Angels & Demons (the book)

[ThunderAeroI]

I finished reading the book last night in the wake of geeting ready to watch the movie. I found myself acting out many of the scene with Tom Hanks in mind and I felt it worked really well.

Overall I found the book, perhaps not so exiciting as interesting. The plot twist at the end caught me by surprise but considering the build up to it, made perfect sence. I would say I figured it out at the point your probably supposed to figure it out and It took me about five minutes to stop laughing (it was rather funny in a WTF, kind of way).

THe ending did feel a little long and drawn out though and I think it probably could have been reduced, but it was interesting.

What did everyone else think about the book, and what time frame is their suppose to be between this book and the DaVici Code?

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I liked the book. It's sort of one of my guilty pleasures. I normally read deep and meaningful nonfiction, so a fluffy mindless action novel is a great change of pace now and then. I liked it better than the Da Vinci Code, but they were both enjoyable.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

the book was written before Code, but since the film was made after the film version of Code, they will do a minor rewrite in the screenplay to approach it as if these events happened after Code I think the main thing you will notice, based on the trailer, is that Langdon's reputation is one of the reasons the Vatican called him on this. In the book, however, it's the director of CERN who calls him on this. I have the feeling that a lot of the CERN stuff had been excised from the screenplay in order to make a more taut adaptation. I thought the debates early in the book during these scenes (God vs. Physics) were the best part. I wonder if they will show the woman parachuting (as in the book it came in handy toward the end. Actually, as a writer that is my biggest (and not my only) problem with Brown's writing: We saw a woman at Cern in an air tunnel or something creating drag, and then Kohler tells Langdon about how a certain amount of drag can slow a body in motion such and such percent. Then Brown states something like: "Little did Langdon know that this tidbit of information will save him nearly twenty-four hrs. later in a country thousands of miles away." That's crap writing. Yet it kind of works because it gets the reader to do exactly what Brown and his publishers want the reader to do: turn the page. It's all about page turning. Later in the book, for example, Brown takes tour pages for Langdon and the girl to figure out a riddle or something by talking to a guard (not a real character) and the dialogue is so bad and contrived and yet it's a rapid moving four pages because its just a series of deductions. anyway, going back to my original example,: as a writer, I hate the idea of cheating and telling the reader that you are foreshadowing: it really gives yourself (the writer) too much and credit and your reader too little, and it cheapens the story. If it were to deny me sales, I would never write like that.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Sure you would, I found it a little too upfront, but it did make me wonder how it all tied together. But then I knew his life was never in danager because he had to survive in order to get to the Da Vinci Code. That didn't rob from me any of the suspense of his danger from the Hassasin or for the life of Vettoria.

I do hope they leave in the CERN stuff, all of how that tied together really made the story bookend well. I do not understand how you can change the story such that the Vattican calls Langdon and still have the story be logial.

Part of that just built up to make Kholer evil or good, depending on how you took his actions near the end. Removing CERN may make some people happy, but I think it really decreases the value of the story.

I guess I will find out on friday, but i hope it stays true to the book in most aspects.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

No I wouldn't. When I write a novel, it's a major project that takes me hours days and even years of effort, and I'm not going to cheapen it with a shallow technique like that.

 

[Freakness]

i tried to read The Da Vinci Code, but it was so unbearably bad that i couldn't get through the first chapter. i suspect that Angel & Demons was at least as bad.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

to it's credit Angels was better than Code

 

[RJDiogenes]

I hate the idea of cheating and telling the reader that you are foreshadowing: it really gives yourself (the writer) too much and credit and your reader too little, and it cheapens the story. If it were to deny me sales, I would never write like that.

He should have also had Langdon say, "Feh! Don't bore me with information I don't need." Then it would have been irony, too!

And now I do my Magic Mod Hand Jive and send this Thread to TV & Media.... wheee-oooo....

 

[LutherSloan]

I agree that the Da Vinci Code was very poorly written compared to most books I have read. I quickly tired of the two-page chapters as well.

 

[1001001]

My wife bought me the illustrated versions of The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. I really enjoy looking at the art and architecture.

They're not exactly great literature, but I found both books to be good fun, with Angels and Demons being the better of the two.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

i tried to read The Da Vinci Code, but it was so unbearably bad that i couldn't get through the first chapter. i suspect that Angel & Demons was at least as bad.

As was the movie.

 

[SlyCardie]

to it's credit Angels was better than Code

Agree on this point. Angels was a better book and ended up being more action packed.

 

[Casi]

I think Angels and Demons is definitely the superior novel from Brown's body of work. Is it great literature? Nope. Is it even based on scientific fact? Nope. What about historical accuracy? Not really.

But is it fun to read? Hell yeah.

It was exciting where it should have been exciting. It was funny where it needed to be funny. It was shocking where it needed to be shocking. And I'll admit that at one point it even got a visceral reaction from me.

Spoiler: The Plot Twist at the End

I was really moved by the whole Camerlango (sp?) thing because, up until that point, I had seriously wanted to believe in the man. It reminded me of when I used to watch Carnivale and (sorry for those that haven't seen it and have no idea what I'm talking about) I would feel so bad for Brother Justin because all he wanted was to do God's will and be a good man, and yet he just couldn't. So when we were so clearly betrayed by that character near the end of the book, it hurt. And that's how you SHOULD feel at a moment like that.

All in all, it's never going to make it into what I would call the Literature section of my library. It will stay firmly ensconced next to the Bourne books in the "Light Fiction" section.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I read Angels and Demons in one sitting compared to The Da Vinci Code which took me just under a week to complete. I found Angels and Demons to be more compelling faster paced book with a more interesting plot. The ending threw me for a loop...since I wasn't expecting that so it did it's job in surprising me. Angels and Demons is my favourite of the two Langdon novels and I'm looking forward to reading The Lost Symbol.

 

[Elemental]

I enjoyed it. A thoughtful, easy read, the save as Da Vinci Code.