Also some good intro links by two friends of mine for those interested in the serious side of the Rennes mystery which was the basis from which Brown cobbled together his decaffeinated fiction:
What does everyone think of the idea of a school putting the book on its required summer reading list for rising high school seniors? My younger sister has to read it this summer, and I'm amazed. I think putting a suspense novel, techno-thriller or whatever you want to call it?even if it's a best-seller?on a student's required reading list is akin to putting a Harry Potter book on there, or something by Michael Crichton.
It does seem a little odd to be reading popular fiction. But I guess they'll do whatever it takes to get them to read. It's OK with me as long as they're also reading the Shakespeare and all that.
Angels and Demons was pretty good too, but I'm looking forward to his next on on the Masons.
Check out anything fictional by Robert Anton Wilson - can't remember the name of the three book series that wasn't the Illuminatus trilolgy - but they were well done for this sort of thing.
Will do. That sounds interesting. I've been told The Rule of Four is excellent, too. I'm due for a new book soon, so if I don't pick up that one, I'll try the Robert Anson Wilson.
And I worry about the summer reading thing. The da Vinci Code is the only one that's required (I think it may even be required reading for all of the high school students, not just rising seniors.) My sister only enjoys reading fantasy books and can't stand reading what we'd call literature. I almost cried when she said she hated Catcher in the Rye and thought The Old Man and the Sea was dumb. Now she says she even hates TDC because she's not interested in any of the religious angles.
At the end of The da Vinci Code, Brown describes a scene in which the Sun is setting (at least he knows the Sun sets in the west) but then, symbolic of his theme of the "sacred feminine", he describes Venus a rising in the east at the same time.
This is really bad astronomy. There's no good story-telling reason to botch this. Venus can only be seen rising in the east if it's rising shortly before sunrise. It can't rise in the east at sunset. Anyone with just a modicum of stargazing knowledge should know this.
Think about it: If you look one direction and see the Sun, and then look in nearly the opposite direction and see Venus, this implies that you -- and the Earth you're standing on -- are in between the Sun and Venus.
Since the orbit of Venus is always closer to the Sun than the orbit of the Earth, however, there's no way for the Earth to get in between the Sun and Venus, and thus no way for the Sun and Venus to be on opposing horizons in the sky.
I admit that I didn't catch that. It makes sense when you say it like that, but when I read it I guess I didn't catch it.
Comments
Originally posted by segovius
Also some good intro links by two friends of mine for those interested in the serious side of the Rennes mystery which was the basis from which Brown cobbled together his decaffeinated fiction:
Hermeneutical Hell
Rennes discovery
I've heard that it apparently is a popular mystery in France. Interesting stuff.
Originally posted by mlnjr
What does everyone think of the idea of a school putting the book on its required summer reading list for rising high school seniors? My younger sister has to read it this summer, and I'm amazed. I think putting a suspense novel, techno-thriller or whatever you want to call it?even if it's a best-seller?on a student's required reading list is akin to putting a Harry Potter book on there, or something by Michael Crichton.
It does seem a little odd to be reading popular fiction. But I guess they'll do whatever it takes to get them to read. It's OK with me as long as they're also reading the Shakespeare and all that.
Originally posted by mlnjr
Angels and Demons was pretty good too, but I'm looking forward to his next on on the Masons.
Check out anything fictional by Robert Anton Wilson - can't remember the name of the three book series that wasn't the Illuminatus trilolgy - but they were well done for this sort of thing.
And I worry about the summer reading thing. The da Vinci Code is the only one that's required (I think it may even be required reading for all of the high school students, not just rising seniors.) My sister only enjoys reading fantasy books and can't stand reading what we'd call literature. I almost cried when she said she hated Catcher in the Rye and thought The Old Man and the Sea was dumb. Now she says she even hates TDC because she's not interested in any of the religious angles.
Originally posted by Powerdoc
a novel, even a best seller is not a theologic book.
Then how do you explain the bible?
Originally posted by rageous
Then how do you explain the bible?
There is no contradiction with my statement.
Originally posted by shetline
At the end of The da Vinci Code, Brown describes a scene in which the Sun is setting (at least he knows the Sun sets in the west) but then, symbolic of his theme of the "sacred feminine", he describes Venus a rising in the east at the same time.
This is really bad astronomy. There's no good story-telling reason to botch this. Venus can only be seen rising in the east if it's rising shortly before sunrise. It can't rise in the east at sunset. Anyone with just a modicum of stargazing knowledge should know this.
Think about it: If you look one direction and see the Sun, and then look in nearly the opposite direction and see Venus, this implies that you -- and the Earth you're standing on -- are in between the Sun and Venus.
Since the orbit of Venus is always closer to the Sun than the orbit of the Earth, however, there's no way for the Earth to get in between the Sun and Venus, and thus no way for the Sun and Venus to be on opposing horizons in the sky.
I admit that I didn't catch that. It makes sense when you say it like that, but when I read it I guess I didn't catch it.