Please give a writer harder to put down than Dan Brown

[ahi]

Originally Posted by frui

Thank you ahi, I will give it a try.

It's so good, I'd say get it in paperback form if you cannot convert the Kindle edition to your needs.

His other books are pretty good too... but I've always found "The Day After Tomorrow" (nothing to do with the environmental block-buster movie) to be his best.

Originally Posted by frui

I think it's not without a reason Mr Dan Brown took 6 years to write "The Lost Symbol".
He is serious guy in that. He is a professional. He has respect for high craftmanship.

On the other hand, my understanding is that he was wrong about rather many fairly elementary things... making people wonder whether it is perhaps because of shoddy research or altogether lack thereof.

- Ahi

[frui]

Lacking in the aesthetic aspect, yes.
Lacking in the intellectual aspect, no.

You think 80000000 readers are all idiots?

Originally Posted by ahi

And I'm called an elitist?

I think people's problem with Brown (me among them) is that he is lacking in the aesthetic/intellectual aspects of writing.

- Ahi

[ahi]

Originally Posted by frui

Lacking in the aesthetic aspect, yes.
Lacking in the intellectual aspect, no.

You think 80000000 readers are all idiots?

Not idiots--but derailed, if they are trying to either sharpen their intellect or increase their knowledge based on their experience of reading Dan Brown.

He is wrong about a lot of things that he has no story/plot-justification/reason to exaggerate or misrepresent... things that therefore his readers probably justifiable expect to reasonably accurately be grounded in the real world.

Although, to be fair, I put "aesthetic/intellectual aspect" to suggest that I am trying to describe an only intellectually appreciable aesthetic. There is merit to using three words, when they do the job; but there can be an odd sort of delight upon finding that an unusual set of five excellent words were charged with the same task.

- Ahi

Ps.: I haven't read him--so take my opinions on the subject with a grain of salt... or a heap of salt.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by frui

Lacking in the aesthetic aspect, yes.
Lacking in the intellectual aspect, no.

You think 80000000 readers are all idiots?

As I guy who spent a fair bit of my life studying the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church, all I can say is that his basic errors of fact are more than a little bit annoying. I expect that is why he is accused of lacking the intellectual aspect.

--
Bill

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by frui

Lacking in the aesthetic aspect, yes.
Lacking in the intellectual aspect, no.

Depends what you mean by "lacking in the intellectual aspect". There are a lot of factual errors in the book when it comes to the places, events, and organisations which Mr. Brown describes.

[frui]

What is real? What is the fact?
The literary vraisemblance is quite in another league from historical fact.
Creative writers have the rights to fabricate, if in a intellectual and senseful way.

Originally Posted by ahi

Not idiots--but derailed, if they are trying to either sharpen their intellect or increase their knowledge based on their experience of reading Dan Brown.

He is wrong about a lot of things that he has no story/plot-justification/reason to exaggerate or misrepresent... things that therefore his readers probably justifiable expect to reasonably accurately be grounded in the real world.

Although, to be fair, I put "aesthetic/intellectual aspect" to suggest that I am trying to describe an only intellectually appreciable aesthetic. There is merit to using three words, when they do the job; but there can be an odd sort of delight upon finding that an unusual set of five excellent words were charged with the same task.

- Ahi

Ps.: I haven't read him--so take my opinions on the subject with a grain of salt... or a heap of salt.

[Jim Lester]

Well every time I take Dan Brown to the vet, the vet refuses to do the injection to put him out of my^H^Hhis misery. So he does seem pretty hard to put down.

[Wario]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

As I guy who spent a fair bit of my life studying the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church, all I can say is that his basic errors of fact are more than a little bit annoying. I expect that is why he is accused of lacking the intellectual aspect.

--
Bill

May be that why his books are fictions
It's like going to the movies expecting every thing accurate. That no fun or entertaning.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Wario

May be that why his books are fictions
It's like going to the movies expecting every thing accurate. That no fun or entertaning.

To a point yes, but if the errors are big enough they can take you right out of the story. At least they do for me. It's like seeing a WWII movie where they're using modern tanks and stuff.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by frui

What is real? What is the fact?
The literary vraisemblance is quite in another league from historical fact.
Creative writers have the rights to fabricate, if in a intellectual and senseful way.

Many people, many highly educated people, many creative literary people do not perceive Dan Brown's transgressions to be ambiguous the way you suggest they might be.

And I will certainly not engage in a discussion that begins with "What is real? What is the fact?" If our fundamental perceptions of the basic fabric of reality are not aligned, we can already be fairly certain we will disagree no matter how long the discussion grows.

- Ahi

[ahi]

This thread doesn't seem like the right place for cheap shots at Dan Brown... particularly since the original poster made it clear enough that he knows the author is of controversial repute.

I have not suggested that I think he is a great writer either, but I think I stopped short of empty ridicule.

- Ahi

[Andanzas]

I haven't read Dan Brown, but two writers I find hard to put down are Patricia Highsmith and Andrea Camilleri.

[AnemicOak]

It's been a while since I read them, but you might take a look at...

Company Man by Joseph Finder
http://www.amazon.com/Company-Man-Jo...1988319&sr=1-1

Velocity by Dean Koontz
http://www.amazon.com/Velocity-A-Nov...DA/ref=ed_oe_k

[frui]

Being a foreigner may see things differently, right or wrong.
A foreigner might not be so sensitive to the "fact" to which many westerners are so attached.
But, what accounts to the wild interest towards his fictions in western countries? Something beyond deception point?
And, dear ahi, you mean you haven't read a single book by Dan Brown? If so, how can you have such a strong attitude toward him?

Originally Posted by ahi

Many people, many highly educated people, many creative literary people do not perceive Dan Brown's transgressions to be ambiguous the way you suggest they might be.

And I will certainly not engage in a discussion that begins with "What is real? What is the fact?" If our fundamental perceptions of the basic fabric of reality are not aligned, we can already be fairly certain we will disagree no matter how long the discussion grows.

- Ahi

[frui]

Thanks AnemicOak and Andanzas. I am not so keen on Dean Koontz, but I haven't read the works by the other writers you mentioned. I will try.