[humanlion87]

I have genuinely been surprised by all the negative comments about Dan Brown and his novels. I read his novels when I was in middle/high school (in a developing country) and I loved them, especially The Da Vinci Code. I remember waiting to get my hands on it from the school library and then reading the entire novel in one sitting (which was a first for me).

It's been ages since I have read one of his books. After seeing multiple threads like this I am reluctant to read again one of his books. I am afraid that I might "overwrite/destroy" the good memories I have of the "feeling" of reading his books.

[weitendorf]

People just like to hate popular things. I also read Dan Brown's novels in high school/late middle school and remember thinking they were exciting page turners. They were never as good as most of Michael Crichton's novels, but on par or better than most of Cussler's IMO.

Maybe the prose really was repetitive and the plot banal, but it took genuine skill to write something that you physically struggle to put down.

[kelnos]

I agree; I read them a little later in life than you and GP did (early/mid 20s), but I enjoyed them just the same. "Page-turner" is a good descriptor. I found the stories themselves to be fun and engaging, even if the writing and plots weren't the best.

[bena]

"Good" is an overloaded word. We use it to mean both "enjoyable" and "well-made".

And we often confuse the two, thinking that if we enjoy something, that means it was well-made. And that if something is well-made, then we should enjoy it.

But it's not. For instance, I like the film, The Ice Pirates. It's stupid, it's cheap, and the plot doesn't quite make sense. But it's fun. I can't quite put my finger on it, but whatever is happening, it's the kind of stupid I apparently like. But I will never say it was a "good" film, in that it was well-made.

To contrast, The Fountain is a mostly well-made film. The acting, cinematography, score, visual effects, etc, are all well done. I cannot deny that. However, I loathe that movie. It is just incredibly mediocre at the end of the day. The story is just banal. It has one message, delivers it real early in the movie, and then just keeps beating that dead horse. And I can see how it's easy to get distracted by the pageantry of the film. But I cannot get over that one hump.

So, yes, Dan Brown may be a horrible writer. His books may have all the problems pointed out by the author of the article. Dan Brown may not write "good" books. That does not mean people don't like them. And it does not mean they are wrong when they do.

[snowwrestler]

> I am afraid that I might "overwrite/destroy" the good memories I have of the "feeling" of reading his books.

I recently re-read Jurassic Park. What I recalled as a gripping scientifically plausible thriller when I read it as a teenager, read today as a screechy anti-science polemic nestled behind a monster movie plot.

That said, I still enjoyed reading it! It’s definitely a page-turner.

And I found that my new reaction to the book did not lessen my memory of enjoying it as a kid. In fact it led me to some contemplation of my life and how I’ve changed over time.

The book didn’t change at all, in fact it was the exact same hardcover copy I got as a gift when it came out. I came to think of it as a sort of intellectual mirror that just reflected me back at myself. I’ve gone back and read some other science fiction books I enjoyed as a kid now as well, to see what I think today.

[plorkyeran]

I thought they were a fun read, but there was a widespread idea at the time that they were somehow something more than that with actual depth. The hatred is mostly a backlash against that.

[saagarjha]

I read them around the same time and they were fine. I think they are reasonable to read at around that age and when you get older you realize there’s not that much depth there.

[ranger207]

Eh, if you like it, you like it. Unless it's hurting someone, why care about what gets people's dopamine receptors going? After all, that's why the concept of the guilty pleasure exists

[hoveringhen]

Although I do agree with criticisms of his writing and have felt the same in his later books (as I was too young to feel the poor writing when I read A&D, Da Vinci Code etc.), I know that I'll get his next book when it releases.

I like that his works mention random things that you can then read about from other sources, information that are tangents to search off of. It helps that all his books are easy page-turning reads.

But yeah, about his writing, I remember the latest (Origin) having some atrocious lines