Dan Brown Dream

[Paul Beardsley]

I recently inflicted a cliched dream account on those of you who chanced to read it (and more recently an astronomical dream about an analemma, except that I didn't know that word until someone "interpreted" the dream).

So here's a dream nobody is likely to have had. I dreamt it last week, after hearing that Dan Brown has written a sequel to The Da Vinci Code.

I was a character in the book. It was about an expedition to Mars. In a large garden shed. The shed had landed, and somebody had opened the door so we were able to look out at its red, rock-strewn landscape.

Everybody in the shed was wearing ordinary clothes. I turned to another crewman (the SF writer Stephen Baxter) and said, "I suppose we're wearing invisible spacesuits." Dan Brown (who was also part of the crew) apologetically said, "I wanted to go further afield with this one." I said, "Yes, but you could still have given everyone spacesuits!"

The scene then changed to another part of Mars, where a race of waist-high warriors (who were not at all cute or Ewok-like) went on the march with spears, intending to destroy the shedload of invaders.

I hope Dan Brown's actual book is better than this...

[Fram]

I doubt it

(I'm currently reading Da Vinci Code and I understand why it appealed to Clive Cussler. I rest my case :P ).

[Gullible Jones]

I just looked at the blurb on the prequal to The DaVinci Code (Angels & Demons)... I'll just say that I will point-blank refuse to read any bood that involves the Illuminati.

[Vega115]

Well, you can rest assured that the sequel wont involve Mars. On bn.com, Dan Brown said that it involves the Free-Masons and it all takes place in our nations capital...

Sounds familiar...oh yea...Dan Brown a la National Treasure

Hopefully itll be different tho

[Gullible Jones]

Involves the Freemasons?

Good lord, how woo-woo can a person be?!

[Paul Beardsley]

Involves the Freemasons?

Good lord, how woo-woo can a person be?! :evil:

I've come across a lot of hostility directed at Dan Brown. Why is this? He's writing fiction, for goodness sake!

Or does he come across as believing what he writes? I heard somewhere that he was interviewed recently, and seemed to think he was writing real history, but I didn't see the interview myself.

So, Gullible Jones, can you enlighten me?

In the meantime, I'm planning on reading both the prequel and the sequel to TDVC. As I see it, he's a darned good storyteller, whatever his other faults.

[mid]

I'll just say that I will point-blank refuse to read any bood that involves the Illuminati.

Really? You're missing out; the Illuminatus! trilogy is absolutely hilarious reading in parts, and vital background reading to a lot of geek humour.

[TriangleMan]

I read Angels & Demons and was not all that impressed so I never bothered with The Da Vinci Code. It didn't bother me that the book involved religious elements or the Illuminati or anything like that, I just found it so over the top that I found myself going like this :roll: every second chapter even though it's a work of fiction. When you :roll: a lot reading fiction you'll never get engrossed by it.

[Fram]

I don't mind if the background is not very realistic if the rest of the novel (characterization, plot, ...) is inventive, convincingly written, ...
I can thoroughly enjoy a lot of Stephen Kings works (not all of it), even though it deals with utterly impossible stuff. But the background is often very good, and plot is great.
With this novel (Da Vinci), the major reasons to keep on reading are 'what is all the fuss about?' and 'what silly idea will he come up with next?'. You very much get the impression when you read the book that while the story itself is of course fiction, he is convinced that the background is completely true.
If you compare that to say a Ken Follett novel (like The key to Rebecca, IIRC), also not the highest literature, but much more enjoyable because it's much more believable qua setting.
Or if you think that's apples and oranges, take Umberto Eco...

[Wally]

I was a character in the book. It was about an expedition to Mars. In a large garden shed. The shed had landed, and somebody had opened the door so we were able to look out at its red, rock-strewn landscape..

By chance, have you recently read the article in the Nov. issue of Astro. magazine on how to build a "roll-away" observatory for your scope using standard, prefab garden shed from any hardware shop? May explain where that part of the dream came from anyways. . .

[Paul Beardsley]

By chance, have you recently read the article in the Nov. issue of Astro. magazine on how to build a "roll-away" observatory for your scope using standard, prefab garden shed from any hardware shop? May explain where that part of the dream came from anyways. . .

I've not read it, but thanks for the tip anyway! I'm going into town shortly - I'll see if I can find a copy.

I think the real explanation for the dream is that I've been obsessed with flying (and time-travelling) sheds since I was 10 years old. Every now and then I forget this, so a dream like the Dan Brown dream takes me by surprise.

[Maksutov]

By chance, have you recently read the article in the Nov. issue of Astro. magazine on how to build a "roll-away" observatory for your scope using standard, prefab garden shed from any hardware shop? May explain where that part of the dream came from anyways. . .

I've not read it, but thanks for the tip anyway! I'm going into town shortly - I'll see if I can find a copy.

I think the real explanation for the dream is that I've been obsessed with flying (and time-travelling) sheds since I was 10 years old. Every now and then I forget this, so a dream like the Dan Brown dream takes me by surprise.

Are you any relation to Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson? Or can you afford only one?

[Paul Beardsley]

Are you any relation to Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson? Or can you afford only one?

I only have one shed, and I am not related to any Arthur Jackson.

However, my father is called Arthur, and a few years ago he did acquire a second shed. He could not understand why my brother and I were so amused when he made this acquisition. Needless to say, we called him Arthur "Two Sheds" Beardsley for a while.

(Apologies to at least one BABBler who has probably read this before on another discussion group.)