Dan Brown – My Favourite Author

This post is written by Novemberschild who is very passionate about reading and writing. For her, technology and gadgets are simply sexy and tempting. She likes to realax with a cup of hot chocolate reading a great book or watching movies. She is a certified homebody when the moment calls for it but at the same time she loves to get out and explore from time to time. And not to miss out, she is genuinely a fun person and very friendly. You can reach her on her blogwww.thewhitescape.wordpress.com or on twitter @romspeaks.  

I hope you all enjoy this write-up. 

For me, Dan Brown remains as the number 1 thriller writers of all time. His books are real page turners (I loved the movie conversions also). They are engaging, hard hitting, informative and amazingly interesting. Dan Brown knows the art of making anything appear mysterious. I love mysteries, puzzles and the theories behind them. I am always in search of figuring out the existence of us, the religions, the universe and its secrets. How, why, what, where are answered well in his books. Dan Brown writes well on engaging the readers with questions. He pulls out the final mystery twist making what would usually be considered as ridiculous climax, actually reads to be very reasonable and genuine. That’s a real writing skill. I am fascinated with a world of technology, spies, assassins, secret societies, ancient, mystical and paranormal coverts. This mix works well for him. He doesn’t mind taking all the extra efforts to details everything in his books such as road names, full serial numbers of kit, real people and their accomplishments. Dan Brown is James Bond of literary world. His main female character is sexy, intelligent, successful, fashionable and super smart who is not just a sex object but gives equal support to his Protagonist. Professor Robert Langdon is handsome in the book but on screen he is sexier and intellectual (Tom Hanks, the reason why I like English flicks).

Dan Brown is liked and disliked in the same way. He has been attacked for his books and there are never-ending list of contemptuous blogs and critic reviews written against him. It is proved success breeds resentment and disrespect. All his books have been successful, sold collectively over 200 million copies in 52 languages which says how much the readers are appealed with his work.

Every book of his from the first Digital Fortress to the last Inferno has history, conspiracy, secret codes, symbols embedded in paintings, books, churches, monuments, and government buildings which suggests that the things we take for granted are imbued with hidden meanings. After reading his books, for me a painting is not just a painting, an ancient text is not just another book, the dollar is not the currency of USA, the façade on a building may be more than a simple beautification. I have started to look at things from his point of view. It is sad state of affair that poetry, myth, religion, philosophy are outmoded; people were previous humans who preferred the 3-dimensional, face-to-face interaction for one-dimensional which has been substituted with Facebook and Twitter. In between us all this, when an author like Dan Brown sells many copies of his novels is it safe to say that his writings do have an influence on society at large?

Everyone knows Shakespeare, but did anyone know about 14th century Italian poet, Dante Alighieri before Inferno? The answer of the majority is No. His last book Inferno (2013) heavily inspired by the first part of the Dante's Divine Comedy (a three-part epic through hell, purgatory and heaven) has introduced millions of readers to one of the most important writers that ever lived. Not just this, we can find science, history, art and geography in his books from Leonardo Da Vinci, Jesus, anti-matter, the esotericism of Manly P. Hall, the Vatican, the Louvre, Noetic Science, Freemasonry, beliefs of the Founding Fathers, Medicis, Michelangelo, to Thomas Malthus and all this has actually made me more informed. Rome and Vatican City (Angels and Demons) Paris (The Da Vinci Code) Washington, D.C. (The Lost Symbol) Florence, Venice and Istanbul (Inferno), Dan Brown has set his books in the some of the most attractive and fascinating cities in the world. Every book of his has some central motif which is better to get informed about and gain knowledge rather than discussing Kim Kardashian's baby shower to Rupert Murdoch’s engagement. His exploration of the subject brings the issue to the forefront of public awareness.

Every one of us is wedged somewhere between the seen and the hidden, between greediness and mysticism, between science and religion. We can sense an air of tension when these subjects arise as one would sustain and other would differ. Many Christian societies and groups protested against the release of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but at the same time, some of them from the same religion thanked him because it made more people in the church talk about God than ever before. By and by, the more people reverentially exchanged a few words, the more they understand that they are more often than not talking about the same thing but using unlike words.

Dan Brown’s books are like the first born kids who don’t get the attention that the younger sibling gets. Every week new books go on-sale across the country, from thrillers to literary fiction to narrative histories to cookbooks and self-help manuals. Most books don't have the same elaboration nearby their release that of a blockbuster movie, unless it is a Dan Brown. His books always put publishing in the highlight and it's a fine souvenir to all of us to log off from our accounts of Facebook and Twitter time and again and lose ourselves in a good book.