The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown.

[Mr C]

"Holy Treborland, Batman!"

"Shut up Jason, or I shall have to hit you with the Bat-Crowbar again."

[Steamboy]

Read a much better Churchy conspiricy book, its call Anno Domni(AD) really cool fictional account(based on real lost scrolls etc etc) of the days leading up to Jesus crusifiction and how all the different Jewish/Protochristian cults at the time basicly went to war for 2-300 years resulting in thecurrent Roman Catholic Church coming to power, its very interesting how the writer(cant remember his name) shows the path of Chritianity from Lion food at the games to being in charge of the greastest Empire of the time all over 200 or so years.
anyone heard of The Children Of Jeshua?

CU Krestel

[Bad Andy]

I had an argument with a colleague in Brussels earlier this week who took one of the 'facts' in the book as gospel.

It was really hard trying to convince him that you shouldn't accept anything in a faction book without corroboration.

The fact he had swallowed wholesale was that GMT was originally located in Paris and not Greenwich. I find it highly, highly unlikely that this is the case but stranger things have happened. But I certainly wouldn't accept it as fact from a book like this.

Incidentally - Chris Ecclestone has been signed up for the film as an assassin or something.

[GordonR]

Ah, he'll be the Evil Albino Assassin, who works for the Evil Mystery Mastermind, who turns out to be....ahh, but that would be telling.  See a thread a feew months ago for my dissertation on how to write a Dan Brown plot in about a dozen easy steps.

That Dan Brown character list in full:

Dashing American Academic Guy
Wise Old Guy (gets horribly murdered at the beginning of the book)
Euro-Totty Girl (must be related to Wise Old Guy)
Wise Old Crippled Guy
Sinister Catholic Church Guy
Evil Assassin Guy (an arab or albino; doesn't really matter)
Untrustworthy Foreign Cop Guy
Evil Mystery Mastermind (must turn out to be one of the above)

[Satanist]

I love the way the assassins must be excellent at their job except when attempting to kill the main character, for that he turns into Norman Wisdom.

[LARF]

Don't get me started on 'National Treasure'

Nick Cage does Indiana Jones whilst stealing all our European, and middle eastern mythology.

Yanks get your own myths.

[GordonR]

Guilty admission - I enjoyed National Treasure.  Good dumb fun.  Definitely the first post-Da Vinci Code film.

Car chases, pretty girls, lots of running around....and you can learn stuff about things like, y'know, history too.  Cool!

[longmanshort]

GMT was originally located in Paris and not Greenwich. I find it highly, highly unlikely that this is the case

Well, as with a lot of things in Dan Brown's work, it's almost half true ...

Originally French sailors used Paris as the meridian - the 'central' line of latitude - while British sailors used Greenwich. It's pretty obvious that they would - either because of patriotism or because at the time England and France weren't exactly best chums and it'd be easier going to London to check your maps than it would be popping to Paris. Eventually, as British sea power grew and international trade increased, all ships ended up using Greenwich as the meridian. So, really, Paris was only the original meridian if you're French ...

I learnt all that from a Tintin book, y'know ...

[Bad Andy]

"Well, as with a lot of things in Dan Brown's work, it's almost half true ..."


Which is why the fucker is so dangerous. I sincerely believe there should be a law stating that the publishers/broadcasters should make available the information of where fact blends into fiction in some of the things that are available these days.

All these dramatisations are doing is demonising one side of the story, in many cases unfairly. I'm not saying stop doing them, but make it easy to find out what the truth actually is.

[Art]

You're actually slighly unhealthily obsessed with Dan Brown, aren't you?

[GordonR]

Yes, but not in a John Lennon-Mark Chapman kinda way.  At least, not yet.

The good news is, I've at last found a writer I hate more than Terry Pratchett, and that's quite an achievement.

[Bico]

Perhaps you wouldn't hate him so much if you didn't keep reading his books.

[Carlsborg Expert]

Isn't it usual for a writer to keep up with the popular competition.

Just cos your comptition is only Leanardo Da Vinch cos you never bothered researching anything in your life.

By the way Gordon feel free to post on my thread about " Early Influences" without this sort of badgering.Of Irish influence.

shmoose.

[Bico]

Yeah, but one book pretty much tells you all you need to know about your competition - why read your way through their entire back catalogue when you've figured out that each book has a template of characters from which the writer rarely deviates, and story elements along the same lines?  I gave on Stephen King when it was pointed out that once you get past the clumsy writing and Lovecraftian influences, you find the dumb character, the psychic/gifted character...
I can't actually remember the rest, but I do recall a good case was made based on the few King books I'd read (The Stand, It, The Shining, Dark Half and a short story collection).  I'm probably wrong, though, and the man is some rightly-lauded literary genius.

[Art]

Steven King is absolutely the best thing you'll find on most small airport book shelves. COmpared with Crichton, Clancy, Grosham et al he's downright literary.

The mans certainly got a few themes he comes back to again and again, but the alcoholic writers defiantelyoutnumber psychic kids.

And his short stories fucking rock.