Dan Brown to publish long-awaited new novel

Carol

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article6134742.ece

boredrobots

Hmmm, torn 50-50 on this, it could be really good or.....*cough* Da Vinci Code *cough*

Carol

:D

Stirling

One to miss for me!

Randomguy

Long awaited by....?

Stan2

I will probaby give this a miss!

Red

I could use it to...oh, that would be rude!

boredrobots

using it to... is less rude than %&$* with it or using it to *&%&%...although I once did $£"*$ with a perfectly good £&"!£ but it was cold so I had no other choice!! :D

Kangaroo

I don't think this one will make it to my shelves.

Stan2

I don't think Mr Brown will lose any sleep over that Kangaroo!

Carol

Received an e-mail from Waterstones this morning... offering the chance to pre-order it for half price £9.49, save £9.50!!!!
I don't think so.

All this type of hype for anything always says to me it's cr*p...

dorothyd

not for me. I hated TDC with a deadly hatred. Good story, bad writing.

josiehenley

Interesting reactions! I actually liked The daVinci Code, although probably wouldn’t say it was a feat of literary genius or anything, it was a good read and not as trashy as a lot of trashy novels I’ve read. A lot easier to read than Foucault’s Pendulum (Umberto Eco) which has a very similar plot. I also enjoyed Digital Fortress and Angels and Demons (two of Dan Brown’s other books before The daVinci Code). I read these when I was going through a phase of enjoying this sort of thriller – similar to Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler. Not much brain effort required to read these, which was what I wanted at the time.

I would say that it’s best not to judge before you’ve seen the book. The hype is hype of course, but it never ceases to amaze me how many writers will be disparaging of a book before they’ve even read it simply based on the media or (god forbid) the film. We hate it so much when other people criticise our books because they’re self-published/small press (so of course must be utter shite) or no-one has heard of us. Why jump on the bandwagon of criticising someone else simply because they’re published by a mainstream publisher and lots of people have heard of them?

That said, I am quite open to the idea that the new Dan Brown book will be utter shite, just would rather see it first or hear it from someone who’s read it rather than prejudge.

dorothyd

it was the writing I hated, cardboard characterisation and massive info dumping, and for that reason alone I won't spend money on it. He'll make enough dosh without my contribution.

Amanda

170 million.... hmmmm how many horses could i buy with that?

Red

I agree with Josie on the point that the DV code was enjoyable. Crap, but enjoyable (is that possible?), in the sense that the story is fast paced and lends itself to the reader's fascination, i.e. you want to know what this hidden code is. Brown achieved what he set out to do by producing a page turner, however, as Dorothy pointed out, the writing itself leaves alot to be desired. Despite my enjoying the story, it was almost laughable that the facts (and there were not that many) were somewhat misrepresented, and what were presented as facts, were nothing of the sort. The blurb at the beginning of the book espousing the names of individuals on the 'list' as factual is pretty laughable. Didn't the publishers spot this?

But DB took the p*ss and laughed all the way to the bank. He's a good story teller, but not a brilliant writer. When he learns to tell the truth, then I'll respect him as a writer.

josiehenley

I agree Red, you only have to look at tabloid newspapers and magazines to see the sort of pap writing that the general public lap up. Literature is a different matter, a different level of entertainment. Many people want to read a book that isn’t going to be a challenge but will be entertaining, that’s what books like the DV are. The problem comes when people start believing fiction or fictionalised theories to be reality, which is what happened with the DV, and what often happens with ‘news’.

Red

It can be frustrating sometimes, sorting fact from fiction. Alot of mainstream writers do it, but it all comes down to supply and demand. People want easy entertainment, nothing too taxing, and they know exactly what they want.

I do wonder how successful Brown would have been without the court case that enveloped the book - no doubt it helped cement Brown in the nation's psyche. It was massive publicity for him, so people in their droves raced out to get the book. Now, if only I could come up with some bunkum...

Carol

And I do wonder how many will buy it as a hardback even at a reduced price. A paperback would have been a better bet.

dorothyd

They're gambling on his name but ... the DV 'thing' has passed and it might not pay off. Paperback would have been better, less waste of resources on something that just might not fly this time.

josiehenley

I don't understand hardbacks anyway. Apart from the fact that they keep for longer there are no advantages. Too heavy to carry around, too expensive and too big on the bookshelf. Usually I'll wait until the paperback comes out even for a book I'm dying to read, only get hardbacks if second hand or if bought them as a gift.

dorothyd

I agree ... I take a book when I go to lunch on my own anywhere, a hardback just doesn't fit in the bag, even though it has been described as a suitcase!

Carol

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/82975-sales-of-hardbacks-continue-to-decline.html

caro

I didn't think DVC was a great book, but I did think it was a jolly good idea, and good luck to Dan Brown for having had it! I have a strong feeling that his latest book won't be that good, but I tend to agree with what Josie said. It isn't really fair to judge a book before it's even published! I think I told this story on another thread here. A relative of mine had written a 'Dan Brown' type book ages ago. He'd submitted it to every agent and publisher he could think of. They all said it was good but there was no market for it. Then along came DVC. My relative resubmitted and got a publisher!

caro

Red, the book was a huge success long before the court case. I think he'd already sold billions of copies, lucky devil!

Tessadragon

Preferred Angels and Demons, i look forward to when that begins showing in the cinemas.

caro

Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to seeing A&D too. It's coming out next month, isn't it?

Red

Thanks caro. I couldn't remember the court case was. Not that it did him any harm. He is a good story teller. I read the book and couldn't be arsed with the film because well, I would have fallen about laughing and then I'd get thrown out the cinema!

SusieM

I dug my heels in about reading any Dan Brown because of all the comments about the standard of writing. In fact, I was proud to say that I hadn't read any of his books. A friend insisted I read Angel and Demons and I wanted to turn around and tell her that it was a load of rubbish. I admit the writing wasn't good and at first I struggled but once the story got going I couldn't put it down and isn't that what writing books is about, entertaining or informing the reader. I still haven't read DVC and probably never will but I have stopped knocking Dan Brown, he produces the goods and going on Angel and Demons, he can tell a gripping story better than some of the books that win awards, despite his lack of prowess in the gramatically correct stakes. I'm looking forward to the film also.

caro

I think it's probably useful to study writers like Dan Brown if you're writing thrillers. The books do go on at a cracking pace, and he knows how to keep the reader turning the pages. Some people seem to love his books and others hate them, at the end of the day it all comes down to taste.

Stirling

I read DVC while suffering from flu and read the whole thing.

Tried Angels while 100% coherent and thought it was utter pap!

dorothyd

Can you dissect his ability for page turning from the bad writing, though? I turned the pages, several, up to ten at a time, just to get through the thing and could still pick up the storyline, it was that padded. That book should have been a whole third thinner than it was. It isn't always a good idea to study other writers, just read and think 'I can do better than that' which is the way I have thought all these years and pushed hard to make sure I can do better than that, even if it only in my head.
Thriller writers abound, better than him, they just didn't get lucky with something 'controversial' as the subject matter, if it can be called that. I have a channelled book by Mary Magadalene which I have not yet read, it probably throws all the 'theories' out the window, they usually do, I know my books do. Because they come from the source, not someone's mind.
Whatever this next book of his is like, it will be judged against the DV, they always are when one is a blockbuster. I will watch the critics' comments with great interest.

caro

A lot of what you say it true, Dorothy. By the way, has your book come out yet? I asked about it in my local Waterstones but they couldn't find it on their computer system. Did you say March was the date for publication, or did I get it wrong?

dorothyd

It was, but the Henry thread tells all, Waterstones didn't like the covers so they are having to be redesigned. I wait ... the result of the meeting with Waterstones etc. is on the Writing Henry VIII's book thread.
Thanks for asking about it, I appreciate that!!!!

josiehenley

I had the benefit of reading the DV before all the kerfuffle. If I remember rightly from the house I was in at the time it was around 1999-2000 that I read it which is probably quite soon after it was published. There wasn’t a hype then, it was just a book that was passed on by a friend saying, you’ll like this, because of the sorts of books I was reading then. And I thought it was good but nothing special, it was just another one of those books among the many of the type that I was reading then. That’s one of the reasons I was so amazed by all the hype about it and about how it was ‘groundbreaking’ etc. It wasn’t, there were a lot of other similar novels and there still are. Some of these ‘da vinci clones’ are quite possibly not copies and bandwagon jumpers but the result of a years of research and toil by some very peeved authors!

caro

That's very true, Josie. I've read some historical mystery thrillers that were published long before DVC. Interestingly they were all written by American writers.