E-book of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol outsells the hardback on Amazon

[HarryT]

Am I the only one who finds the formatting of the eBook version of "Lost Symbol" to be just ghastly? Huge margins, and huge gaps between the paragraphs. Yuck!

[Superlucky]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Am I the only one who finds the formatting of the eBook version of "Lost Symbol" to be just ghastly? Huge margins, and huge gaps between the paragraphs. Yuck!

I noticed it too. I have a PRS-505, which allows for 3 font sizes. I can rarely read the smallest. I usually read the largest (maybe it's time for an eye exam), but with this book it's impossible. The margins are so big that at the largest font size you get three words per line. So effectively on the 505 with this book you get 2 font sizes, both of which are pretty small.

The Lost Symbol is probably the poorest quality ebook I've ever purchased. That goes for content as well.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

I'm about a half the way in, so maybe I should withhold judgement, but I keep waiting for it to start. At this point in Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci COde I was rapt. I expected, as you say, "cardboard characters and unbelievable dialogue", but I expected an exciting plot and adept, vivid descriptions of art and architecture. So far it's just an annoying overuse of italics and mini-cliffhangers where the "cliffs" are so small you can step off them. *sigh*

The New York Times can’t stop its gushing admiration. Though Maslin acknowledges some “authorial shortcomings,” Brown’s “splendid ability to concoct 64-square grids outweighs” them. And even though the characters speak pretty much exclusively in italics, that’s a “guilty pleasure[!]” Brown’s “sweet optimism” is catching, apparently, as Maslin doesn’t just critique the book, she extends her review to the book jacket (which she loves, in case you couldn’t tell). She’s fascinated by the art on the front and writes knowingly that we’re going to pick up a copy anyway. Well, yeah.

blogs.wsj

The Washington Post is perhaps the only major newspaper less-than-impressed with Brown’s offering. Louis Bayard argues that “the Da Vinci template remains largely intact” and cites Brown’s “deficiencies as a stylist.” But, as he grudgingly admits, no one cares that Dan Brown can’t actually write well. Or that he’s probably Stephenie Meyer’s role model. For Bayard, Brown is “entertainment,” and nothing more.

As a sidenote: When I recently found a few scanned versions of books of Raymond Feist, I noticed that they were actually more pleasant in the reading because all of the italics had been removed from the book. When I looked at the same books on paper, I found it almost offensive to see how many words the author emphasized in order to explain the subtler points of a passage, or stress the important word in a sentence.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Am I the only one who finds the formatting of the eBook version of "Lost Symbol" to be just ghastly? Huge margins, and huge gaps between the paragraphs. Yuck!

One advantage of ebooks: I can change the formatting! (and I will if I find the formatting horrible...)

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

One advantage of ebooks: I can change the formatting! (and I will if I find the formatting horrible...)

*shrug*. In paper books you generally don't have to, though.

[Moejoe]

The only review that matters:

"Botty-dribble."

- Stephen Fry

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Over

You just don't edit Dan Brown's books. He's like Chuck Norris of literature. You just don't mess with him.

More likely they had been waiting that long that they were happy to accept whatever he sent them, it made me wonder if the little bit between langdon and his publisher was based on a real conversation brown had during the writing of this book.

[Superlucky]

Originally Posted by Crowl

More likely they had been waiting that long that they were happy to accept whatever he sent them, it made me wonder if the little bit between langdon and his publisher was based on a real conversation brown had during the writing of this book.

For sure. Brown obviously modeled Langdon after (his perceived version of) himself. In every photograph I've ever seen of Dan Brown he's wearing a turtleneck and sports coat. He makes a big deal of describing this attire as Langdon's "uniform" in every book.

[pwarren]

I'm enjoying it so far, but you guys are right, it's not the best literature out there! The epub version I acquired is well formatted, and looks good on my iliad with FBReader.

On to Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan once I've finished I think.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

....
How the heck any editor could let this roll beats me. Utter tripe. Should never have seen the light of day, far less been hyped to high heaven as 'the publishing event of all time'.
....

It's called following the money and increasing the bottom line. It works for the short-term because the public has been trained to do what they are told, unfortunately it is not sustainable and does not work for the long term.

[zerospinboson]

Actually, this list is pretty funny.

19. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 83: "The Knights Templar were warriors," Teabing reminded, the sound of his aluminum crutches echoing in this reverberant space.

“Remind” is a transitive verb – you need to remind someone of something. You can’t just remind. And if the crutches echo, we know the space is reverberant.

18. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: He could taste the familiar tang of museum air - an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon - the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors.

Ah, that familiar tang of deionised essence.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwarren

I'm enjoying it so far, but you guys are right, it's not the best literature out there! The epub version I acquired is well formatted, and looks good on my iliad with FBReader.

Where did you buy this "well formatted" ePub version from? The version that Waterstones sell definitely is NOT well formatted!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Where did you buy this "well formatted" ePub version from? The version that Waterstones sell definitely is NOT well formatted!

Which brings me to an interesting question. ARE there different versions or is not the formatting a product of the E-Reader device?

I know the same book is different on my Sony 505 vs the Pocket Pro I just returned.

[HarryT]

In an ePub book, the formatting is entirely determined by the book itself. How the device interprets the formatting instructions can, however, differ - eg the Sony devices do not support full justification.

In other book formats - eg Mobipocket - the formatting is generally controlled much more by the device itself.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In an ePub book, the formatting is entirely determined by the book itself. How the device interprets the formatting instructions can, however, differ - eg the Sony devices do not support full justification.

In other book formats - eg Mobipocket - the formatting is generally controlled much more by the device itself.

Exactly my point. So ARE there different versions?