Quote:
Originally Posted by Abecedary
I've heard from a number of people that Brown is pretty much an everyman's version of Umberto Eco, so much so that he (as you point out) basically puts out watered down versions of Eco's stories.
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Having read both Focault's Pendulum and The Davinci Code, I have to say that rarely have two such different books been written on the same approximate topic. Eco almost made my brain hurt with complexity of his thinking, and I was forced to dive for the dictionary on several occasions to look up words I'd never heard of. It's a challenging book, beautifully realised.
Brown - not so much. I have read all three of his books and couldn't help thinking how much better it would have been if he'd just handed over a plot summary to a ghost writer. Having said all that, even if he's not my cup of tea he's done very well for himself and provided a tremendous number of people with books they've enjoyed reading, which is a job well done. I just wish he'd spend a bit more time getting his details right before unleashing them on the world. And fleshing out his characters. And possibly looking up some synonyms.
As for Rowling, she wrote a bunch of kid's books that were good enough that millions of adults have happily read the whole series. They might be a little formulaic but they seem very competently crafted. How many other books for 10-18 year olds get treated and reviewed as adult fiction?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sassanik
Clive Cussler, sure his books are outrageous and the situations in them are HIGHLY unlikely, yet are enjoyable escapism.
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<flinch>
<twitch>
I read Iceberg, Pacific Vortex, Raise the Titanic and Deep Six. That must have been my limit since I've never been able to read more than the blurbs for the later ones without
