12: The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

So.

At lunch, I made the following statement: "The Da Vinci Code is crap." It was pointed out to me I should read it before making such statements. So I read it.

It's crap.

There are three big problems with it:
1) Fact and fiction are mixed so much you don't know what's true and what's not. People are stupid enough already. No need to confuse them by telling them half-truths. Pick one: fact, or fiction. Don't toe the bloody line.
2) Tension is achieved by not telling the reader everything the characters know. That's a cheap trick of a hack. Don't do it. Truman Capote didn't like it Murder by Death, and neither does anyone else.
3) The puzzles are simplistic. If you're going to write a novel about codes and puzzles, at least try to think of something actually tricky. SOFIA and APPLE were near-instant guesses upon reading the poems. (Yes, yes...spoiler.)

It does have a good point: it sets a fun historical, religious, archaeological mood. So I'm reading Eliade's History of Religious Ideas now. It's interesting, and perhaps it will purge some of Dan Brown's nonsense from my mind.