Inspired by the bold sacrifice recently reported by resident paranormalist Chris Parizo, I am go to do his exact opposite: risk my reputation around Contrarian HQ in support of my outside work. There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to just come out with it.
I, Wesley Covey, Contrarian Librarian, love the work of Dan Brown.
There. I said it. And posted it online. Go ahead, Mr. Editor, take away my badge! (Author’s note: I am well aware that this is a mixed metaphor, and yes, I am making fun of Dan Brown as I praise him.)
I am, as mentioned, a librarian. I am also a book geek and a writer. Here’s my picture:
(Author’s note: this is not me. I am not nearly as good looking.)
I do not deny Mr. Brown’s writing reads like that of a mediocre undergrad. Check out this excerpt from his new book, The Lost Symbol: “(Character who fell into a river found himself) dragged by a powerful force across rocks in an impossibly cold void.” Rocks in a void? Interesting.
That said, I love Dan Brown. Sure, he spins an amusing yarn (see Mr. Brown? Spin… yarn: the metaphor makes sense. Try it!), but that’s not why I like him. I like him because of the size of our reserve list for his new book at my library. I like him for the same reason I like Stephanie Meyer, though I haven’t read her books. Mr. Brown and Ms. Meyer get people reading, and for that, I love them.
The thing people need to remember about Dan Brown is that he is a popular novelist. What he is writing isn’t literature, nor is it history. He writes cheesy, exciting thrillers with fun historical information. Of course I wish we had half the waiting list for Roberto Bolano and Haruki Murakami that we have for Brown, but as a professional I know that people want to curl up by the fire and read something dumb and amusing more than they want to be challenged. Mr. Brown’s books, for all their flaws, fulfill this desire.
There you have it. Kick me out of the club if you will. But remember: someday you too will want to read something below your level. I’ll be waiting behind the desk when you do.
I understand exactly what you mean. As an American literature teacher, I spend all day trying to get my students to understand the complexity of the context of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the complexity of the simplicity of Hemingway – and usually it feels like it’s a lost cause. The act of creating life-long readers is nothing but images in my head.
But, my students do read! They read Meyer, Brown, Rowlings, and trashy African-American centered “baby-mamma-drama” novels that, if he were black, would have a sullen,gangsta Fabio wearing a skullcap and baggy pants on the cover. It is difficult, because I want to hand them “Kafka on the Shore” or “Life of Pi” and have them tell me it is the greatest thing they have ever experienced, but alas, this won’t happen.
As long as the youth are reading, I guess it doesn’t matter the quality of what they read.
btw: Am I the only one who knows of the person who died in Dan Brown’s house? And this isn’t a Glenn Beck thing. It happened.
The thing about trash fiction is that an intelligent person is going to find something to think about in whatever they read (watch/listen to/etc), and someone who isn’t as bright or isn’t up for the challenge won’t get anything out of even the best books (movies/shows/records/etc).
I’m fine with the fact that not everyone will read Kafka or Pynchon. Honestly, not everyone should. Everyone should read, but they should read what they want.
Also, everyone should read what Chris has to say about dead people and Dan Brown. Let’s have it!
I heard a rumor that a woman died in his house about two months back… never heard or read anything about it.
I mean, never read anything about it.
All right. Here I go, Wes, intent on inserting my foot into my mouth. First, bravo! Your piece on Dan Brown was dead on. And on the fundamental point: Reading is good, I agree. However, I am a very choosey reader. And I believe most earnestly in a proper classical education: Start in Greece, let the aeons pass by; make stops in every nation and greedily devore their great literature. Greatest first. The rest is pablum for the dumbed-downed masses. Authors, such as Mr. Brown and his ilk, have made an uninformed, complacent and ignorant populace. Americans do not vote anymore because they have, over the past 40 decades, been morphed into automatons who consume pulp fiction like they do a burger from McDonalds. (Sorry Ronald) It matters very much what & who we read. We must pass up Dan Brown for Salinger, De Sade, Camus, Capote, Vidal, and so on. Just as I would not dine on a maggot infested steak, I pass the hacks, and go for the Creme de la creme everytime. Its simple: Eat crap, get fat. Read crap and get dumb.
Next time someone comes into the library looking for Dan Brown I’m going to give them De Sade, then follow them home to watch them read. If that wouldn’t be good for a laugh, I don’t know what would…
Or Vidal! (Same difference, really.)
Amen on the Murakami. More people need to be reading him.