2017 Reading Challenge discussion

Reading the ABR pdf that I attached in one of the posts, I found this book to be on the list. Since I know it was a best seller, and made into a movie...I thought I should read it to find out why it was disliked...as well as liked.

I understand the review for bad. It is not the best mystery, thriller in the world. Heck, the stereotype of an albino being a bad guy reminded me of the use of it in the comedy Foul Play with Chevy Chase. The pacing was pretty typical of formula books as well, and the back and forth of extreme situation with miraculous saving got a little old after about the fifth time.

But, it was a quick read and fascinating with all the details for the church, symbolism, and history.

I did read this going in with that it was a work of FICTION, so I enjoyed it as such, and did not bother to worry about whether any of the controversy was true, or not true. I read enough about that when it was in the news at the release of the movie. I was going at this book with the thought of enjoying a thriller, and not whether I was going to be learning so deep dark secret about the church.

It was enjoyable for a fictional read, and if you have not read it, and want to use it for this category, I would recommend it. But, I would not generally recommend it over other books in this genre, for as I said...it was kind of predictable.

I agree, this book is very formulaic. This was the first book of Brown's that I had read so I was slightly surprised at the ending but when I read Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and The Lost Symbol, it was very clear who the "bad guy" was because he followed the same formula. I found the details of all of his books to be the best parts and the conspiracy theories.

This was the first Dan Brown book I ever read and at time I loved so much that I re-read over and over. Re-reading it again more recently and after reading some of his other works, I do agree that the plot is a little bit predictable and they all follow the same "path", what I enjoy about his books are the mysteries and the details he puts in them, how they are entwined with symbolisms and historical details. I still like this book, it's an enjoayble read. I hated the movie adaptation though.