over rated waste of trees (The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown)

Member Name: Grym

Product:	The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Date:	18/06/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: makes a good paperweight

Disadvantages: everything

Am I the only person alive who finds this book insufferable?

I honestly cannot see the appeal. Intrigued by the hype surrounding it on itsrelease I picked a copy up , sat down with a cup of tea and waited to be thrilled. And waited. And waited.

The problem with the book is not in it's plot, the central mystery and premise undoubtedly very clever, but it's major failings is in the writing itself. It just doesn't read like a novel. The descriptions of major buildings, far from painting a picture for the reader, instead conjure up images of graphs,no doubt because of the authors irritating tendancy to note unnecessary architectural details (like the number of bricks, or the exact height of the ceililng) as if acuracy were more important than description.

We never get a real insight into the characters themselves, rather they seem to be voice pieces for Brown's plot, simply plodding from one discovery to another so that by time we discover the next clue we are, I suppose, supposed to be incredibly impressed.

And I am, but being interested in the plot is not all that makes a good book. I found it very hard to emotionally connect to character so vaguely generic, and rather than wanting THEM to suceed, I just wanted to find out what happened next.

I found the book ultimately unreadable, I never finished it and have no intention of doing so. You get the same emotional experience reading a plot summary of the book on wikipedia, and you'll save money to boot.

Summary: Don't believe the hype