Poll of the Day > Do you think Dan Brown is a good author?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember trying to read The Da Vinci Code when I was 15 after having read Angels & Demons. I thought "hey, this is the exact same plot with a different lady to bang!". I didn't finish it, but I went to see the movie and had a laugh.

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Origin was bad

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I think my butt is a damn brown author for my underwear. So there's that...

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I read The Da Vinci Code back in 2004 or so

it was okay, and that is all I know about him

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Langdon spun like a torpedo. >_>

afaik, his prose is shit, his storytelling is hackneyed, and he uses cheap tricks for pacing. As such, I'd say he's a bad writer. However, the point of an author is to sell books and he does that very well, so he's an excellent author.

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Storytelling can be wack and his last few book were really similar and formulaic. Lots of hokey pop culture references too.

Deception Point and Digital Fortress were my favourites.

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I read a lot of his stuff as a teenager and don't really feel qualified to comment on the quality of his writing.

However, his insistence on adhering to a kind of bizarrely specific formula was...weird.

The nice expert helping the main guy and girl is always the true villain.

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ReturnOfFa posted...

different lady to bang

has that happened in any of his books though

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Joe_Biden posted...

has that happened in any of his books though

The main guy and girl bang in all of his books.

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have you read his 70 part autobiography... "Encyclopedia Brown"?

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Joe_Biden posted...

has that happened in any of his books though

yeah bitch

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Blightzkrieg posted...

The main guy and girl bang in all of his books.

nice

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I bet Dan really wanted to bang his wife. She's never picked up on the clues though.

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Blightzkrieg posted...

The main guy and girl bang in all of his books.

not in any i've read, and i've read almost all of them

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I liked The DaVinci Code, but didn't like Angels and Demons or Lost Symbol as much.

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*canned laughter*



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Zeus posted...

However, the point of an author is to sell books and he does that very well, so he's an excellent author.

As an aspiring author, I disagree. Art should be the vision of the artist, not some watered down bs just made to sell. I would rather be moderately successful making my stuff than make it huge making something I hate

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Zeus posted...

Langdon spun like a torpedo. >_>

Is this when he jumps from the sky in Angels and Demons? Defs remember this part being hilarious.

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Muscles posted...

As an aspiring author, I disagree. Art should be the vision of the artist, not some watered down bs just made to sell. I would rather be moderately successful making my stuff than make it huge making something I hate

An artist and an author aren't the same thing, and "artistry" is often used as an excuse for failure. And while there's nothing wrong with creating the things you like, that's usually a matter of personal preference and enjoyment rather than artistry. Beyond that, I'm sure most hack writers -- including Dan Brown -- at least started by expressing their authentic vision.

Personally, if I'm starting an endeavor, I'd like to succeed. Otherwise I don't see a lot of point.


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I only read the Da Vinci Code.

I remember thinking he must have a huge hate boner for Catholics.

I also remember really enjoying the moment-to-moment action of the book. It did a good job making me want to keep turning the page.

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Zeus posted...

An artist and an author aren't the same thing, and "artistry" is often used as an excuse for failure. And while there's nothing wrong with creating the things you like, that's usually a matter of personal preference and enjoyment rather than artistry. Beyond that, I'm sure most hack writers -- including Dan Brown -- at least started by expressing their authentic vision.

Personally, if I'm starting an endeavor, I'd like to succeed. Otherwise I don't see a lot of point.

Why would an author not be an artist?

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just going by the movies, and not sure I'm right, but to me the protagonist seems to be the perfect example of a "mary sue"

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I've never read a full book of his, only excerpts, but from what I've read, I do not like his writing and would not consider him good at the craft. I'm also a writer and plan to get an MFA and attend some workshops in the nearish future, so perhaps I'm being a bit overly critical, but I'm honestly pretty easy going in general. I like most things I read. But not Dan Brown.

Muscles posted...

Why would an author not be an artist?

It's a semantic difference. While writing fiction is a creative endeavor, publishing is a business, so it's not merely a matter of art. You talk about being an aspiring author (and I'm not sure whether that means you aspire to write or whether you've written and aspire to publish) and then get into all of this talk of artistry, which is a largely different subject. The mark of a successful author is sales. They can be hack as an artist (in that they aren't particularly creative or their prose might have issues), but still be a good author.

Conversely, if you get into a discussion of art, things get murkier because art tends to be more subjective. A good case-in-point would be the fact that some people believe Dan Brown is a talented writer while others don't. In short, art is harder to measure, which is why there are so many disagreements about the relative merits of art. And frankly, a person can say that anything is art.

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Not really.

I mean, there's multiple ways to be a 'good' author, but I don't think Dan Brown really touches on any of them. Like, after the Da Vinci Code he dropped off the radar entirely for most people. I think the only reason that that book was even noted in the first place was because people were making a hubub about it (I wasn't paying attention at the time) because it said Jesus banged MM or something.

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Unbridled9 posted...

I think the only reason that that book was even noted in the first place was because people were making a hubub about it (I wasn't paying attention at the time) because it said Jesus banged MM or something.

People do controversial things in novels all the time, so it would need to be big first. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't the first person to advance that idea.

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Zeus posted...

People do controversial things in novels all the time, so it would need to be big first. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't the first person to advance that idea.

He's not by a longshot. I think that idea's been around since, like, the very beginning of Christianity. Like I said, I wasn't paying attention at the time, but I suspect Brown managed to get just enough popularity and just enough outrage to be able to get launched into popularity.

Sort of like how the Matrix is pretty trash in regards to plot (even before the sequels) and doesn't contain any new ideas or anything of the sort; but came out at exactly the right time and present it's ideas in exactly the right way to become super popular. Edit: And special effects. Let's not forget that.

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Unbridled9 posted...

Sort of like how the Matrix is pretty trash in regards to plot (even before the sequels) and doesn't contain any new ideas or anything of the sort; but came out at exactly the right time and present it's ideas in exactly the right way to become super popular. Edit: And special effects. Let's not forget that.

The plot of the Matrix was largely irrelevant, those movies sold based on the special effects >_>

The story was only relevant in that it set up those special effects, and because it was more expensive to just do 90 minutes of nothing but special effects in each movie.

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I read Angels & Demons, Da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress, and idk if it was Deception Point (the one about the meteor or something in the artic)

Yes, I totally agree that they all pretty much have the same pacing and plot. I think Digital Fortress is my fav though.

I only read the Da Vinci Code. Bought it randomly at an airport when it was still popular and didn't read it for like 15 years after that. It was decent. I watched the movies of the others. The plot of Inferno was pretty bad but even worse now because people actually believe in shitty conspiracy theories like that involving Bill Gates.

Zeus posted...

And frankly, a person can say that anything is art.

Can't find the clip on Youtube but that reminds me of the episode where Doug Funnie drew a random line and it was called "art".
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