Quote:
Originally Posted by SpiderMatt
I thought about posing this same question to the board myself. Especially with all the hubbub about Dan Brown's new book. I think people are getting sick of all the Dan Brown hating, though. (To be fair, though, I'm sick of all the Dan Brown praising.  ) |
Personally... I'm not convinced that Dan Brown--in terms of being "good reading"--is vastly worse than 90% of the books discussed on this board (or elsewhere).
The fiction genre of books has grown far too bloated, with far too little of it having much genuine worth... other than entertainment of the Hollywood pop-corn flick variety.
If a book has little grounding in reality, let it be strong in terms of literary quality and ideally leave the reader a bit richer/smarter (not just more amused).
If a book is non-fiction, then let it bring to the reader aspects of the world thereuntil unknown to or misunderstood by them.
It would also be nice if, in addition to meeting the above criteria, 80%+ people didn't pick the same book under their aegis. Excessive homogeneity in culture/a people can, at its worst, become a sort of generalized selective ignorance.
- Ahi