Thursday, January 13, 2011

Reading matters

The explanation for this week's book purchases is simple. Laziness! The Magrudy's corner in the Spinneys supermarket across the street has a quite limited range of titles and it is not quickly stocked with the latest releases.

But it is so very convenient to shop there and it saves the costs of taxis to and from one of the malls.

I have not read either John Grisham or Dan Brown for ages.

What was my last Grisham? Given that it must have been over ten years ago that I read one of his courtroom dramas I cannot possibly remember. The Broker was less lawyered up and had an intriguing eponymous protagonist. It had a slightly naff ending but it was good for two reading sessions.

Now... Dan Brown... I read Digital Fortress, Deception Point and Angels and Demons when they first appeared. I found them great fun and as soon as The DaVinci Code came out I was one of the earliest buyers. At the time this was my favourite read of that season, mainly due to the story's harking back to Holy Blood, Holy Grail which I have read and re-read several times since it came out in the early eighties.

And then, of course, The DaVinci Code exploded to become a publishing phenomenon and the movie (which I may one day watch) followed. 

I suppose it was due to some kind of inverted snobbery which caused me to refrain from buying The Lost Symbol when it was first published. But now I have started it and it is... happily... thick enough to suffice for several sessions as my weekend read.

About a hundred pages in my provisional verdict... skilfully written twaddle, but compulsive reading.

Good heavens! Grisham and Brown... Can Tom Clancy be far behind?.

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