Angels & demons
7 journalers for this copy...
I just bought this book after reading so many interesting journal entries about it here at BC. Looking forward to reading it.
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A gripping, suspenseful read. I did roll my eyes several times, like when the Hassassin says to Langdon, "So we meet yet again". Other times, particularly when Vittoria was speaking, I found the dialogue much more satisfying:
"Mr. Langdon, I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference. Holy scripture is stories...legends and history of man's quest to understand his own need for meaning. I am not asking you to pass judgment on literature. I am asking if you believe in God. When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God's hand?"(P. 109)
I'm going to pass this page-turner along to a friend, hoping that she will come to BC to make a journal entry when she is finished.
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A gripping, suspenseful read. I did roll my eyes several times, like when the Hassassin says to Langdon, "So we meet yet again". Other times, particularly when Vittoria was speaking, I found the dialogue much more satisfying:
"Mr. Langdon, I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference. Holy scripture is stories...legends and history of man's quest to understand his own need for meaning. I am not asking you to pass judgment on literature. I am asking if you believe in God. When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God's hand?"(P. 109)
I'm going to pass this page-turner along to a friend, hoping that she will come to BC to make a journal entry when she is finished.
Releasing by mail to a fellow bookcrosser. Enjoy!
YEA!!!!!!!! Thank you! Thank you! I've been looking far and wide for this one and was very excited to receive it today in the mail! I thoroughly enjoyed DaVinci Code and will have to wait until I'm not needing much sleep before I delve into this one :-)
To go to Skylerdragon, or possibly a bookring when I'm done.
Order for bookray:
Skylerdragon
synergy
Fire-Dragon
geniedances
Neena11
smitsp <--- on its way
melissaenglish72
kalipriestess
deette98
Skylerdragon
synergy
Fire-Dragon
geniedances
Neena11
smitsp <--- on its way
melissaenglish72
kalipriestess
deette98
A thoroughly disappointing read after The DaVinci Code, particularly the last 100 pages. Rather than focusing on the "intellectual suspense" that made DaVinci so intrguing, this one gives way entirely to cheap thrills and bad science fiction. I don't mind a lack of plausibility, but when it goes so far I'm rolling my eyes, the author has lost my faith.
The characters are completely cardboard and the melodrama is overdone. Langdon is smarter than Sherlock Holmes, sexier than James Bond, with the vulnerable humility of Clark Kent. Which might not have been so bad if he weren't playing opposite Vittoria, the brainless twit daughter of a renowned CERN physicist, who can split the atom, but can't figure out whether the fumes from a decomposing corpse might be flammable. The book could have been shorter by half if Langdon hadn't been so sidetracked by looking at her legs.
Brown also never tackled the WHY question, which he did in DaVinci Code. In the latter, there's a clear and (relatively) believable REASON why the bad guys have a set-up that only genius art historians and cryptographers can figure out. But there's no such
reason in this one. Why was Janus stringing everyone along and risking exposure? Why the hell was Janus using the lines of verse to create a path? And the ultimate annoyance in a murder mystery -- when Langdon finally corners Janus' henchman, the henchman starts
giving answers. I HATE that!!! It's the worst thriller cliche....*cackle, cackle* "I'm going to kill you, but FIRST! I'm going to tell you exactly what I did and why!" It's lazy and contrived.
This one is pretty much a hackneyed slasher that only gives passing hints to the historical and artistic theories and religious questions that made DaVinci Code so much more satisfying.
The characters are completely cardboard and the melodrama is overdone. Langdon is smarter than Sherlock Holmes, sexier than James Bond, with the vulnerable humility of Clark Kent. Which might not have been so bad if he weren't playing opposite Vittoria, the brainless twit daughter of a renowned CERN physicist, who can split the atom, but can't figure out whether the fumes from a decomposing corpse might be flammable. The book could have been shorter by half if Langdon hadn't been so sidetracked by looking at her legs.
Brown also never tackled the WHY question, which he did in DaVinci Code. In the latter, there's a clear and (relatively) believable REASON why the bad guys have a set-up that only genius art historians and cryptographers can figure out. But there's no such
reason in this one. Why was Janus stringing everyone along and risking exposure? Why the hell was Janus using the lines of verse to create a path? And the ultimate annoyance in a murder mystery -- when Langdon finally corners Janus' henchman, the henchman starts
giving answers. I HATE that!!! It's the worst thriller cliche....*cackle, cackle* "I'm going to kill you, but FIRST! I'm going to tell you exactly what I did and why!" It's lazy and contrived.
This one is pretty much a hackneyed slasher that only gives passing hints to the historical and artistic theories and religious questions that made DaVinci Code so much more satisfying.
I received this isn the mail yesterday! Thanks JesseBC! You are fantastic!I will get it off to synergy ASAP.
Journal Entry 8 by Skylerdragon at Controlled Release to Another Book Crosser in Alexandria, Missouri USA on Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Fantastic mystery thriller that exposes a whole new way of looking at Jesus. I don't buy into it, but this did have a fantastic story line, compelling characters and a dynamic plot. Suggested reading for any mystery lover.
Released on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 at Controlled Release to Another Book Crosser
Released on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 at Controlled Release to Another Book Crosser
I received this book in the mail a few weeks ago and forgot the journal entry! I started to read this book today and I've gotten sucked in. So far so good, at least 80 pages in. :-) I'll journal again when I finish it and am sending it on to the next person! Thanks!
2004 Book #11: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
I held onto this book way too long and then there were difficulties sorting out the next person it was going to. At any rate, I liked this book. I read it months ago, but it was a good thriller and a real page-turner. I haven't read the Da Vinci Code so I can't make a comparison to it, but I like sci-fi and mysteries and "alternative histories," so I liked it for those elements. I thought all the sites of the Vatican involved in the story were well thought out and even though there were a few times where I was thinking 'come on! you should have thought of that earlier!' it was good overall. The ending was a fairly unexpected twist and since it really spoils a book for me if I figure out the whodunit early on, this book was certainly not spoiled for me. As for the comment by someone earlier saying they disliked the disconnect as to why things happened or were done, well, I think the 'why' is pure human politics. Sounds trite perhaps, but is often the simple and yet complicated answer.
Update 09/08/2004: I just don't understand why so many people have a problem with the ending! Not scifi fans perhaps??? Who says a scientific ending isn't as much of a 'mystery' as a "religious" ending?? I didn't feel cheated in the least. I've now read Da Vinci Code and although I feel that for the most part it's the same book retread, the ending is quite different. Read my The Da Vinci Code book review. /update :)
I'm now sending the book on to Fire-Dragon via JesseBC.
I held onto this book way too long and then there were difficulties sorting out the next person it was going to. At any rate, I liked this book. I read it months ago, but it was a good thriller and a real page-turner. I haven't read the Da Vinci Code so I can't make a comparison to it, but I like sci-fi and mysteries and "alternative histories," so I liked it for those elements. I thought all the sites of the Vatican involved in the story were well thought out and even though there were a few times where I was thinking 'come on! you should have thought of that earlier!' it was good overall. The ending was a fairly unexpected twist and since it really spoils a book for me if I figure out the whodunit early on, this book was certainly not spoiled for me. As for the comment by someone earlier saying they disliked the disconnect as to why things happened or were done, well, I think the 'why' is pure human politics. Sounds trite perhaps, but is often the simple and yet complicated answer.
Update 09/08/2004: I just don't understand why so many people have a problem with the ending! Not scifi fans perhaps??? Who says a scientific ending isn't as much of a 'mystery' as a "religious" ending?? I didn't feel cheated in the least. I've now read Da Vinci Code and although I feel that for the most part it's the same book retread, the ending is quite different. Read my The Da Vinci Code book review. /update :)
I'm now sending the book on to Fire-Dragon via JesseBC.
Journal Entry 11 by Fire-Dragon from Newtown, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, August 25, 2004
This was waiting for me when I arrived back from my holiday in Scotland on Monday. I have one more book in the list before this one but will read and send on ASAP.
Journal Entry 12 by Fire-Dragon from Newtown, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, September 8, 2004
The first few chapters had me groaning, with the rush of Langdon being dragged out of bed and flown to Switzerland on a space shuttle with the top sawn off, followed by pages and pages of information dump about the Illuminati and antimatter.
But after a while, the story sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. It's deeply silly and the characters have no psychological truth but it's a real page turner and fabulously entertaining.
Not as good as The Da Vinci Code though and I felt a bit cheated by the conclusion.
PM-ing Tabby90 now.
But after a while, the story sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. It's deeply silly and the characters have no psychological truth but it's a real page turner and fabulously entertaining.
Not as good as The Da Vinci Code though and I felt a bit cheated by the conclusion.
PM-ing Tabby90 now.
It took me a while to get to the post office (I poked my head in a few times but the queues were always enormous) but I finally posted this to geniedances yesterday. Sorry about the delay.
While its not as good as The Da Vinci Code, overall, it was entertaining. A number of aspect defied reality but it is fiction. I had "who done it" figured out long before the end. I'm contacting the next person on the list so it will move along.
Picked this up in the mail today. I've been looking forward to reading Angels and Demons for awhile, so I plan on starting it right away. Thanks!
For the most part I enjoyed Angels and Demons. Some of it ended up being just plain silly, but it does make you think. As soon as I can find the next person on the list, it will be on it's way again. :)
Finally on it's way again. Mailing to smithsp today. Happy reading! :)
