Writers can be brutal. In fact, I’ve never mingled with a group that can so easily take snobbery to new levels. I know I’ve probably been guilty myself from time to time. But the longer I’m in this business, the less likely I am to begrudge someone else their success, whether I liked their book or not. Not that I ever have. But lately, the trend of bashing someone who is successful has really started to get on my last nerve.
A prime example of this is occurring over at Miss Snark’s blog, which I normally read every day. Sometimes twice. But I’m taking a break right now because the Word Verification screen doesn’t work, meaning I can’t reply and post my opinion, meaning my frustration level is rising.
Meaning…I’ll blog about it here.
Welcome to the new blood sport, writers! Trashing successful authors! This week, the target is Dan Brown, with a little J.K. Rowling thrown in!
First of all, J.K. Rowling is bloody brilliant and anyone who thinks otherwise is a, as my friend Bugs would put it, a maroon. ‘Nuf said on that. You don’t have to like her books, but give the woman the respect she deserves for turning a whole generation on to reading, okay? (Not to mention the other generations she sucked in to her world, too.)
But let’s get on to Dan Brown. Wow, for a man who has sold a book that over 40 million people own–in hardback–he’s one trickster. I mean, how else would you explain how such a hack has achieved such success?
Cough, cough. Sorry, even sarcasm doesn’t work here.
Here’s the facts people: The general public LOVES this book. They’ve gone back and bought ANGELS AND DEMONS in huge numbers, as well as DIGITAL FORTRESS and other of Brown’s releases. I know a lot of writers think the general public is made up of maroons who have fallen under some popular spell, but those readers are your readers, too. Have a little respect, why don’t you?
I’ve read the DAVINCI CODE. Do I think it’s a perfect book? No. But then, I wasn’t trying to dissect it, either. I, like millions of other people, just wanted to enjoy myself. And you know what? I did.
At first, I resisted reading the book simply because I’d heard that it put the Catholic Church in a negative light and being that I’m Catholic, I didn’t really feel the need to contribute to that. However, my pastor has been talking a lot about the book lately and he got me curious. (He isn’t against the book, by the way. He reminded us that the book was FICTION and that it could be a catalyst for us to explore our church history.) And then the movie came out. Okay, okay. I succumbed.
I couldn’t put it down.
Did Brown have some quirks in the writing that I found, as a fellow writer, a bit amateurish?
Yes.
Did I enjoy the story anyway?
Yes.
It’s one hell of a page-turner.
And a lot of people agree with me. People with no reason to feel jealous. People who have no need to feel superior as they cash their $125 royalty checks or collect yet another rejection letter from the NY publishing conglomerates. People who want nothing more than to be entertained, to feel smart, to have an author shove a hand into their bellies and clutch hard as they go on a wild, unpredictable ride.
I’m not going to disrespect those readers. I want those readers to be my readers. And in a lot of cases, they ARE my readers.
Why did the DAVINCI CODE work for me when it didn’t work for others? Um…reading is subjective?
Wow. New concept.
I’ve heard over and over again that Brown’s characters were flat and two-dimensional. Not to me. I had no trouble instantly liking Sophie the minute she lied to her superior in order to save Robert Langdon from being falsely accused of a crime the reader knows he didn’t commit. I liked Robert Langdon instantly, though I can’t tell you why–possibly because he was a fish out of water–a man being set up to take the fall and so innocent in the workings of criminal investigations that he didn’t see it. But when push came to shove, he kept his head, he made choices, he ACTED.
I think Brown’s book is an excellent example of characterization through ACTION. Brown doesn’t spend pages and pages ruminating about the characters backgrounds. If he said anything about Langdon’s life before the action of the DAVINCI CODE, I missed it. Sophie’s past was leaked to us in bits and pieces and while I found some of it annoying (I didn’t buy that she’d be so scandalized by seeing her grandfather have sex), I bought into her personal prudishness and moved along. The bottom line for me was that Sophie was brave and exhibited grace under pressure. She was smart. I liked her.
I think, sometimes, writers believe that readers need more characterization spoon fed to them than they really do.
I’m not saying that Brown’s book didn’t have flaws. I’m saying that those flaws simply didn’t matter to most readers. I’m not saying that some readers aren’t whack-jobs for thinking the “facts” Brown presents are real, when it’s clear with five minutes of research that they are not. Well, some are. What I’m saying is that I found the way he tied it all together IN A FICTIONAL WAY absolutely brilliant. Maybe I’m not that smart. Fine. I don’t need to throw around my intellectual superiority or lack thereof. When I read fiction, I simply want to be entertained.
I enjoyed the story.
So did millions of other people.
Those people taking cheap shots at Dan Brown, in my eyes, look like idiots. If you didn’t like the book, great. Fine. Say so. But this blanket bashing of the man with the implication that anyone who thinks the book was good is an uneducated fool reeks of the kind of snobbery I’d prefer not to participate in.
“I don’t want to be the next Dan Brown,” they say. Uh-huh. Like you’d turn down his fame or his paycheck and the adoration of a ton of readers who don’t give a damn if he dumped information or put in a few clunky passages of history and will gladly shell out $24.95 for a hardback when fiction sales are plummeting.
Riiiiight.
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Hey Julie, great blog. You know, I loved \”The DaVinci Code\” and \”Angels & Demons\”, and I\’m not going to apologize for it. They were entertaining. Whether you\’re Catholic or not, I believe there were a lot of thought-provoking concepts in both books. But besides that, it captured my attention. I have had wonderful discussions with friends and co-workers about it. We didn\’t necessarily care how good the actual writing was, we just know we were entertained and couldn\’t stop talking about it. What author wouldn\’t want that? And what reader doesn\’t dream of every book giving them such reading pleasure?
I haven\’t read the Harry Potter books, but I do have 4 of them. And again, I\’m agreeing with you - millions of people, most importantly, kids, took to reading. That is a beautiful thing! It fires up the imagination and gives them so much to draw from. I think JK Rowling deserves a hell of a lot of credit for that.
For those snobs who think success is a bad thing, that\’s their problem. I work p/t at a B&N and there are shelves and tables dedicated to the DaVinci Code. When the last 2 Harry Potter books sold at midnight, our store had lines out the door. That speaks for itself. There will always be naysayers, whether it\’s out of jealousy or out of not wanting to like anything popular. It\’s not cool to like stuff everyone else likes, you know — LOL.
Btw, I haven\’t seen DaVinci the movie yet, but I do want to. I don\’t plan on going in with too high of expectations because obviously a lot will be missing, but I do plan on enjoying it.
by Stacy ~
on June 5th, 2006 at 7:21 am
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Wasn’t it Shakespeare who once had a character ask, “Art thou base, common and popular?” The people and things that hit it big always have their critics. Sometimes it’s because the critic just doesn’t like the work — I think “Friends” was a wretched piece of television, but a lot of people clearly felt otherwise.
If “Friends” comes on, I change the channel and I tuned out my friends as they babbled about Ross and Rachel. I did not stand up and tell them that because I thought the show was crap, they should be ashamed of themselves for watching and enjoying it (I did turn down an invitation to a viewing party for the the finale). That’s what these critics are doing. They offer up lots of reasons — it’s not good, it’s poorly written (and there are some howlers in DaVinci, including Langdon inhaling Sofie’s hair instead of the scent of her hair at one point). There’s my favorite, where I’m told it’s not “worthy” of my attention, that I would be better served by reading/watching something else.
I hear that one a lot, mostly from a friend of my husband who’s working on his Ph.D. dissertation. He envies how fast I’m writing compared to how fast he’s writing, and he can’t help hinting that he thinks I should be working on something “worthier.” My response is usually to ask if he wants me to do that before or after the latest section of his dissertation he’s handed me to critique.
A lot of it comes down to jealously — they are succeeding in ways that I’m not. “Not want to be the next Dan Brown?” Multiple years on the best seller lists, movie deals, the ability to not have to go into the office and answer someone else’s phone? Are you nuts?
I’m not greedy — I’ll take a quarter of Dan Brown and JK Rowling’s success. That will do nicely. For a start. :D
by Caro
on June 5th, 2006 at 10:35 am
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I’m sorry, but there are some of us who read certain books for entertainment purposes. Everything doesn’t have to be “War and Peace” in order to be deemed “worthy” reading material.
Usually those in the same field who feel the need to critique another’s work are feeling doubt and insecurity about their own efforts…or they are just plain envious of another’s success. And you are spot-on in saying that these folks would jump at the chance for the same recognition and remuneration! If the project is not your personal taste, that is fine. But, lets show a little tolerance for those who disagree with you and may enjoy it.
And kudos to your pastor for recognizing that, while it is an interesting theory, Davinci Code is fiction! It is amusing to watch the uproar over the book and the movie…which virtually guarantees it will become a bestseller/blockbuster. And all the books disputing and debating the veracity as well. Now that’s a racket, there!
by Angie
on June 5th, 2006 at 11:59 am
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In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll start by saying I’m not a writer nor do I dream of ever becoming one. I’m nothing more than a humble reader.
I agree with you in that reading is a completely subjective experience.
I further agree that vicious criticism by colleages (in any field), is probably rooted at least partially on jelousy or envy–whether overt or subconscious.
But there’s also the fact that writers are readers first. I believe that at least *some* of that criticism comes from that point of view, that of a reader. And as such, is perfectly valid, wouldn’t you say?
For example, I enjoy the Harry Potter books quite a bit, but I also see why many people from all walks of life dismiss them as poor writing–without trying to start an in-depth analysis of the writing itself, there are plenty of contradictions in not-so-minor plot points and countless instances of plot devices introduced in later books that could (not to say should) have appeared in the earlier ones. As a voracious reader, I do appreciate that JKRowlings’ books have spurred a rennaissance of reading that has spread across generations. Her work is comercially successful and quite entertaining–but I, humble reader, don’t think it’s brilliant. Far from it, in fact. If asked by someone who hasn’t read any of the HP books, I’d say just that. (I guess I’m a maroon. *shrug* No worries, I can live with that *wink*)
I have a friend, also not a writer nor an aspiring author, but simply a reader, who despises the Harry Potter books. He’s called JK Rowlings a hack and worse. He’s read the first three books only because he has young children who wanted to hear the story read out loud. Now that the boys are older, he’s–in his own words–”free of that gawdawful piece of c**p.”
The point I’m trying to make–not very clearly–is that I think it’s possible some of those yet-to-be published authors (or published but not as successful authors), have an honest-to-goodness aversion to Dan Brown’s and/or JK Rowlings’ writing that is completely independent to both those authors commercial success.
Or maybe I’m just too naïve *shrug*
by azteclady
on June 5th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
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Aztec, like I said in the post, if you don’t like the books, then that’s fine. Say so. But what I’m objecting to is this prevalent NEED some authors have to trash the books out of hand. To one-up each other in how much they can despise Dan Brown and his book. To make it into a game of “I hate Dan Brown more than you do.” To completely ignore the fact that these books are appealing to intelligent readers instead of implying that anyone who likes the books is a maroon.
Yes, some of the writers who don’t like the book are being honest in their assessment. Others, however, speak out of snobbery and jealousy. You can just smell it, you know?
But I still think that JK Rowling is brilliant. I don’t require a book–or a series of books–to be perfect in order to consider them amazing. Her writing may be simplistic and flawed, my in my opinion, it gets the job done in portraying the characters and their courage and the difficulty of their quest. All I know is that I can read those books and become entirely lost in them. That is so amazing to me because trust me, most writers CAN’T turn off the editing/critiquing thing. It’s a constant. Finding a book that grabs me so strongly that the editor/critiquer in me shuts off is a thrill beyond thrills.
BTW, I don’t consider you a maroon because you acknowledge the value of the books and you aren’t insulting readers who don’t agree with you. There are plenty of series of books that people are ravenous for that I can’t get through and cannot for the life of me understand the appeal. But I don’t think those readers are stupid. I simply think their taste is different from mine. And I give kudos to those authors for striking a chord in a lot of people. I may not get it, but clearly, they are doing something right!
Angie, I should tell my pastor he needs to write a book of his own about the DaVinci Code. We could probably stop the collections every Sunday on the money he’d make, LOL!
Caro, you make an excellent point. Some people just despise anything that is popular as somehow being suspect. I have never really understood that way of thinking. I keep trying to look for the reason it is popular–what does it appeal to that is so universal? The whole idea of something catching on and becoming “the rage” fascinates me.
Stacy, I’m with you. I want to be entertained. I recognize that what entertains me might not entertain other people. Like I said, there are some books that are much sought-after that I simply can’t get into. But hey, we’re all different. I would never look down my nose at those books simply because I don’t get it.
by Julie Leto
on June 5th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
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I write for money. I read for fun. It’s as simple as that. And I had a heck of a lot of fun reading (and watching) The Da Vinci Code (and a lot of other books that people have trashed). Personally I can’t stand the books by a particular Rita-winning author, but most of my friends adore her books. Doesn’t make ‘em bad. They’re just not my cup of tea.
Love your blog title. I blogged about “Writing as a Blood Sport” back in April. Oh gosh! Shall I sue you for stealing my idea :?: LOL! What a ridiculous thought. :mrgreen:
by Marilyn
on June 5th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
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You know what?
They are excellent targets, because they don’t care. Why should they? Imagine the size of their bank accounts!
They don’t respond, so people feel free to abuse them.
by May
on June 5th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
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I read an average of 20 books a month. It doesn’t matter if I like a book or detest it . I don’t think anyone has a right to bash an author. Some readers, somewhere, liked the book or it wouldn’t have been published.
by Estella Kissell
on June 5th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
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:D Julie, I agree with you. :) I loved the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Were they favorite books of mine? No. I love Dean Koontz’s writing far more than I do Dan Brown’s, but I did enjoy Dan’s work a lot and wish him more continued success not only with this book but with everything else he writes.
I haven’t read the Harry Potter books yet, but I did love the movies.
I think there are plenty of armchair quarterbacks, both readers and writers, who spend a lot of negative energy and waste plenty of time being as critical as they can about other people’s accomplishments. I once wrote an article about it called Green With Envy: Fugetaboutit. 
Most of the people who spew this negativity don’t realize that what they put out will be returned to them in one form or another. Perhaps if the harsh critics of the world of writing spent as much time working hard on their own books or working hard on something positive, their lives and the lives of others would be a far better place to live.
I’m one of those people who loves a lot of the books and movies other people feel they must hack and chop into pieces. So I’m a bit of a rebel in that regard. I say hurrah for the subjective reading experience. It’s wonderful there are so many books out there to enjoy.
Here’s to success wherever people find it.
Denise A. Agnew
http://www.deniseagnew.com
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I agree with you. I had read all of Dan Brown’s books before the whole uproar concerning the Da Vinci Code even started. HELLO - IT’S FICTION!!!!
I’m catholic but I didn’t feel that my religion was threatened by a piece of FICTION.
by Joyce
on June 5th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
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Great Post! I have to admit I haven’t read The DaVinci Code, but I did see the movie. LOL .
I really enjoyed it! I didn;t read the book because I knew I’d see the movie and the books always ruin the movies. LOL
J.K. She’sa goddess. I want to be her. Okay I want her success. LOl I’ve read all of the HP books and loved each one.
I do think that oft times writers get way to critical so that they can make their own failures seem less harsh. It’s sad.
However, those that can read for pleasure..will find pleasure.
by Sasha White
on June 6th, 2006 at 2:56 am
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*sighs* Why must everything be attributed to jealosy? I hear this all the time attributed to various book reviewers–”Well, they didn’t like X book because they’re just JEALOUS!” And every time I go, are you guys living on the same planet I’m living on? I mean, exactly how many book reviewers really do want to be writers AND are so overcome with jealousy at someone else’s success that they start spewing bile because they will ever, ever write so well and so successfully? How many of us, AS AUTHORS, start to read a book hoping that we’ll dislike it? I certainly don’t. I hope that I’ll have discovered an awesome story that will sit on my shelf forever and ever and that I’ll love so much that I’ll completely wear out multiple copies and will have to keep buying new ones. I also entirely don’t understand the argument that people who don’t like certain books are somehow “just too picky” or “are taking themselves too seriously.” I happen to love Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and it creeps the heck out of a lot of people. I could say that anyone who doesn’t like it as much as I do is just a cretan and an anti-intellectual. And it would be just as true as the claims that people who don’t agree with you are snobs.
Personally, I loathed the DaVinci Code–every moment of it–because I was expecting something intelligent, fast-paced, exciting, and tightly written and found it to be quite the opposite. The errors that riddled every page, the clumsy writing, the flat characterization (and the characters’ blundering stupidity), the ridiculously easy-to-solve “puzzles”, the long, long, long silly lectures… *makes face* The bigotry of the portrayal of the albino monk also infuriated me–yes, let’s play on old stereotypes that albinos are unnatural freaks because, you know, we haven’t gotten past our medieval supserstitions. I honestly hated it. I finished it only because I was trapped without another book at hand. Now, I wasn’t going in intending to dislike it. I was going in expecting to have a great time with an admittedly silly book. I also don’t think people who like it are stupid. People who BELIEVE it…well, that’s another issue entirely! But I can hate a book simply because…I hate the book. I don’t need dark motivations of snobbery (yeah, it’s snobbish to expect a compelling story from a suspense/thriller) or of jealousy (when I read, I don’t give a flying flip for the success of the author) to dislike it.
As for JK Rowling, I don’t hate her work. I am far from swooning over it, and even thinking it is good-but-not-fabulous, I was disappointed by several books in the middle of the series. Overall, I think the series is good, though I have a growing sense that Harry Potter opposed Voldemort only because he must, not because he particularly cares about right and wrong or the fate of the world. I think Rowling got tremendously lucky, as did Dan Brown, but then again, virtually everyone who bursts into bestsellerdom is tremendously lucky. What does that have to do with my reading them? I think Rowling’s popularity says more about the unfortunate inexperience of a non-reading public than about her writing, sadly. People think Potter is the greatest thing they’ve ever read because they just plain haven’t read that many other YA fantasy series–I’ve yet to meet someone who HAS read very widely in YA fantasy who thinks her series is the best or even makes the top 3. The ignorance of newpaper book reviewers is a staggering example of this. The Miami Herald crowed that Terry Pratchett is “A lot quirkier than JK Rowling!” *rolls eyes* That’s like saying that Christine Feehan is “A lot darker than Amanda Quick!” Who on earth but someone wholly unfamiliar with an entire genre would make such a comparison? It simply makes no sense–unless the only knowledge you have of an entire genre is taken from your only other brush with it.
What is particularly interesting to me is that this “be a NICE girl!” attitude is restricted almost entirely to romance. I’ve been in the SFF community for a long time, mostly as a silent witness, and I’ve seen plenty of healthy debate about books in their own genre by writers. I’ve certainly seen it in literary circles. And the participants in those discussions would stare at you like you’ve lost your mind if you suggest that the reason they feel that author Z writes misogynist books is because you are just jealous of him. And they’d stare even more if you talked about how they must be sad and bitter failures to be so down on a poor author’s book. What I don’t understand isn’t why people think about and talk about what they read but why it is bad for people to do it in the romance community. I find it oppressive to free thought and free expression and utterly inimical to a pursuit of excellence–be a good girl or the Nice Nazis will take you away! (Yeah, well, the Nice Nazis have locked me up and thrown away the key…)
I guess since our books have happy endings everything else associated with them is supposed to be smiles and hugs and coos…on the surface, at least. *sighs*
by Lydia Joyce
on June 6th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
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Lydia, you’re reading a lot into what I said that I simply didn’t say. You say that The DaVinci Code is “an admittedly silly book.” Admittedly by whom? Dan Brown? I don’t think so. I wasn’t talking about book reviewers. I was talking about the way that attacking Dan Brown and his book has become “de riguer”–fashionable and full of pretention. I was making note of particular posts that were annoying me. And frankly, I HAVE met aspiring author reviewers who take much pleasure in tearing down popular books and popular authors. Quite a few, as a matter of fact.
I’ve met less successful authors who have walked up to more successful authors and said, TO THEIR FACE, “You don’t deserve to be on the top of the bestseller lists.” I’m QUOTING. Or one who walked up and said, “Wow. You’re really lucky you got all that promotion or you never would have become a star.” Or how about, “I’m so jealous…you bitch!”
How about another…friend of mine wins National Reader’s Choice Award. She’s a new author. It’s her first book. More “successful” author walks up to her afterwards and says (and I QUOTE), “I can’t believe I lost to a nobody.”
Don’t tell me professional jealousy isn’t RAMPANT in this business. You will never convince me.
You’re entitled to your opinion about the books, but what I’m saying is that the millions of readers who embrace Dan Brown or JK Rowling can’t be entirely wrong. Something in those books appealed to a lot of readers–readers who have buying power and frankly, readers who deserve a little respect.
I think Rowling’s popularity says more about the unfortunate inexperience of a non-reading public than about her writing, sadly. People think Potter is the greatest thing they’ve ever read because they just plain haven’t read that many other YA fantasy series–I’ve yet to meet someone who HAS read very widely in YA fantasy who thinks her series is the best or even makes the top 3.
That doesn’t sound snobbish to you? And by the way, I have a very good friend who is probably the most widely read YA fantasy reader I know and she loves Harry Potter as much as I do. Personally, I don’t care if you like Rowling or not. What I wrote about was this prevelant attitude among many writers that if you are intelligent and well read, you clearly will not like the same books as the unwashed masses. I think you just illustrated my point.
Frankly, I’d rather hang out with the unwashed masses. At least they aren’t pretentious.
And I don’t really understand why you ranted about reviewing or the romance community since that is NOT what my post was about at ALL. I didn’t mention a single romance book. But hey, if you want to rant here, go ahead.
by Julie Leto
on June 6th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
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