Home again

[cnoocy]

Having spent a week in Tennessee, I am back home with the Hobbit, jadelennox, and aspartaimee the rockin' house guest.
I don't have a whole lot to say right now, except for this: I read The DaVinci Code on the 26th and have come to the conclusion that it is to the conspiracy/puzzle action genre what the Harry Potter books are to the children's fantasy genre. This may comfort tahnan somewhat.

Comments

hey cnooc

[cramerica.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of reading Da Vinci Code too, but after your comment I might not.
Which aspects of Harry Potter books were called to mind?
--cra
PS I'm playing "The Longest Journey" for PC now... very nice old school adventure game.

[jadelennox]

My guess is the aspect expressed by my rants about HP -- that is, HP's fine, but everyone's kvelling about it, and on the spectrum from 1 (Choose your own adventure) to 10 (Golden Compass; Witch Week), HP is a solid 5. With the 4th book maybe making 6, and the 5th and 3rd books scrabbling to stay up at 3.

Am I right?

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Except the 3rd book is the best one - at least a 7. And honestly, I'd be a little more charitable and say that as a group, they're a 6. (Though the 5th was a 4, probably, so it might be a downward trend.)

Picky numbering squabbles aside, I agree with you that the kvelling isn't entirely justified.

[cnoocy]

Essentially. It's not a bad story, but it's being treated like the Second Coming when it's a poorly-supported but very accessible take on an existing genre. Also it contains some extremely doubtful Latin.

[jdm314.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it, despite some pressure to do so, but I did read an interesting article trashing it, especially far as the facts are concerned. BUt what was the questionable Latin? YOu know how I love to hate that.

[cnoocy]

The two that come to mind off the top of my head are "the word cross comes from the word cruciare, meaning 'torture'" and "The Romans referred to anagrams as the Ars Magna." But there were others, which I can find later. None that are super-huge but many that broke my reading.

[jadelennox]

Where the Pullman/DWJ of the conspiracy/puzzle genre is ... Cryptonomicon? Foucault's Pendulum? Or something else?

[cnoocy]

I'd say Foucault's Pendulum is up there, though I'm not sure the really good one has been written yet. One of my favorites is the underappreciated Club Dumas.

thx

[cramerica.livejournal.com]

I'll look for Witch Week and Club Dumas. Also, choose your own adventure is a 1? You shouldn't read it cover to cover, you know. (Sound of fleeing)

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Thank you, yes. I am reassured. I've gotten quite tired of everyone saying they liked it, and seeing that it was second on this year's bestsellers, after, well, HP5.