"I'm not much of a detail person. I like 'the big idea'."

I'm sure that some readers of the Scoop have had enough of the Coded Craziness. Frankly, there are times when it's the second-to-last thing I want to think about or read about (this being the first thing). But the third day of Dan Brown's testimony in court provided more "what in the world?" moments. From The Book Standard website:

Brown claimed that his wife Blythe had "heavily marked up" their copy of HBHG as part of a "refresher course" to help Brown answer his critics after DVC became a success. The book also became worn at the hands of lawyers defending him from another plagiarism suit in the US, he said.

Question: When, where, and how has Brown ever answered his critics? The man has only made two or three public appearances in the past two years. And the fluff questions he has entertained from ABC and NBC "journalists" have been an insult to fourth-graders everywhere.

Question: Are Brown's lawyers so poor that they cannot afford their own copy of HBHG? And if they need to look at his copy, couldn't they photocopy the necessary pages?

Perhaps I protest too much. But then there is this rather surprising admission:

Many of the notes that survived were Blythe's who, although absent from the courtroom, has come to figure largely in the trial. "If it's an art thriller, she'll do the bulk of the reading. She loves this stuff," Brown said. "I'm not much of a detail person. I like 'the big idea'."

What next? Will Brown say that he hates writing? That his wife wrote the novel and forced him to publish it under his name? That the sight of The Last Supper makes him sick to his stomach? The novel's success is largely based on its details and vaunted research — and we keep hearing that Dan Brown had little to do with either. Just when you thought the Coded Craziness couldn't become any more crazy...

Comments

[AmericanPapist]

"Better to let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Too bad DB's wife didn't tell him about that popular adage...

[Trubador]

I'm just waiting for the movie to come out, and then all the people who've read the novel and think it's "all just so believable, don't you know" will witness the flurry of convoluted ideas and conspiracies swirling around in their heads suddenly thrown right up there on the big screen for all to see. And it will appear so truly absurd (just like the film "National Treasure") that most people won't help but laugh and realize that the whole theory is nothing but a lame joke.

[Ed Peters]

awww..."National Treasure" was fun.

[Ed Peters]

Carl, I admit it: I clicked on the LAST thing you want to talk, as above. Just to see. Golly, you're right, THAT stuff makes Dan Brown look like Clancy or Crichton.

[Cristina A. Montes]

Lawyers seem to have the same reputation for truthfulness as Dan Brown, so I wonder why Dan Brown's lawyers did not advice him to buy a new copy of HBHG when the judge asked him to present his personal copy to the court. :D

(About my lawyer joke: I'm a law graduate myself waiting for the results of the Philippine Bar exam (results to come out by the end of this month; you may construe this as a prayer request!), so I guess it's not uncharitable to make fun of myself.)

[Carl Olson]

Ed: It's impossible to overstate how horribly written the "Left Behind" books are. Impossible. Their lack of literary merit seems to directly parallel the lack of theological and biblical evidence for premillennial dispensationalism, which the books seek to spread like an exotic disease among an unsuspecting populace. For examples, see my review of Book #12 of the series, Glorious Appearing:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/olson200404020904.asp

[Carl Olson]

Cristina: A lawyer who tells lawyer jokes! May you pass your exam and be a source of salt, light, and laughter within the legal profession.

[Ed Peters]

Amen. Let us know, OK?

[Jackson]

Good luck, Cristina. I too know this torture.

[Cristina A. Montes]

Thanksalot, all of you.