Ok, so I finished the Da Vinci Code, and this is what I have to say about it:
If you want a well-written, intelligent mystery about the Christian church, read The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.
If you want a predictable, below-average, easy to read mystery about the Christian church, by all means, have at the Da Vinci Code. Yes, I could have put it down instead of reading the whole thing, but I have never, EVER, in my entire life not finished a book I started, not matter how horrid it was. This book would have been better served as a screenplay, and I think the movie will play out well, especially with the excellent cast they have lined up.
Next on the agenda is either The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I'll probably go with Hitchhiker's Guide because I've read Fear and Loathing before.
After rereading The Woman Warrior, I am interested in Chinese stories and culture along the same lines. I ordered The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan, but if anyone else knows any other good ones, let me know.
My husband and I have only gotten through the second chapter of the new Harry Potter, because he stays up too late flying his planes with Microsoft Flight Simulator. I would steal the book and read ahead, but it wouldn't be fair. We always read it together the first time, and my husband has a really excellent reading voice.
No more book purchases for a couple of months. After I finish the ones that are here or incoming, I'll have to start working on my thesis full-time.
3 comments:
Funny about Name of the Rose, because I loved that book and that was my first thought upon finishing DVcode.
My second thought was just how much Dan Brown ripped off from Eco's Focault's Pendulum for both Code and Angels and Demons.
I think you're correct about the book actually being better as a movie, which is ironic because the book Dan Brown is supposedly writing as a Code followup is essentially the same story that was in National Treasure (the Nic Cage movie) last fall. I've been wondering how much of Brown's book requires a rewrite now that they beat him to the screen with a like film.
Hitchhikers is a riot, and one of my alltime favourites. It does kind of require that you read all 5 books in the trilogy. (yes, I know. That's one of the jokes....)
Amy Tan. I'm all over that lady's books like white on rice. (joke. everybody stop laughing.) Just finished Bonesetter's Daughter last week. She's one author from whom I cannot pick a favourite because all of the books are moving, immersive and lyrical.
As soon as I finish Ellroy's Cold Six Thousand I'm going to polish off The Hundred Secret Senses, which is the last unread Tan book for me.
Best Chinese book: Wild Swans by Jung Chan. Absolutely brilliant - must read.
I have not yet read Foucault's Pendulum, but I need to. Gosh, so many books, so little time. I thought of National Treasure the whole time I was reading DVC.
I don't know why I never read any Tan before. I have vague memories of seeing the movie of the Joy Luck Club. I guess it has been only recently that I've been more interested in reading about Asian cultures, and I've really been missing out all my life. Pretty ironic too, since I'm a heroic scholar. The hero is a pretty major theme throughout even the simplest Asian literature.
Thanks for the tip hobbes, Wild Swans has been added to my Amazon wishlist.
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