Anybody who reads Dan Brown and thinks he's erudite should *please* go read some Umberto Eco.
To be fair to Dan Brown, though, I'm not sure what he would bill himself as; would he dare to even compare himself to the aforementioned professor of semiotics?.
I'll concede: Eco's writing at times (okay, throughout, really) exists to demonstrate his playfulness with language, symbols, and references. But then again, so too does Brown, if only all the more briefly, many times incorrectly, and with a lack of depth that so characterizes his work. Brown is the beach-reading version of a smart novel.
Where Eco probably would make Derrida smile, Brown's body of work wouldn't even evoke a pursing of his lips.
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Posted by stephend at May 26, 2006 11:31 PMOuch! I agree with your assessment, but it is a bit harsh on Brown.
Still, I'll bet he's laughing all the way to the bank!
Posted by: Sarah LaDow on June 5, 2006 3:36 PM