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Hype Monkeys & Ignorant Readers

Stewart

Stewart

Active Member
Currently I'm reading The Rule of Four by first time writers Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and, almost 200 pages into it, I'm bored. The writers are naive in their attempts to produce fiction and, with what is a good idea, they have spoiled it by spending more time looking at the ins and outs of studying at Princeton.

It's not the spending time at college that's boring - it's the characters. They are flat and don't do anything. They struggle to create conflict. And the blame there must lie with the authors as they struggle to create conflict. So, it's not a book I'll recommend.

I was interested to know though, if I was the only one who thought this about the book. It seems that I'm not and it has gathered more bad reviews over good ones. The point is that the majority of people who claim that the book was bad are doing so because it is, to quote them, not The Da Vinci Code.

The Rule of Four is a coming of age novel with a historical mystery intertwined as a subplot. The Da Vinci Code is a pulp thriller with a historical mystery as the main plot.

What is wrong with these people who live for hype? Ultimately, if they believe everything - or anything - that is hyped, then they will be disappointed.

So, overall, this has just been a moan - a) for hype monkeys; those who buy anything as long as it is hyped or endorsed; and b) those ignorant readers who can't tell the difference between style and genre.
 
My sister has both books, so I might want to pop in there some time and steal them. And form my own opinion, of course.
 
Of course.

While I made it to the end of The Da Vinci Code, I'm questioning the point of continuing with The Rule of Four - I just couldn't care less what the characters do next.
 
We could match Ian Caldwell v. Dan Brown in a fight to the death.....it should be amusing and that way we at least get rid of one of them. :cool:
 
True@1stLight said:
We could match Ian Caldwell v. Dan Brown in a fight to the death.....it should be amusing and that way we at least get rid of one of them. :cool:
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Maybe both if we tip the sporks in poison.

I used to look on not completing a book as a defeat, but now I see it as a victory. You save yourself from the needless suffering and you stick two fingers up at the author and all who sail in him/her/it/them/miscellaneous. Just be careful when reading that you don't crack the spine and then wrap it up as a gift for a heathen.
 
I've actually read both of them. And like you, I didn't find The Rule of Four all that exciting. I thought that the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was very interesting, "but very hard to pronounce when you read it! :) " It was lacking in character development and actual story.
 
Bernard said:
I thought that the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was very interesting
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It's usage within The Rule of Four or the actual Hypnerotomachia? I've had the translation for a few months sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.
 
It's usage with the Rule of Four moslty. I'd never heard of the actual Hypnerotomachia before reading the book. Make sure to give me your views on the actual book when you read it. I'd like to hear them.
 
I have a barely-concealed loathing, as you do, for those individuals you so aptly describe as hype-monkeys. It's not that I have an objection to people receiving and acting upon recommendations, far from it, but when the hyperbole exceeds the interest in the actual content of whatever it may be, and reputation becomes the overriding factor, one is letting others make all their decisions and suffering for it.
 
Abulafia,
Hi. New here. I read the same reviews and, based on the glowing praise for Rule of Four, I found the first chapter online. Boy, I knew immediately it would not be the book for me! Seemed very adolescent and the language lacked subtlety and interest. Just my opinion, but could NOT understand what the reviewers saw. Hype indeed. The publishers are all looking for the next Da Vinci Code.

I always read those first chapters when they're available, and also take the customer reviews at amazon seriously. More than one person said it was written clumsily, obviously cobbled together from more than one writer's work. I read somewhere else that it took 4 years to write, the final revision took 18 mos. What does that tell you? I suspect there was never a coherent vision for the book, but it was more about two friends having some fun writing something together.

Novella
 
I enjoyed The DaVinci Code but The Rule of Four was a waste of time in my opinion- the jacket cover was more interesting than the actual book. (although it did inspire me to look up the Hypnertomachia)
 
I thought The DaVinci Code was crap! I was disappointed as everyone was constantly crowing on about how utterly fantastic the book was. I read it for my book club meeting and about 50% hated it and were pissed off that we could have been so easily led.

As I was just saying to someone, if the majority love it, I'll most likely think it sucks.
 
Geenh said:
I thought The DaVinci Code was crap!
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Really? I haven't read it yet but yeah, I've just been hearing good things. My boyfriend's mother read it and she said it was really interesting. I'm thinking about checking it out for myself though... Well, I don't know... do you think it'll be a total waste of time?
 
Well, no. Not a TOTAL waste of time. I was just expecting something FANTASTIC not 'ok'.

It's like the movie The Others. I was pumped into thinking this was one of the best osychological thrillers in ages. My friend and I figured out the whole thing within half an hour. No suspense for us.

With The DaVinci Code, it tries to be too many genres. Read it and let me know what you think.
 
Geenh said:
As I was just saying to someone, if the majority love it, I'll most likely think it sucks.
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no offense Geenh, but that's a very ignorant position you take here. it's like those wanna-be critics who just despise anything that made a buck out of principle. I am not saying you have to like it because 5 million other people like it too, but you shouldn't categorically deny anything that other people like either.

someone said the characters are flat in The Rule of Four (TROF), but so are those in Dan Brown's books. There's always the smart AND totally gorgeous female whose name is probably just replaced with a find/replace function for example. and robert langdon himself isn't the epitome of character development either. then again I think that's not what these books are for. Take Schwarzenegger movies for example: what do you expect? explosions, lots of dead people and a big guy with a hilarious accent. and what do you get? exactly that. does it satisfy you? well, if you're like me, it does, because I didn't expect anything else. I think it's the same with Brown's books. I like 'em. I like 'em alot. Why? because they deliver what I am looking for. Suspense, puzzle, some bits of interesting information (did you know that the landscape on Mona Lisa's left side was painted higher up than on her right side? I don't know if it's true, but hey, if it is, something new learned...) and some interesting interpretations. It is important though that we realize not all that Brown writes is fact. Much is fiction or educated guesses and interpretations. But either way, I find Brown's book a easy and very entertainign read. That's what I read them for.

Stewart: As for the Rule of Four. I mostly agree with you. I too think it is a coming of age story, a story about friendship and ulitmately a story about love. Love for a book, for a woman, for other things in life. I was disappointed in that I expected the ultimate puzzle, but as you said, it is more a background thing. Still, I liked the book for what it was.

As fro hypes: I joined this forum to get recommendations from other people who have similar tastes as I do. I don't believe in critics and hypes, since opinions vary greatly. That's why I can't stand film critics like Ebert & Roeper et al. I came to the Rule of Four because the lady in the book shop said, that's the only one she could think of that might fit into the same genre as Brown. She might have been misled by the hype too, but in the end I got a decent read for my buck and that's all that matters to me.

sorry for the essay, I'll try to keep it shorter next time :)
 
Libra6Poe said:
do you think it'll be a total waste of time?
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Well Libra, I don't think it's a total waste of time. Just read my previous post. It depends on what you expect. Give it a try, I got sucked in from the first few pages, maybe you will too. If not, you can always put it back on the bookstand in your store, right? :)
 
Not a total waste. You may even enjoy parts of it, and at least you'll know what all the hype was about. I have to admit that I barely managed to finish it, however. Maybe you could flip through it?

Look at the pictures.

;)
 
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