reveal himself to be the one Behind It All. after the puzzle is solved, let the man and the woman get together and live happily ever after.

i like the deception point, though.

[HandBag]

I was intrigued by the Da Vinci Code when it first came out, so i read it and was utterly let down.

the book is somewhat dull, predictable and hurridly written, as if he was more bothered about the concepts and not the execution of the plot itself. I can only imagine it sold lots of copies due to the controversy..

[Literal]

the dan brown formula: take one educated, single, nearly-perfect man. take one sharp, single, nearly-perfect woman. invent a world crisis and insert a lot of facts to make it look credible. put both man and woman in the case. add one assassin or three. let some unimportant characters die. let the man and the woman approach near-death. let the ostensibly-trustable person to reveal himself to be the one Behind It All. after the puzzle is solved, let the man and the woman get together and live happily ever after.

You said the words right out of my mouth...

[Rosalind]

the book is somewhat dull, predictable and hurridly written, as if he was more bothered about the concepts and not the execution of the plot itself. I can only imagine it sold lots of copies due to the controversy..

I guess there's just no explaining taste. The controversey probably was a big selling point, but I don't understand why so many people were up in arms about it, either. It's just a beach read. A fairly entertaining work of fiction. It wasn't meant to be a theological treatise, an expose on the life of Jesus, or a serious attack on the Catholic Church (well, I don't know how Mr. Brown feels about the Catholic Church, so for all I know it could be, but anyway...). What's all the hoolabaloo?

[melee82]

take one educated, single, nearly-perfect man. take one sharp, single, nearly-perfect woman. invent a world crisis and insert a lot of facts to make it look credible. put both man and woman in the case. add one assassin or three. let some unimportant characters die. let the man and the woman approach near-death. let the ostensibly-trustable person to reveal himself to be the one Behind It All. after the puzzle is solved, let the man and the woman get together and live happily ever after.

I wouldn't be that mean! Da Vinci Code is obviously not the best piece of literature, but I believe most of today's bubblegum books can fit that mold if not one similar.

[Rachy]

I personally loved The Da Vinci Code and I've almost finished Angels and Demons! They might be quite similar but I'm not letting that spoil me reading it. I think they are both really well written, I hate books that just drag on and on and don't get to the point.

[HandBag]

beach reading books as they are called are not for me, if i engage myself between pages i like it to be delicious. ;)


Dan Brown will be in the bargin bin quite soon i imagine.

[Mark F.]

Yeah, I can picture his books in every second hand store next year.

[tiny explorer]

:nod: Me too, just starting to read it. I browsed in the net on others view on the book...Most say it's FULL of blasphemy.The words written were really breaking Christian faith...It's full of nagativity.It drives me not to read it at all....maybe i got a little scared. ;)

[Rosalind]

Yeah, some people consider it blasphemous because it suggests some pretty radical things about the life of Jesus. I think they're overreacting, because the book is a novel, not a theological or historical paper. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Furthermore, if those who challenge the book could see it as a opening of good discussion as opposed to a threat, they might find it to their advantage. ;)

[Lauralou]

You have to remember the book is a fictional novel and not all of the things Brown says are true or even credible. I found it entertaining to some degree because I like art and history but it by no means is a great literary masterpiece. I personally thought Angels and Demons was a more interesting book because it was less predictable. I'm a devout Catholic and I really don't consider this novel blaspemous... its fiction and even has a disclaimer in the beginning of the novel... I think ppl take somethings way too seriously.

[tiny explorer]

Don't find me over reacting then but....Of all,Why make stories of Jesus' life?Isn't he scared that God might be angry with that? I'm scared regarding his issue on the novel.It's GOD!!hello?? It makes sense, it matters though it's a novel.

[A Hard Rain]

lets just leave it that Dan Brown can have whatever opinion he wants as with anybody can denounce any God they want... at least in the U.S. No mobs after Dan Brown please. I think we could find a better candidate!

However, i did once heard that freedom of speech is not something you are given, i heard it was something you gave yourself.

[underground]

i really don't get why some people are, per se, afraid of the da vinci code. when i was reading it, for example (oh, just to know what the hype was all about :p), i got a dirty look from my christian friends. it seems like people are assuming that if you read the da vinci code, you're automatically agreeing with its content (even if they haven't read it and therefore do not really know what the content is except for it's blasphemous). please. does reading about the moslems will automatically make you a moslem? does reading about the kabbalah will automatically make you jewish?

i still don't know what the hype of the da vinci code is all about, but some of the riddles were actually fun to try to solve. and i'd say if you're a christian and your faith is strong enough, i don't think you're going to have to worry about being plunged into the hole of uncertainty and questioning God's existence and being and whatnot.

[Lauralou]

The fact some Christians have very strong opposition to the book generally makes it more interesting to the general public and gains more publicity for the book. I think its sad but true that posting such an "unorthodox" idea of Christianity's roots <even though it is not and doesn't claim to be accurate> is a way for authors to make big bucks. I can understand how some Christains feel that making a ficton Novel of Christianity is disrespectfu and make some feel as if nothing is sacred. However their outrage seems to strike curiosity in others which lead them to read the book. Instead of the desired boycott, the book becomes a best seller.

[jakobin]

angels and demons is much better than da vinci code.

i think they are worth reading, because then you can discuss them in forums like this :p but also because they are interesting, and it does make you think about alot. for those with a strong faith, there is nothing to worry about. for those weak-faithed, then u should definetely read it to put you on either side of the church.

im not saying that this book decides your level of faith. if you want to decide your faith, read the bible, and pray.