In Praise Of Dan Brown

[David Gwilliam]

You took the analogy too literally but 'The Da Vinci Code' had a positive influence? Really? On who or what? Have you ever read a 'proper' book from cover to cover? It was once decribed by Stephen Fry as "Loose stool water". He was being kind.

It can be likened to reading literature; a simple text written badly is more difficult to read to completion than a complex text written beautifully. Brighton were 'The Da Vinci Code' in this analogy.

Yes Popillius I have ever read a proper book - more than one.

Reading the above comments I remembered what I was told in Orvieto in 2014. The heritage professionals pointed out that they have underground passages just right for a thriller and a mysterious painting. They know Dan Brown would do wonders for Orvieto .

Apparently The Da Vinci Code increased the numbers going to the Louvre and St Sulpice. No doubt Inferno has increased attendance in the Boboli Gardens of Florence It used to be that you could visit the Temple Church in London and be virtually on your own; now there are always visitors.

If you know nothing about Rome you would do well to go on an Angels and Demons tour which no doubt includes two of the great churches of Rome, The Pantheon St Peters and Tiber Island. In the Piazza Navona you will realise that nobody could drown in the Fountain Of The Four Rivers.

Anybody interested in Dan Brown’s ideas will soon find that the references to The Priory Of Sion are not true. What he gets wrong is always emphasized and is easily discovered There is less emphasis on what he gets right. They may be surprised to find that Brown is right to point out that there were many gospels. The choice of Gospel of St John for The Bible rather than St Thomas was arbitrary. Brown rightly emphasizes the importance of the Emperor Constantine although St Paul was perhaps just as important in creating Christianity. Brown suggests without proof that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. We will never know whether he was right; certainly the attempts of the early church to label her a prostitute seem very strange.

Dan Brown has done a good job in highlighting Opus Dei. There is no evidence they have ever murdered anybody. However, they had strong influence in Spain where they regarded Franco's dictatorship as too moderate. Opus Dei emphasizes involvement in the world and it is difficult to believe they are not active in anti-abortion movements.

I am not qualified to write about the literary merits of Dan Brown. However I remember what Dennis Wheatley said “People complain that my sentences are clumsy and my characters lack depth. But I can tell a story. By God I can tell a story.” That is why people complete Dan Brown books and then buy sequels.

 

[homer]

Brown had no original 'ideas' of his own for that incredibly badly written book

The whole premise is based on previous works by Lynn Pickett and Clive Prince (The Templar Revelation) and Michael Baigent and others (Holy Blood, Holy Grail). Both works construct the 'story' that Brown simply later copied - both were written years before the Da Vinci Code

 

[jb5000]

Christ on a bike. I read The da Vinci Code to find out what the fuss was about. It took 30 pages of struggle but was then utterly unputdownable, but I didn't half feel dirty by the end of it. I didn't read another one.

Stephen King once famously claimed that anyone who could get paid to write was a good writer. To go from there to saying what he has about Dan Brown puts it better than I could about the merits of his work.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

[David Gwilliam]

Brown had no original 'ideas' of his own for that incredibly badly written book

The whole premise is based on previous works by Lynn Pickett and Clive Prince (The Templar Revelation) and Michael Baigent and others (Holy Blood, Holy Grail). Both works construct the 'story' that Brown simply later copied - both were written years before the Da Vinci Code

I have not read either the Pickett or Baigent books although I am aware of Baigent's book. Popillius is right that there is a long list of books I have not read. No doubt he will tell you whether these are in his wonderful phrase "proper books."

The main argument in favour of Dan Brown is that he has been beneficial to heritage, I am not sure whether that is true of the Pickett or Baigent books. Whether or not these books discuss the choice of gospels or the influence of Opus Dei it has been Dan Brown who has brought these issues to millions of people.