The November Big Read

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 18 Nov 2004, 17:41

bearcub wrote:
Sandra wrote:Bearcub took a book for Dadaist Thursday and lost it on the way home...
...and considering we live just round the corner, thats some achievement

I feel somehow responsible for a drunk person I've never met losing a book I've never read after being at a party I didn't go to.

(does Cher impression) "if I could tuurn back tiiime......"

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 18 Nov 2004, 22:09

Dadaist wrote:
bearcub wrote:
Sandra wrote:Bearcub took a book for Dadaist Thursday and lost it on the way home...
...and considering we live just round the corner, thats some achievement
I feel somehow responsible for a drunk person I've never met losing a book I've never read after being at a party I didn't go to.

(does Cher impression) "if I could tuurn back tiiime......"

I wouldn't feel too bad Dadaist, same drunk person found out he was sober enough to find a safe hiding place for said book (v safe seeing as it took 4 days to find!), so book is still your's if you want - shall we try again at Xmas night out??

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 18 Nov 2004, 22:20

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 18 Nov 2004, 23:51

Will take it along to Dalriada on the 4th, could be a good idea to take it off me early though, otherwise might end up 'hidden' again

prombabe · Post by **prombabe** » 19 Nov 2004, 12:41

HEY guess what book I've got my hands on.friend told me to read it and I had'nt even told her about the BIG read. Mr p is reading it at the moment and is nearly finished so I'll give it a go,I'll probably see the film before I finish the book although I'm not a big Tom Hanks fan so maybe I'll just stick to the book. Wish me luck you know how fast I read

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 23 Nov 2004, 10:04

Did you know that if you Google the Da Vinci Code there are over 1,650,000 sites devoted just to it? Hardly worthy of that many methinks.

Still, it's your turn to add to the burden of the lonely googler. Time to post your thoughts before the start of the December Big Read, suggestions for which can be posted on the December Thread.

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 23 Nov 2004, 10:09

Rathbone

I have nearly finished it. Great book, couldn't put it down - totally different from what I normally read though - a few bits of it I didn't really understand.

S

Post by **wangi** » 23 Nov 2004, 10:16

I bought it on Sunday... half way through.

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 23 Nov 2004, 10:57

rathbone wrote: Time to post your thoughts

I'm consulting my editor before making my thoughts public - I'm worried about putting people off their breakfast.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 23 Nov 2004, 13:23

OK here's my (most likely unpopular!) response. I'll try to keep it concise

* formulaic, plot driven pulp fiction trying to present itself as a more literary genre
*one dimensional, unrealistic, lazily drawn characters (well, Indiana Jones had already been created, why should he bother?!)
* little/no attention paid to setting
* irritating "written for the film" chapters (some not even a page long) each with the required "cliff- hanger"
* Weak one line "insights" into the character's emotions
* Multiple erroneous material presented as fact (though he tells us in the preface that his wife is an Art historian in order to lend the narrative an air of gravitas, etc.)
* Lacking in originality, based on a handful of previously published works

I could go on and on , but you've probably stopped reading this by now any way.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 23 Nov 2004, 13:55

Marya, I agree with all you say.

Another annoyance was the over-use of italics for 'thoughts', for foreign phrases and excitement [i.e. unnecessary hysteria]. Especially when used with '!'. Grrrrr.

Plus, if that's to be a film script, the continuity needs to be tightened up. At the end of one chapter the 'hero' [whose name I cannot remember] says that the cliched but unlikely Brit must be called Sir, then the two of them proceed to call him Leigh!!

And the joke about the Papal Bull in relation to the polisman meeting the Pope was amusing - until I checked and found that, as I suspected, a papal bull is not 'taureau' in French.

Must get back to work.

Mimpty · Post by **Mimpty** » 23 Nov 2004, 14:24

Don't hold back now, Marya, tell us what you think!

I found bits annoying too, and without spoiling it for those who haven't finished it I thought the ending a bit twee and I was speechless at how he "tied up" the loose ends.

Apparently his next book is supposed to be good but I'm not rushing to buy it.

foxy · Post by **foxy** » 23 Nov 2004, 14:28

I entirely agree Marya....so disappointing

Not to mention the timescale being totally nonsensical and unrealistic

Total commercialised drivel

In saying that, I have chosen to subscribe to the theory that women were deliberately stripped of their once holy and powerful status by paranoid, threatened and weaker males of the species

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 23 Nov 2004, 14:55

Hm - I was JUST thinking I might try to give this a go, before the end of November, but I don't think so, now.

Btw, is this another book about 'Pope Joan'?

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 23 Nov 2004, 15:19

Jay, no it's not about Pope Joan. So as not to spoil it in case wangi has not got to the juicy bit, I've sent you a PM!

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 23 Nov 2004, 17:18

Hurrah, its all been said for me - I can save my bile for the next one!

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 23 Nov 2004, 17:52

I'm punching the air with delight ! Thought I'd get lots of stick regarding my comments.(Everyone else that I've encountered that has read the book - including my Head of Dept. - couldn't wait to read more from the same author.)
What a discerning bunch we are

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 23 Nov 2004, 18:01

Ive not started reading it yet. Its still in my boot. Not sure i will now, Foxy and Marya have put me off.

Mimpty · Post by **Mimpty** » 23 Nov 2004, 18:05

That must make walking uncomfortable, Porty, or do you need the extra height?

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 23 Nov 2004, 18:07

Mimpty wrote:That must make walking uncomfortable, Porty, or do you need the extra height?

So bad, it made me laugh!

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 23 Nov 2004, 18:20

Marya wrote:I'm punching the air with delight ! :

Punch away love!

I didn't post my comments earlier in case I influenced anyone, but it there does seem to be a degree of consensus here.

As an avid reader of the Hotspur when I was a lad, I was really at home with Mr. Brown's style. A Cliffhanger every week (or every chapter if you're Dan Brown.)

As Marya has pointed out, two dimensional characters with no inner life.

Fact masquerading as fiction (the real story of Berenger Sauniere and the
Priory of Sion is much weirder and a lot more interesting).

Fiction masquerading as fact (too many to quote - but the pyramid at the
Louvre has considerably more than 666 panes of glass)

Worst of all, for an 'action packed mystery' I had worked out who 'did it', well before the end.

I quite enjoyed the read, as a change from my usual, but can think of a lot more books deserving of the hype and part of me wonders why this one has sold millions when they haven't.

Roll on December.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 23 Nov 2004, 19:17

What Marya said - although, don't want to appear snobbish about it. It was still a good escapist bit of nonsense and it had its moments. Not really my genre though. I think I like to know I'm reading either fact or fiction.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 23 Nov 2004, 19:22

Bob wrote:What Marya said - although, don't want to appear snobbish about it.

Well thanks for that Bob

Sandra · Post by **Sandra** » 23 Nov 2004, 21:35

I quite enjoyed the book once I got into it - not the type I usually read, found it hard going in parts and glad its finished..

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 23 Nov 2004, 21:46

Marya wrote:
Bob wrote:What Marya said - although, don't want to appear snobbish about it.
Well thanks for that Bob

Sorry, I didn't phrase that very well, but I was in a hurry to get to a meeting.

I wasn't accusing you of snobbery. I go along with your crit, but that still leaves a very large number of people who have read and enjoyed it, so the author must be doing something right.

mr magnolia · Post by **mr magnolia** » 23 Nov 2004, 22:58

rathbone wrote:
As an avid reader of the Hotspur when I was a lad, I was really at home with Mr. Brown's style. A Cliffhanger every week (or every chapter if you're Dan Brown.)

As a previous avid reader of the Hotspur myself (dating from just before they introduced picture stories: HOW long ago is THAT!), I object to your attempt to compare the might of the DC Thompson empire with this stuff. I don't know about you, but I was quite young in my Hotspur (and Victor) days and I had much lower expectations from my formulaic reads.

Actually, to pick up on Bobs point, I found the most irrritating thing about the story was the fact that it hooked you (me) in anyway, despite the overwhelming revulsion I felt towards it. It was a bit like one of those Saturday nights in front of the box, when your legs and arms start twitching and the brain ties itself into shrivelled little knots that can't quite contect themselves enough to persuade you to turn the thing off 'cos its all PAP! PAP! PAP!

Quite interested to note tyour view that the real story is actually more interesting and contorted - any leads I should follow?

bellybabe · Post by **bellybabe** » 23 Nov 2004, 23:01

Interested to read all the comments. Reassures me that I made the right decision in not rushing off to buy it. Particularly as by the sound of it I should be able to pick it up pretty cheap in the charity shops of Portobello any day now!

rathbone · Post by **rathbone** » 24 Nov 2004, 10:00

mr magnolia wrote:
Quite interested to note tyour view that the real story is actually more interesting and contorted - any leads I should follow?

Just enter either "Rennes Le Chateau" or "Priory of Sion" into any search engine and take it from there. There are thousands of sites devoted to Sauniere.

BTW, I'm old enough to come from the days when the only picture in the Hotspur was the one on the front cover. I didn't intend to compare the content of Da Vinci to the wonders of D.C. Thompson, only the style!!

prombabe · Post by **prombabe** » 24 Nov 2004, 19:24

Well Mr P has read book and thought it FANTASTIC. Gave it to me last night to start but was visiting friend for a Bacardi Shandy so did'nt get it started ,thought I would give it a go tonight ....but have been invited to neighbours for a little Vodka or two ... but there is always tomorrow so heres hoping. I'll keep you all posted but please dont give the ending away until AT LEAST next January incase I have'nt got it finished

curlygirl · Post by **curlygirl** » 25 Nov 2004, 21:46

I read this book in about 4 days - I think it was a great page turner and nice escapism. I agree with many of the other comments. Main thing I thought was that it was really formulaic, and that started to drag fairly quickly. It was obviously written for a film - Speed meets any John Grisham story.

There were some EXCELLENT cliches - loved the psychotic albino monk,

and the name of the 'arch-baddie' - the TEACHER (wooooooo)8-[ ! I also guessed a lot of the 'codes' - the mirror writing one, DOH!! Will anyone own up to not getting it? I'll admit that I didn't get who the teacher was though.

I also enjoyed all the religious conspiriacy bits - although for something that is supposedly so SECRET there are, and have been for a long time, a lot of people discussing these questions. It doesn't seemed to have weakened the strength of the Vatican so far...

So yes, I'd agree, I can't really understand why this is such a massive seller. But I'd recommend it for light relief.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 25 Nov 2004, 22:23

Curlygirl wrote:

There were some EXCELLENT cliches - loved the psychotic albino monk

That's what put me off from the start - I groaned aloud when I read that!

I've nothing against escapism, but this book seems to be masquerading a more serious fiction than it really is.

And where do you buy these clothes that never seem to get crumpled or dirty??

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 26 Nov 2004, 00:35

Not even STARTED reading it yet, presently reading Patricia Cornwell's latest 'Kay Scarpetta' novel and want to finish that first (seeing as about 4 friends are waiting to "borrow" it once I've finished!).

Sandra only finished it the other day and, considering the reviews so far, not even sure if I want to read it

However, looks like 'Curious....' might win the December 'vote' so, as I've read that already, can read 'Da Vinci Code' in December

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 26 Nov 2004, 10:46

Poppy wrote;

I've nothing against escapism, but this book seems to be masquerading as more serious fiction than it really is.

You've hit the nail on the head! That's why I was so intolerant of it too Poppy.

Poppy · Post by **Poppy** » 26 Nov 2004, 11:06

Mind you, my grand condemnation of this mighty tome might have more impact and authority

if I had not let an instrusive and redundant 'a' sneak in after 'as'!!

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 26 Nov 2004, 11:14

Cringe

That's what happens when you cut and paste instead of using the quote button, muck it up then "sort" it out

Talk Porty ~ Portobello

The November Big Read

the BIG read

Good bit of trash