Angels and Demons finally moved from my "next in my reading list" to "book review" section, many months after I acquired an intention to read it. It must be a rare few who would not have heard of 'Da Vinci Code', the book that took the world by storm, and propelled Dan Brown into fame. Frankly, I had not heard of Dan Brown (or his earlier works) before 'Da Vinci Code' arrived on the scene. When I read it, I adored it [even though there were certain things that were beyond my comprehension because of the context and the culture I am not familiar with] for the ingenious plot, as well as the well done research that tends to diffuse the line between the fact and fiction. Later on, I read his first book, 'Digital Fortress' as well [which made more sense to me, since codes and computers I am quite familiar with!] Earlier, and also then, I was recommended to read 'Angels and Demons'. Some of the people claimed that it was far better than 'Da Vinci Code'!
When a book captures my interest, I do not take long to finish it. So, one day on weekend was enough for me to complete 'Angels and Demons'. It was fortunate that I didn't have much else to do [or else I might have ended up reading half-way through the night ;-) ]. Yes, I liked the book, quite a lot, in fact. It was fast paced, with ample twists and turns [and the inevitable double cross]. It was also well researched, on facts of science as well as the church, as his other books. And it did not require as much understanding of Christian history as the 'Da Vinci Code'. However, to say it was better than 'Da vinci Code' would be quite a stretch. For one, there were a lot of similarities between the two, so it seemed somewhat repetitive. And secondly, the profiles of the murder victims - a Pope and four Cardinals, stretched the imagination too far. Perhaps my bias is in favour of 'Da Vinci Code' since I read that one first. And similarly, it is possibile that people who liked 'Angels and Demons' better, would have read that one before the other.
When a book captures my interest, I do not take long to finish it. So, one day on weekend was enough for me to complete 'Angels and Demons'. It was fortunate that I didn't have much else to do [or else I might have ended up reading half-way through the night ;-) ]. Yes, I liked the book, quite a lot, in fact. It was fast paced, with ample twists and turns [and the inevitable double cross]. It was also well researched, on facts of science as well as the church, as his other books. And it did not require as much understanding of Christian history as the 'Da Vinci Code'. However, to say it was better than 'Da vinci Code' would be quite a stretch. For one, there were a lot of similarities between the two, so it seemed somewhat repetitive. And secondly, the profiles of the murder victims - a Pope and four Cardinals, stretched the imagination too far. Perhaps my bias is in favour of 'Da Vinci Code' since I read that one first. And similarly, it is possibile that people who liked 'Angels and Demons' better, would have read that one before the other.
6 comments:
some people i know says A&D is like a prequel to DaVinci. I loved A&D too, but yeah not more than DaVinci. I actually also started reading Digital Fortress, but then somewhere i got bored. I think all Dan Brown's novels deal with such subjects of science and god and an element of mystery. I was saying to my friend Dan Brown's not versatile and he said - say me an author who is? And reality striked I dont know of a signle author who's truly versatile. John Grisham deals with law and drama, while sidney sheldon deals with murder and sex, stephen king is a horror specialist. Now you read lot of books, do let me know if u knw someone who's truly versatile.
nice reading the post. Yeah I also didn't read about dan Brown before The Da Vinci Code...will try to go through Angels & Demons..but yes its true most writers are not so versatile and some books generally miss the expectations although I would say JK Rowling has been an exception with the HP series!
@maverick: I didn't feel that A&D was a prequel to Da Vinci Code, The theme was same, but there was little connection [except for Robert Langdon ;-)]. But Digital Fortress was entirely different, it was not based on religious theories and the power of the Church - it was purely scientific.
As for the question, if I know of an author who is truly versatile - I started composing a reply, but it turned out quite long, take a look at my next post. :-)
@Kalyan: If we take a critical look, we'll hardly find any author that is versatile - after all, there is a question of expertise. It would be similar to saying that an artist is versatile, if and only if s/he can play many kinds of instruments, paint, sculpt etc.
So, I think the key is to do what they call in management jargon as "setting the right expectations" :-D
This book is still gathering dust on my shelf. :(
Not into reading these days.
And when you write these reviews, ah well, I feel so jealous of you. :|
Mine also Da Vinci was the first of Dan Brown. After that I bought other books of him, A&D , Digital fortress & kept them safely. Aargh..
@Cuckoo: No need to feel jealous :-) My reading happens mostly in spurts, and these days, my activity of choice is reading. There are times when I dont touch anything for months :-)
Dont let them gather dust ... they are quite enjoyable :-)
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