Friday, September 24, 2004
Dan Brown - Da Vinci Code
An intriguing book. Secret societies and conspiracy theories, written by a self-proclaimed sceptic. It did take quite a while (about 150 pages) for the pace to pick up, but once it had started, it was relentless. Hooks at the end of nearly every chapter – not a mean feat considering the average chapter length is only 4-5 pages.
It no doubt falls into the thriller category, but the intricacies of the legend relating to the Da Vinci Code and the holy grail are amazing. The thriller part of the plot, and the concluding twist that reveals the bad guy are little more than distractions. In fact the writing is not great, the characterisation is just adequate, but it remains impossible to put down. I was up until 3.30am trying to finish it, but managed to put it down to grab four or five hours sleep before finishing it.
It bombards you with facts, leaving little time to digest them. I think this helps people to accept the story as a whole. Certainly, for someone ignorant to most of what was discussed it was very tempting and easy to accept it all as truth. It is written in a way that makes it seem that all the conclusions drawn are completely rational – although I am certain that some of the assumptions are tenuous at best. The Catholic Church would certainly hope so, and the flood of books currently being released to ‘decipher’ or destroy the code certainly would pick as many holes as possible. It was only meant to be a work of fiction – but the controversial subject matter and the attacks it makes on the fundamental doctrine of the Church means that this book was destined to be a best seller. Sex and anything anathema to religion is sure to sell.
Some people use is to point to the decline in the quality of books people are reading. I think that this is possibly true; it is definitely not an intellectually challenging read. There is no breathtaking use of language, no heart achingly perfect imagery that the best books may contain. But what it did have was an exciting story, simply told, with almost perfect pacing, and everyone loves a conspiracy theory. I am not surprised that this was such a huge best seller. It is a book that almost anyone can read and enjoy. Literary novels are less widely readable. This is entertainment, pure and simple, and I don’t think that I should have to feel slightly guilty for doing so. I think that is my major problem with the pretension of those in literary circles. They can make you fell dumb for enjoying books that don’t reach there standards.
But a lot of the time I don’t want to have to think when I am reading. I don’t want to have to stop at the end of every paragraph and digest the imagery. I want to read a story. This is why I loved the initial Robert Jordan books and this is why I liked this. I see much to admire in books like Satanic Verses and Moby Dick, but the majority of the time I just want something that lets me escape easily; the book equivalent of squatting in front of the TV.
So go read this, and don’t feel guilty.
It no doubt falls into the thriller category, but the intricacies of the legend relating to the Da Vinci Code and the holy grail are amazing. The thriller part of the plot, and the concluding twist that reveals the bad guy are little more than distractions. In fact the writing is not great, the characterisation is just adequate, but it remains impossible to put down. I was up until 3.30am trying to finish it, but managed to put it down to grab four or five hours sleep before finishing it.
It bombards you with facts, leaving little time to digest them. I think this helps people to accept the story as a whole. Certainly, for someone ignorant to most of what was discussed it was very tempting and easy to accept it all as truth. It is written in a way that makes it seem that all the conclusions drawn are completely rational – although I am certain that some of the assumptions are tenuous at best. The Catholic Church would certainly hope so, and the flood of books currently being released to ‘decipher’ or destroy the code certainly would pick as many holes as possible. It was only meant to be a work of fiction – but the controversial subject matter and the attacks it makes on the fundamental doctrine of the Church means that this book was destined to be a best seller. Sex and anything anathema to religion is sure to sell.
Some people use is to point to the decline in the quality of books people are reading. I think that this is possibly true; it is definitely not an intellectually challenging read. There is no breathtaking use of language, no heart achingly perfect imagery that the best books may contain. But what it did have was an exciting story, simply told, with almost perfect pacing, and everyone loves a conspiracy theory. I am not surprised that this was such a huge best seller. It is a book that almost anyone can read and enjoy. Literary novels are less widely readable. This is entertainment, pure and simple, and I don’t think that I should have to feel slightly guilty for doing so. I think that is my major problem with the pretension of those in literary circles. They can make you fell dumb for enjoying books that don’t reach there standards.
But a lot of the time I don’t want to have to think when I am reading. I don’t want to have to stop at the end of every paragraph and digest the imagery. I want to read a story. This is why I loved the initial Robert Jordan books and this is why I liked this. I see much to admire in books like Satanic Verses and Moby Dick, but the majority of the time I just want something that lets me escape easily; the book equivalent of squatting in front of the TV.
So go read this, and don’t feel guilty.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Tim Powers - Anubis Gates
Review to come.
Bryce Courtenay - The Family Frying Pan
These are a collection of tales supposedly told to Bryce by his wife’s mother (grandmother? its been a while since I read it) about her escape from the turmoil surrounding the Russian Revolution. Her entire village is murdered, seems a lot of people have had things against Jews, and she escapes with a huge frypan strapped to her back, which saves her from several sword strikes.
She travels with a group of people who every night gather around their meager meal cooked in the frypan and take it in turns to tell their life story, and how they ended up penniless refugees.
The tales are incredible, managing to strain believability but not break it, although they are almost certainly fictitious. The story of the hardships endured does ring true, and you can imagine a group of road weary, hungry, people gathering around a meager meal and entertaining each other with tales. Legends passed on around a fire. There is something primal about that.
The stories are almost like fairy tales, and can be enjoyed as such I think. Not a life changing book, but definitely worth the read.
She travels with a group of people who every night gather around their meager meal cooked in the frypan and take it in turns to tell their life story, and how they ended up penniless refugees.
The tales are incredible, managing to strain believability but not break it, although they are almost certainly fictitious. The story of the hardships endured does ring true, and you can imagine a group of road weary, hungry, people gathering around a meager meal and entertaining each other with tales. Legends passed on around a fire. There is something primal about that.
The stories are almost like fairy tales, and can be enjoyed as such I think. Not a life changing book, but definitely worth the read.
Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I left the book that I was close to finishing (The Family Frying Pan) at work, so needed something to tide my reading habit over. This filled the hole nicely, a quick, enjoyable read filled with the patented Douglas Adams humour.
It would be very easy to miss the humour in what often seems to be nothing more than random twitches of his imagination, but I think that people like Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin would admit that they owe a lot to this guy. It belongs to the type of humour that I think of as British, on the same shelf as Monty Python and The Goodies.
For those of you who haven’t read this before, it is basically the story of Arthur Dent, who is whisked away from Earth just as it is destroyed to make way for a hyperspatial express route through our star system. I don’t lie when I say that this is probably the most feasible part of the book.
I didn’t keep a notepad with me as I read it so I missed all the cool quotes that I could have added here, but I am sure a quick net search will uncover the gems.
I have one favourite that I can quote off the top of my head, and I think it is a good indication of the type of humour Adam’s uses.
“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”
Not a serious read, no attempt at characterization, plot, or believability, but you are guaranteed to be giggling at almost every page.
It would be very easy to miss the humour in what often seems to be nothing more than random twitches of his imagination, but I think that people like Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin would admit that they owe a lot to this guy. It belongs to the type of humour that I think of as British, on the same shelf as Monty Python and The Goodies.
For those of you who haven’t read this before, it is basically the story of Arthur Dent, who is whisked away from Earth just as it is destroyed to make way for a hyperspatial express route through our star system. I don’t lie when I say that this is probably the most feasible part of the book.
I didn’t keep a notepad with me as I read it so I missed all the cool quotes that I could have added here, but I am sure a quick net search will uncover the gems.
I have one favourite that I can quote off the top of my head, and I think it is a good indication of the type of humour Adam’s uses.
“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”
Not a serious read, no attempt at characterization, plot, or believability, but you are guaranteed to be giggling at almost every page.
Kim Wilkins - Angel of Ruin
Review to Come
Kim Wilkins - The Autumn Castle
Review to come (how slack have I been!!)
