Happy 2nd Birthday Da Vinci!
[Pic Courtesy DoubleDay Books]
MSN has noted that Dan Brown's blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code is celebrating 2 years in publication. Published in March 2003, its amazing that the novel is still on bestseller lists. Apart from creating records of all kinds, the novel has sparked intense debates, served as the source for other books and increased tourism to the places mentioned in it! Tom Hanks has been cast as the hero in the movie version, a choice not many of the book's fans are happy with.
I am not a big fan of historical or Christian novels and so the plot put me off from reading the novel a long time after it became a blockbuster. But when I did get around to reading it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Following the hero's chase based on clues hidden in famous paintings and other writings by Da Vinci, the novel was a great read that turned several common Christian beliefs around. But I had actually read the same author's Angels & Demons before that and was more impressed by that one. Its clues were cleverer - especially those ambigrams, words that are the same whether read straight or upside down (here's a cool example). Da Vinci Code's structure was also very similar to Angels & Demons. But the public and well-known locations where the codes were hidden and the new revelations about Christianity's well-known past probably propelled Da Vinci Code to success.
Dan Brown's next book is scheduled for mid-2005 release and is guaranteed to be a huge success on take-off. The question is whether it will even come close to Da Vinci Code's success.
Balaji's Thots... [Permalink]
Your Thots (4)
4 Comments:
cldnt go beyond the first 10 pages balaji,....still struggling:)mayb ur post will b my catalyst!enna dhaan irukku nu parka..padika!!purinjuka
:) rekhs
rekhs, you have to read the Da Vinci code, if only to find out what all the fuss is about. I remember not being able to put this book down, being groggy and tired at work the next day because I had been up too late reading! Incidentally, read all of Dan Brown's books and would say that Digital Fortress is the weakest. Deception Point is not much better. Angels and Demons is the only one that comes close to Da Vinci code. On a side note, I'm upset that Ron Howard chose Tom Hanks to play the character of Prof. Langdon in the movie.. George Clooney would have made an excellent choice!
rekhs, Da Vinci code definitely had me turning the pages fast. I'm surprised you're stuck @ 10 pages. The curator's murder has happened already, right? You're stuck even after that?
AJ, Agree that Digital Fortress was his weakest. It was profoundly silly and weak. I read Deception Point before Brown became famous with DVC. I liked it except for the overblown ending. Angels & Demons is my fav so far, probably cos I read it before DVC and ofcourse the cool ambigrams.
I'm not too happy with Hanks' selection. Wouldn't have liked Clooney either but that's because I just dislike him as an actor(hate his always-on smirk). I was reading a forum and one of the posts mentioned Liam Neeson. I think he would be a great fit for Langdon.
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