The Da Vinci Code

[Mcdilly-Willy]

I thought the book was ok, a good story badly written

 

It was writen in a fantasticly quick paced style, for the amount of research and information included in the book its writen really well. a truely good read. Film was less impressive.

[Para Handy]

Utter Trip

[McFly]

Utter Trip

 

Wow!

 

That sounds far out maaaaan. Maybe I should try it

[ArabiaTerra]

...for the amount of research and information included in the book...

 

Dan Brown didn't do any of the research, he lifted it directly from a previous book called "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail". Thats why the authors sued him (unsuccessfully).

[Fjool]

I thought the book was over-rated and have heard the film described as 'The Da Vinci Coma'.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

ArabiaTerra

 

If he had "lifted" it straight out of that particular book he would have been sued. He fully admits that book was a huge inspiration, and gave him good ideas, but he did not copy, he simply used it as a bases for some of the resaerch.

 

And by-the-by his wife was the researcher, just to clarify.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

'The Da Vinci Coma'

 

do you see what they did there? ha

changed two letters, ha ha ha sweet potato chips . I wonder where they got there inspiration, Letter Land?

 

It's all a matter of opinion.

 

I don't believe it was actually over-rated as such, it was the number one best seller, which you have to admit has got to count for something, ....but I suppose that could mean its over-rated in as much as it sold too many copies?!, go figure.....

[Fjool]

it was the number one best seller, which you have to admit has got to count for something,....

 

Not really. In my experience, number one best-sellers, of any format, rarely reach that status on their merits alone. Consult the pop-music charts for many, many examples.

 

And, by the way, it's 'their inspiration'. Seems like you could use some time in Letter Land yourself

[Njugle]

ArabiaTerra

 

If he had "lifted" it straight out of that particular book he would have been sued. He fully admits that book was a huge inspiration, and gave him good ideas, but he did not copy, he simply used it as a bases for some of the resaerch.

 

And by-the-by his wife was the researcher, just to clarify.

 

I think, at a guess, that the only reason that the action was unsuccessful was that the HB HG draws from lots of "accessible" historical stuff, on which a number of other books have been based. Hard to pin a tail on the donkey, so to speak. There is no doubt in my mind that DB drew almost all his content from HB HG as an easy reference guide, and sought a "bad guy", which forced research into the esoteric RC societies. An entirely logical step.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

Fjool its all down to taste

 

how do you propose they rate them?

 

Just because you think its over rated, doesn't mean it is, you see the only way to rate them avoiding taste is on sales alone.

[Fjool]

You say taste; I say marketing.

 

Brown's writing is somewhat turgid and self-indulgent; the subject is covered much more capably by several other writers in various formats (including the 'Broken Sword' games). He brought very little to the subject; recycled a bunch of ideas that have been doing the rounds for the last few hundred years. None of the ideas are original to DVC and yet Brown is painted at some kind of genius who has masterfully sewn these threads together from disparate strands of history.

 

The court-case against him is only a demonstration of how any artistic production is the combination of external influences that its creator has drawn upon. In Brown's case, his ideas are not unique to this novel, nor to the work of the people suing him; they're used all over the place. Arguably, and by the fact that they are based in historical events and crop up in many places, these ideas are public domain.

 

The success of DVC has almost nothing to do with its quality and more to do with it being in the right place at the right time.

 

Whether you liked it or not (and I did enjoy reading it) the book simply isn't the incredible piece of work it was hailed as. It is a fairly robust and entertaining adventure story with some good moments but never the giant of literature it is described as.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

Youre complicating matters fjool:

 

I like the book you don't particualrly, that is our personal tastes, it has nothing to do with marketing. You need an un-bias method of rating, just like the music industry. Sales is the only method.

[Fjool]

it has nothing to do with marketing.

 

I disagree. Sales are often directly proportional to the marketing effort. There are many other mediocre books which never reach such a huge audience. I'm reasonably sure that, as with Harry Potter, the majority of people have read it only because they've been told that it's good. My copy, for example, was bought for me as a Christmas present, almost certainly on the strength of the advertising.

 

You need an un-bias method of rating, just like the music industry. Sales is the only method.

 

Not at all. How about judging it on its merits? Oh yes, it has very few of those. I guess we'll have to go with sales after all. In which case, you are correct: It sold loads, so it's a great book.

 

Excuse me while I go back to watching that pinnacle of televisual delight that is Big Brother.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

Excuse me while I go back to watching that pinnacle of televisual delight that is Big Brother.

 

Sorry to pull you away, must be really interesting watch.

[Fjool]

By your own reasoning, the number of people who watch BB means that it is quality programming. Fact is that, by any artistic or otherwise credible benchmark, Big Brother is utter sharn. Popular consensus, however, suggests otherwise but this doesn't sway me one bit - I draw from my own experience, not the opinion of the masses.

 

Likewise for DVC. When I say that it is over-rated, I mean that the book, on its own merits, doesn't deserve to have sold 60 million copies. There are many other books, far more eloquently and creatively written, which never achieve such phenomenal sales. Why is this?

 

DVC's success is not merely attributable to its author's abilities. As novels go, it's just not that good. Whether we disagree on this point or not, you cannot tell me that popular success is directly proportional to the quality of the work in question.

 

For another example, just look at the song that won the Brit Awards' 'popular vote' last night. A wholly predictable result based, not on the qualities of the song, but on the preferences of a demographic who are likely to make the effort to text in for their favourite.

 

DVC proves this point whether you care to admit it or not. It is a mediocre book which has achieved more success than it deserves; ergo, it is over-rated.