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Dan Brown
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Why is there so much intellectual snobbery about Dan Brown?
The News Quiz on Radio 4 are always having a pop at him - he may not be a Rushdie or a Keneally, but as a page-turning story-teller when all one wants is an entertaining read, I beleive there are few better.
So, why the intellectual snobbery? Or is it simply a case of jealousy?
The News Quiz on Radio 4 are always having a pop at him - he may not be a Rushdie or a Keneally, but as a page-turning story-teller when all one wants is an entertaining read, I beleive there are few better.
So, why the intellectual snobbery? Or is it simply a case of jealousy?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I think most of the criticism relates to his clumsy writing style, his grammatical errors, sentence structures etc, rather than his story-telling ability. If you compare his writing style to other (great) thriller/crime novels, you'll spot the oddities in Dan Brown's writing. Example below (taken from here http://www.telegraph....orst-sentences.html#)
The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: A voice spoke, chillingly close. "Do not move." On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly. Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the mountainous silhouette of his attacker stared through the iron bars. He was broad and tall, with ghost-pale skin and thinning white hair. His irises were pink with dark red pupils.
how can someone be chilling close, yet be 25 feet away? How can a silhouette have colour definition?
The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: A voice spoke, chillingly close. "Do not move." On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly. Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the mountainous silhouette of his attacker stared through the iron bars. He was broad and tall, with ghost-pale skin and thinning white hair. His irises were pink with dark red pupils.
how can someone be chilling close, yet be 25 feet away? How can a silhouette have colour definition?
There will always be literary snobs. Those who will tell you such and such a book isn't worth reading, and that you should read something more challenging/improving/intellectual. But many people read purely because they like to escape, relax or just idle some time away, so if they want to read Brown/Archer/Koontz etc, then they should be able to do so without being made to feel inferior. The same goes for those who read Mills & Boon, Catherine Cookson or whoever. Not my thing, but then no-one's forcing me to read them.
One of the quintessential rights of the reader is the right to read what you choose.
One of the quintessential rights of the reader is the right to read what you choose.