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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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I am currently reading a popular mystery novel. It's not bad overall, but the author has an annoying method of achieving a cheap sort of suspense. It's like a perversion of dramatic irony. Instead of the reader knowing something that the character doesn't know, a character knows or does something, and the author coyly alludes to it but smugly waits to inform the reader until a later chapter. I was wondering if there is a specific term for this literary device, which achieves a sort of cliffhanger effect but at the expense of distancing the reader from the action. (Other than irritating, that is))
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Heh. I was gonna say it sounds like "The DaVinci Code," until I realized this is a pretty common technique. "Foreshadowing" or either "presaging" comes to mind; but maybe too subtle?
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 72
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jul 2004
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It does sound like "The DaVinci Code." The only thing worse than reading smug foreshadowing is to listen to it on CD. Elackk.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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LOL two nails hit squarely on the head. It is in fact the Da Vinci code that I'd referring to. LOL. I love this place.
*Beers on me*
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 72
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jul 2004
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You'd better save them for yourself. You're going to need them. That is one suckass book.
Cheers! :)
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Heh heh. I actually finished it last night. I think the main thing about that book is, it is a great idea for a novel, excecuted with mediocrity. I get the feeling that the movie will be better than the book, given Brown's weakness when it comes to basic storytelling, and his bad ear for dialogue. On the other hand, it had a lot of elements that are neat, like ciphers, art, buried treasure, etc. A reviewer at Amazon described it as "Foucault's Pendulum for dummies," which I tend to agree with, although I would add that Eco's work tends to be too dry. Somewhere between Foucault's Pendulum and The Da Vinci Code lies loveable work of fiction.
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journeyman
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journeyman
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great idea for a novel
I did like the non-religious aspects of the mystery, but for the most part I saw the religious scandal as flat, weak and way over hyped. Can it ever be about anything other than sex?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Heh. I was gonna say it sounds like "The DaVinci Code," Good for you, Anna--kudos!
I loved reading the book (note: this is different from saying I loved the book); I like to read books where things happen, and they certainly did in this one.
As to your complaint, Alex (I don't know if there's a name for the technique; I presume the author thought he would enhance the reader's suspense)--I couldn't help but think what a difference there is between Dan Brown and Dick Francis, whose books I've been re-reading lately. ('Nother note: God bless the internet. I decided that once and for all, I'd like to find out which of his I still don't have, and I found a place on-line that lists them all. Then, I was tickled to death to find the missing ones, used, on a large bookselling site--one cost 59¢, and the other three: one penny each!) Anyway--Dick Francis does the same thing, but SO much less "in your face" than The Davinci Code: he usually has the main character just "do some thinking", along with describing what else he's doing.
cwc, you said the religious scandal as flat, weak and way over hyped. Can it ever be about anything other than sex? . (Aside--sorry about the color; I don't like orange; but with your name, I just kind of had to...) I agree; except that for me it wasn't really a "scandal". I'm still wondering what exactly has made this book capture the public's attention so widely. I suppose anything that even hints of contradicting a long-held belief could do it. But...I mean, come on, people--this was a novel, not a scientific report!
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
I think part of the appeal of the book is that, despite its literary flaws, it suggests a larger mystery in the world that remains unsolved, and the clues to this "mystery" are publically-accessable, in museums, books, churches, etc. Plus, it is always titillating to read about secret societies, and if they are secret organizations within a respectable institution such as the Vatican, then so much the better. It's like the ultimate episode of the tv show "City Confidential." Throw in an orgy, er, uh... a holy sexual rite, and you got yourself a pot boiler.
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journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 72 |
With all the sensationalizing of the code (is it fiction?!, is it fact?!) going on before I read (listened to) the book, I thought it would build to something more. It did have a compelling start and middle but the end was not special for me. Maybe I wanted more shock and scandal. Something that would make a thinking Catholic question themselves (for a brief moment, of course!). Instead I got a boring ol' orgy and one of the corniest audio-reads I've heard in a few years - no fault of Dan Brown, I hope. (Men are not meant to play French girls.)
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