Monday, July 05, 2004
Read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code last night -- all the way through, in one sitting, with little pauses for a bite of raisin challah now and again. On the whole, it is great, great fun, and definitely worth reading. Though I take issue with some stylistic choices (every new discovery is lauded as a fantastic, incredible revelation, which starts to get a bit tiresome), the suspense and the can't-put-it-down quality are admirable -- and for the record, it has been a long time since I read a book for grown-ups of any considerable length in one sitting! The Big Secret actually comes out halfway through the book, which is nice because it gives the reader space to think about it, but there are plenty of surprises left -- though I found that the earlier puzzles, created impromptu by one of the characters, were more interesting and more difficult than the later, long-planned ones with carefully-set-up clues. Have to say I was quite pleased with myself for being able to figure out some of the more minor ones. Another advantage of reading in one sitting, I guess; the patterns are more evident when you're immersed in them. Plus, due to my personal views on certain topics, I found the Big Secret quite intriguing, and am feeling motivated to go thumb through a book on the Louvre and perhaps a translated ancient text or two, if I ever get around to it...
But for now, back to work. Having been visited in turn by the ever-fabulous D.H. and E.L., and then by a Mommy, I now need to catch up on some long-overdue administrative tasks, probably accompanied by a grande chai latte and a raspberry scone...
But for now, back to work. Having been visited in turn by the ever-fabulous D.H. and E.L., and then by a Mommy, I now need to catch up on some long-overdue administrative tasks, probably accompanied by a grande chai latte and a raspberry scone...
