"Yes, I'm a Closeted Dan Brown Reader."

I can't help but agree with Peter Scowen. The Da Vinci Code was really "the worst thriller that I ever read that I couldn't put down." I had read the book in one day, telephoning friends at work to scream into the mouthpiece, "JESUS CHRIST WAS MARRIED!?!?!?!" Certainly not my most dignified moment, but one that I will forever recall.

Like many others who had lined up at the theatres on opening day, I couldn't help but spend this long weekend with a large buttered popcorn and the miscast Robert Langdon in Angels & Demons. Frankly, the movie wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected; I had seen the two-and-a-half-star ratings and naturally assumed the worst. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised -- though anything had to be a step up from the bore fest that was The Da Vinci Code. Like the book, the film was better than its sequel.

Since this is a book blog and not a forum for me to comment on films, I am getting to the point of my posting. I was "window shopping" on amazon.ca and found myself rather tempted to buy an advanced copy of Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol. Generally, I wait for the paperback copy, but I can't really help myself when it comes to trashy books that try desperately to squeak by as semi-high-brow. For me, Brown's unabashed potshots at the most venerated institutions and symbols of Christianity, though occasionally a bit difficult to stomach, still represent the most interesting potential plots out there. Despite the fact his novels are poorly written and even poorly woven, I can't help but be intrigued and I can't really explain why either. Perhaps it's the sensationalism and scandal associated with the subject matter his books tackle -- who knows? I can only imagine what a truly talented author could do with plots like Brown's and what convincing yarns they could spin. This said, I'm still likely to buy and consume the book like it's going out of style as covertly as possible, though I'll likely refrain from reviewing it with the same attention-to-detail as I do more meritorious novels.