This reminds me of a joke I heard: " A man sees his friend and asks, "Are you fishing?", his friend answers," No, I am fishing". Then the man says," Oh, I thought you were fishing."

Gus wrote: "Oh, you know, the one about the conspiracy theory, and that professor who knows all about conspiracy theories..."

How original!

yup. that's it. so far so good. not as good as the divinci code as i think he is trying to hard to write a movie out of it (c'mon, bellemy is totally morgan freeman) but a fun read.

Cosmic should read this. noetic science, quantum crap, codes, religion, symbolism. thinking of her while reading this

Oh, you know, the one about the conspiracy theory, and that professor who knows all about conspiracy theories...

which one?

just started reading new dan brown book over the weekend :)

I read that as OCD'd on empty calories. Which made me laugh.

Just be sure to have someone nearby who'll call 911 once you've OD'd on all those empty sugars.

All this just exposes how ignorant I am of Dan Brown AND cheese. I think the best think I can do this weekend is roll up in bed with a box of fruit juice and some, some Valvetta, and read a Dan Brown book.

I think of Dan Brown as one of those fruit punch drinks that contains 100% sugar and no fruit juice whatsoever.

Hahaha! Yeah, that's good.

Dan Brown is more of a capri sun than a wine cooler.

So to extend the metaphor, Dan Brown is a wine cooler, and Douglas Preston is a reasonably priced lager.

I love Crichton and Preston. Cussler has lost me with all his spin offs and the sheer volume of works he has. i still am going to read the new dan brown book

But are they both cheese, because one is fiction and one is non fiction. So maybe Dan Brown is more like a wine cooler, and Friedman is a manchego.

Sally, I'm thinking Friedman is more like a manchego, a little harsh tasting at first, but ultimately a rewarding experience.

He writes popular thrillers with some sort of treasure hunt through museum artifacts and "secrets" of the past. So I dunno, he's like Clive Cussler, or like Michael Crichton, or Douglas Preston or whoever -books where somebody chases somebody else across three continents in search of the lost whatever it is. Raiders of the Lost Ark, National Treasure, that kind of thing. Although I think Crichton and Preston are better writers.

If we use a cheese metaphor, Dan Brown is Velveeta while Friedman might be Gouda.

Never having read Dan Brown, maybe it's best if I refrain from comparing him to anyone. But what is he like, if you don't mind me asking.

Uh I guess any two authors can be compared, I just think that if you do a comparison it comes out that Dan Brown and Tom Friedman aren't much alike.

So, is that to say that the two authors are too different and thus not comparable?

I agree. Not Dan Brownish. I would put Friedman in a category with writers like Oliver Sacks, or Carl Sagan, or Jared Diamond already mentioned, Stephen Jay Gould, Isaac Asimov - writers with academic credentials who also write (often very well) for a popular audience. That's very different from what Dan Brown does.

I wouldn't compare Friedman as a "Dan Brownish" author of E & IC. Regardless of what one thinks of Friedman's economic & geopolitical philosophies, he's articulate and writes in a language everyone can understand. Perhaps that's why he gets such flak.

harry potter still sucks haha

Yeah, I like Krugman's stuff quite a bit. Perhaps its harder to be a Dan Brownish author in Economics and International Relations than it is to be a Dan Brown in mysteries. Or maybe the analogy just doesn't fit at all. I don't think I'm up for reading a Dan Brown book to find out though.

I guessed I missed most of the flack. Probably wasn't paying attention that day.

Friedman takes a world of crap because he's well-known and prolific. He later realized his take on hedge fund managers was wrong, and acknowledged it publicly. I admit to liking Friedman, especially when he's humble enough to acknowledge he's wrong - his initial hawkish views on Iraq became highly tempered when he quickly realized Iraq was a bloody quagmire with no end in sight.

Paul Krugman is also starting to get a lot of flak.

In the field of International Relations, books written by Thomas Friedman typically get bad mouthed a lot--you know The World is Flat, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. I think perhaps one reason he gets such a bad wrap is because in the Lexus and the Olive Tree he said that out of politicians, academics, and business people, he thought hedge fund managers had the best take on the big picture stuff of international relations. Thus, there are academic article that talk about how his ideas are actually just simplified versions of academic works.

The thing about Friedman is that he is a rhetorician--his trade is taking obscure ideas and putting them into easy to digest phrases (almost like memes). I can't complain. He was my gateway drug into International Political Economy. I still can't say I've progressed beyond Friedman so much.

A stitch in time saves nine. Also, you can't judge a book by its cover.

Misha wins Comment of the Day!

Bun...Bun...Imma let you finish, but Kanye West had the best hyperbole of all time. Of ALL time!

Hee, hee. Sure. Now is the best time for hyperbole in the history of the world, after all.

Actually, Bun, Gabby may be right. Time can only tell.

Uh, NOT helping, Gabby!!

People may call it trashy entertainment/kidz book/pop corn etc but all the harry potter books have become part of what we called great classics and Miss rowling will be remembered even in generations to come for creating such a master piece.
Harry potter rocks:)

Jackie "the Librarian" wrote: "Mmm, I've got to point out here that Harry Potter isn't trashy, it is solid juvenile fantasy, well-plotted and in a setting that gets kids hoping they'll also discover a hidden world of magic just ..."

Agreed.

Hear hear.

Mmm, I've got to point out here that Harry Potter isn't trashy, it is solid juvenile fantasy, well-plotted and in a setting that gets kids hoping they'll also discover a hidden world of magic just around the corner.

I have always said that at least people are reading again when people say "I can't believe people are reading books like Harry Potter!" Hopefully it will inspire them to read more. I file Harry Potter under "fun trashy reads" which everyone needs in between reading books like Finnegan's Wake and Democracy in America.

I always take 12-13 books from library and one or two romances to read-rest, have a break from that 12.

I had a conversation with someone earlier this evening about how books like Twilight and The Da Vinci Code are like popcorn. There's no nutritional value and you certainly wouldn't want to live on them, but they're tasty every once in awhile when you just want a light snack.

I was ready to start my comment with "WHO THE HELL IS DAN BROWN?", but Misha's post answered my question.

I recently read a romance novel that was written quite poorly, but I knew going in that it was a romance novel, so I took it for what it was and enjoyed it. Its okay to have a guilty pleasure once in awhile.

And while I've never read any Harry Potter or Twilight, I say god bless'em for getting young people into reading!!

In that case Gus, you'd probably really like anthropological journals and case studies. They are often well written and very enlightening. I haven't been able to dig mine out recently, but when I do, I'll post them.

Edit: Found one. Bridges to Humanity Narratives on Fieldwork and Friendship

Since I was the one who opened the Dan Brown Must Die A Horrible Death thread, I'll re-iterate what I mentioned before: just like Jose Saramago or Thomas Pynchon isn't for everyone, Dan Brown isn't for me. When I read a novel or non-fiction, I don't want to just be entertained; I want the words on the page to represent exactly what the writer is thinking at that very moment. It's one thing to be a good story teller, but if you can't make me truly appreciate your words, sentences and nuances, then, in my opinion, you've failed as a writer.

For example, I don't know jack-shit about anthropology, but Guns, Germs and Steel is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. I still don't know much about anthropology, but I was struck immensely by Jared Diamond's passion for his work. He's like that guy you meet at a social gathering who just NEEDS to tell you about what he does, and he does it in such a passionate, thoughtful manner that you can't help but be impressed and enthralled.

So, impress me, enthrall me. Don't just entertain me.

Jim wrote: "Welcome to TC Gabby81"

thanx my friend :)

Welcome to TC Gabby81

I am not an expert on books in english language cos i started reading those only few years back.
Luckily the first one i got my hand on was the harry potter series recommended by my friend.I fell in love as soon as i started the book.I think the beauty of harry potter series lies in details of the characters, the environment etc
I like books which keep one lost in it till it end
People may have different views on Dan Brown work but i like his books(not all in same order)cos he is a very good story teller with good command over writing fast paced action thrillers. Interestingly, Da Vince code is not the most favorite of mine rather i like digital fortress more than da vinci code. I think he has done a good job so far and definitely he is not a crap writer

My husband thinks I'm nuts, because I'm often reading things I hate to see what they are all about. But I love an in depth book discussion, even of things I dislike. He hasn't even read Twilight, but for some reason he enjoyed listening to me dissect the thing. I didn't hate Twilight, but I can't say I liked it. I just have this undeniable urge to understand popular culture and it's reading choices.

I thought The Da Vinci Code was just okay. I won't read any more of Brown's books. I also won't spend my time trying to understand why other people love him so much because I just don't care. What other people choose to read doesn't make one whit of difference to my life. I'm going to read what I want to read (which does include the Twilight series because I enjoy it despite the bad writing and because it's something my exhausted brain can easily absorb after a hard day at work), but why concern myself with whether what other people like is up to snuff? It's wasted energy. People like Dan Brown. So what? There's room enough in the world for both Dan Brown and Shakespeare, and maybe the ginormous profits Brown's publisher is raking in from his work mean they'll have the financial flexibility to take a chance on the next great writer who won't sell as well but will make some lasting contribution to the world.

I thought the first book in the Twilight series was better than I expected.