Has Dan Brown ever written a truly original/factual book???

[Jasmin 0]

I read the Da Vinci Code and liked it. I've also read Deception Point, Digital Fortress and Angels & Demons and as works of fiction, they're not bad. But I'd hardly call any of them original, or based on almost any real "facts", as has been repeatedly done.

First beef: originality.
As has been stated by Brown himself, the main concepts in the Da Vinci Code (Jesus's children, the priory of scion, Mary Magdalene etc) are by no means original. This is one of his key defence points in his current plagarism/copyright legal proceedings.

And for another bite of the apple, some of you might have read a fantastic book called Ice Station, by author named Matthew Reilly. Now read the slightly poorer Deception Point and tell me you don't feel like you're having a serious attack of deja vu.

Second Beef: Brown's use of the word "FACT".
From the "factual" list of Priory of Scion members (the document's authenticity is questionable at best) to referring to the nuns of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception (they were all men!), from the crap about anti-matter bombs (try and accumulte it!!)and using the LHC (its still being built) in Angels & Demons and the crypto/maths in Digital Fortress, the man seems to need access to a dictionary containing the word "fact"...

Agreed, the whole point of fiction is that you're supposed to be creative, but when someone begins by touting something as fact, I appreciate it when it is.

Everyone's thoughts???
edited to add: Anyone else read Ice Station or The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail???

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[AggieDave 6]

I enjoyed the books he's written thus far (I've read all of them), but I hold them to be exactly what they are. Fiction. I do not believe a word of any of the books beyond the handful of factual things that I knew to be true prior to reading the books.

Fiction is a lie and any good lie has an element of truth.

Now the element that Brown uses is pretty narrow and small, but still, he builds a fun lie off it and the story rides well.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[PhreeZone 20]

I've read Holy Blood/Holy Grail. Talk about a dry read There are books on that topic going back even further then the 80's when it was published. HB/HG wasn't even an original concept whe n it was wrote.

There are very few original ideas out there. Most of the really popular writers take an idea that someone else had and morph it into their own and use it to tell a story.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[BIGUN 1,488]

I think Dan Brown achieved his goal. Make people "Think."

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[TheAnvil 0]

I enjoyed the Da Vince Code immensely. It's in the FICTION section for a reason.

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[rasmack 0]

I find the "style" he uses extremely irritating. I feel like I am reading a two page chapter and the a half-page summary all the way through.

That being said, the first 50 pages of Angels and Demons were hilarious to me... as a physicist... often working at CERN... on an LHC experiment.

As for how factual his books are, I can only say that he has obiously never set foot at CERN. We spend money on accelerators, not on pretty buildings and wind tunnels. I don't see a problem setting the book in the not too distant future as I think he is doing, though. CERN just does not have an X-33 spaceplane, a finished LHC or a wind tunnel... yet . CERN actually put up a FAQ on all this.

Are his books original? Well, I think the originality is in the easy-to-read appealing-to-some format (Why do I feel like a snob writing this?

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[mattjw916 2]

I prefer Crichton over Brown... he's a bit more sophisticated and more technical than Brown's stuff. If you like "spy" novels and the like, Tom Clancy has better facts but isn't as fluid as Crichton (some of them at least).

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[mr2mk1g 10]

Brown has written one book. The other three were exactly the same story with slight changes in the characters and settings.

I enjoyed them all, I have to admit it... but by the end I just couldn't shake the feeling that all he'd done was randomize some of the words from his first effort.

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

I think Dan Brown achieved his goal. Make people "Think."

I 'Think' that Dan Brown's books are an enjoyable read. That's it. I liked the read.

Extremely shallow though and not thought provoking at all. I doubt they would challenge a reasonably intelligent 5th grader. That's why they sold so well. Equivalent to watching an episode of Starsky and Hutch, only with less action.

You want proof? They picked Tom Hanks for the movie version of the DaVinci Code. Tom's a hack and has gone downhill since Bosom Buddies. He's attracted to stories lately that fake intellectual types like to talk about whilst rubbing their chins and saying "Hmmmmm" and spewing rote nonsense that has no practical application.

I'd say a thin layer of pretension over vacuous nonsense wouldn't qualifying as thought provoking at all. But perhaps as entertainment surely.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[wmw999 2,589]

Man, I almost feel slapped . I liked The DaVinci Code, and would consider looking up some of the sites because they're described vividly.

I also like Tom Hanks; "Apollo 13" was a damn fine movie (not real intellectual, though).

Next you'll tell me there isn't an Easter Bunny

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

Man, I almost feel slapped . I liked The DaVinci Code, and would consider looking up some of the sites because they're described vividly.

I also like Tom Hanks; "Apollo 13" was a damn fine movie (not real intellectual, though).

Next you'll tell me there isn't an Easter Bunny

I liked the book too. It just wasn't challenging nor do I think it was intended to be. And it was a good tirade.....

And, be honest, you miss Bosom Buddies.......

and let's leave the Easter Bunny out of it please

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[billvon 3,120]

I didn't think much of it. Overall I liked Da Vinci Code, although there was nothing really new there. Digital Fortress was an action book with a veneer of silly science on it, and Deception Point was similar. I don't expect such books to get the science right. If I want a fiction book that has solid science in it I'll read one of Robert Forward's books.

[Nightingale 0]

No book is ever going to be truly original if it's based in today's world. One of the reasons Dan Brown's books are so popular is that he writes about things that people have talked about and theorized about, taking facts and theories and basing fiction on them.