Hey, What Ya Reading??? A book???

[Kerry]

Just finished Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.

This was soooooooo much better than The DaVinci Code in terms of suspense and frenetic energy of the novel.

I was swept up in the DVC hysteria when it was first published. Everyone was talking about it and those who'd read it weren't giving away anything about the plot.

So I thought, hey, why not. I always enjoy a good page-turner and DVC was certainly that. The rapid pace of the writing style coupled with the gazillions of short, snappy chapters; each one with a cliff-hanger at the end; made for compelling, can't put it down reading.

Alas, when I got towards the end, it was revealed that the entire plot appeared to be structured around the premise that Mary Magdalene was the lover of Jesus. Yawn! Not that tired old chestnut again, I thought. If I would have known about that before I began reading it, I would never have started in the first place.

Having said that, however, I must confess that I did enjoy DVC. I think I read it in about one and a half sittings! Couldn't put it down. Just would have preferred that the Mary Magdalene thing would have been avoided at the end. It's been done before. As that's what the entire plot is centred around, however, I fear I can't see how it could have been avoided.

[Kerry]

After recently finishing "The Catcher in the Rye," I had intended to read "A Fortunate Life."

I instead decided on some blatant gay escapism and have just finished Felice Picano's classic psychological thriller, "The Lure." First published in the 1970s and recently republished by Alyson Books.

It's a brilliant read. Highly recommended. I particularly loved all the red herrings! A classic Who Done It? Or rather, Who'll Do It?!

Here's the blurb from the back cover:

"Noel Cummings' life is about to change. Irrevocably. After witnessing a brutal murder, Noel is recruited by the police to serve as a lure for the killer at large. Undercover,  Noel delves deeply into New York's gay underground - shadowy backroom bars, pulsing strobe-lit private clubs, the thrill-seeking world of extreme wealth - where he gradually becomes aware of the darker forces at work in his once placid life. Suddenly he knows too much, or maybe not enough. Caught between an obsessive policeman and his mysterious prey, Noel must decide; Who can he trust? And he'd better make the right decision, because his life depends on it. The Lure is a rival in sheer suspense to William Goldman's Marathon Man and Thomas Harris' Red Dragon."

[MaineWriter]

Speaking of Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger is 90 today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/books/31sali.html?_r=2

L

[delalluvia]

I instead decided on some blatant gay escapism and have just finished Felice Picano's classic psychological thriller, "The Lure." First published in the 1970s and recently republished by Alyson Books.

It's a brilliant read. Highly recommended. I particularly loved all the red herrings! A classic Who Done It? Or rather, Who'll Do It?!

That sounds very good.

I enjoyed DVC and I did like 'that old chestnut' because so many people had not heard of it and it made for good social commentary.  Sadly, Dan Brown follows a formula in his stories.  The repeating plot pieces are very blatant if you read more than one Langdon novel.

[Fran]

I just started "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell.

Here's a quote from the back cover:

"One of the most gripping and heartbreaking descriptions of heroism in combat to come out of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq....  An astonishing survival tale."

-- Fritz Lanham, HOUSTON CHRONICLE    

[Kerry]

Speaking of Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger is 90 today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/books/31sali.html?_r=2

L

Gosh, J. D. Salinger was already 50, when I first read The Catcher in the Rye, back in the 1960s.

Thanks for the link, Leslie. I hadn't realised he was a recluse. Interesting article. 

[Kerry]

That sounds very good.

I enjoyed DVC and I did like 'that old chestnut' because so many people had not heard of it and it made for good social commentary.  Sadly, Dan Brown follows a formula in his stories.  The repeating plot pieces are very blatant if you read more than one Langdon novel.

I enjoyed the DVC book, but loathed the movie. How could such an exciting book be turned into such a booooring movie? Haven't read any other books by Brown. Have heard the formula claims before. Once was enough for me. 

[southendmd]

Catcher in the Rye has a BBM connection:  Jake's character Holden in The Good Girl. 

For the record, I thought the prose in The DaVinci Code was appalingly bad. 

[ifyoucantfixit]

    Beetle the Bard, the new novella by J.K. Rowling.  I like heavy intellectual reading material the best.

[delalluvia]

For the record, I thought the prose in The DaVinci Code was appalingly bad. 

Dan Brown is a hack writer for sure, but he sure can write a page turner.