My first vote would go to anything by Umberto Eco, especially Foccault's Pendulum, for puzzles that require more than a first-grade education to solve, and which actually feel satisfying to get through.

An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Is it wrong that I actually liked DaVinci Code? One of the few books I've read that, in combination with headphones, almost caused me to miss my bus stop.

No, kellydamnit. It was a fun read.

I liked The Da Vinci Code and I don't give a flying fuck whether it was historically accurate or not - if I want to read a textbook, I'll buy a textbook and I take anything I read in novels with a grain of salt, as any right-thinking person does.

Wow. I just finished The Da Vinci Code, in fact. And, while I enjoyed reading it and was entertained throughout, my first reaction on finishing it was - disappointment. It could have been a much better book. (potential spoilers follow)

At least three times during the reading, I came to a point where I literally put the book down and said to myself, "Oh, come on! I know that character isn't what he/she is supposed to be!" Each time, I was eventually proven right; which, to me at least, is a mark of very flawed character development. To have plot twists be really effective, you can't be expecting them.

I also had a simmering distaste throughout the reading for Langdon, the central character - he was just too obvious a stand-in for the author himself. Even while I was enjoying the action, the details, and even the basic plot, I could never get away from the underlying thought that I was reading a book written by a mousy, tweed-wearing professor, starring a mousy, tweed-wearing professor who - surprise, surprise - brilliantly solves the puzzles and wins the heart of the stunningly scrumptious (but equally brilliant!) girl.

In the interests of not spoiling it for others, I won't go into the details - as dg points out, you shouldn't expect novels to be factually accurate. However, my final criticism is that all too often the characters (who are supposed to be well-versed in these supposed historical facts) were shown to be completely ignorant of them at precisely the points when their explication would be most dramatic. (San Greal = Sang Real? My God! I would never have imagined!!!) Bah.

Overall, I give it a B+ on the Harry Potter scale of current popular fiction.

read anything by Paul Auster and you'll feel a whole lot better - the New York Trilogy is a fine place to start.

I have spoken.

And if you all weren't listening, if Paul Auster isn't enough, read Jonathan Carroll's Outside the Dog Museum.

You'll thank me later.

I have spoken twice.

Woops, I didn't answer the question, either.

Read "Pastwatch, The Redemption of Christopher Columbus", by Orson Scott Card. Yes, Card is a complete nutter, but his writing is much better than Brown's.

Get better friends.

LT and Space Coyote, you totally fucking read my mind! I vote for Leviathan (Auster) and The Island of the Day Before (Ecco).

Fuck it all, just get some Philip K. Dick.

it's not remotely similar, but you can hip your friends to the new "in thing" to read that's actually GOOD by telling them to read A Confederacy of Dunces. See, within the next 10 years this thing'll be a movie and will be REdiscovered at that time as a notable read. See, you're providing them with an opportunity to say "Man, I read that book before the movie made it popular." and it's phenomenal.

I know it sucked. I know why it sucked. I liked it anyway.

I also like stupid male-targetted war porn, and spy porn.

spy porn?

Shmegegge, who would you nominate to play the role of Ignatius?

Yeah, spy porn. John le Carre comes to mind.

I haven't read any of Dan Brown's books, but I did hear the bit on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" about him. Apparently he hangs from gravity boots after writing for an hour or so. And he once wrote a book about what kind of men women shouldn't date, under a feminine pseudonym.

For what it's worth.

I liked the Da Vinci Code for what it is: a fun summer read. I don't think it's anything to take seriously. Though on the second read-through I became more aware of how shitty the writing really is. Anytime an author uses a famous actor to describe how his main character looks it sends off warning bells in my head. Yeah, Langdon is a total Gary Stu/Brown stand in. I don't think I would have bought the book myself though.

But I like/enjoy all sorts of things that I find entertaining but not necessarily good. Like certain movies. Plus, I have plenty of time to read both the good and bad stuff.

...I guess it would be fair to call The Da Vinci Code the Matrix of the literary world, huh?

Basically what I Love Tacos said. *is reading a le Carre book at the moment*

Screw Dan Brown, read Dan Simmons! He's a much better writer, and he writes everything from horror to SF to mystery to historical fiction. Start with Hyperion, and go on from there.

Or you could read "The Amalgamation Polka" by Stephen Wright, which I just tossed across the room in frustration but I'm told is very popular....

Oh, I didn't see that "in the same genre" bit.

Uh....

"The Rule of Four", by those two Princeton kids.....

Or how about "The Name of the Rose"?

I was just about to suggest "The Name of the Rose". In the words of Bart Simpson, the DaVinci Code "both sucks and blows". I got it from the book exchange at work, thank god I didn't pay good money for it.

I read "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" when it first came out and it knocks spots off the DaVinci Code.

in an ideal world I would have cast a pre-mortem jon belushi as ignatius.

in our world? damn good question. Stephen Fry.

actually, fuck that. even if I could get jon belushi to do it, I'd still want stephen fry.

Reading The Da Vinci Code was like watching someone dumber than you play one of those point-and-click computer adventure games.

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan has the same level of action without the endless pedantic/laughable blather about the Priory of Sion. Buchan's casual racism is a little horrific though (forget if there's any in the Thirty-Nine Steps, might be more in his later books).

The Man Who Was Thursday is exciting and religious, but maybe a little too odd/cerebral.

shmegegge, Philip Seymour Hoffman could totally pull it off (with excellent makeup, that is - he doesn't really have the right look otherwise). Benicio Del Toro could be interesting, but is too old to do the college bits.

I liked the Da Vinci Code although I've heard more than one person say that Angels and Demons was better.

Jack Black might be okay as Ignatius, but he's too small I think. Hoffman doesn't seem right to me, but I'm sure he's talented enough to pull it off.

Anyway, I thought the Da Vinci Code was okay. Not a bad way to spend a flight. The best thing about it was that it led me to The Name of the Rose, which I loved.

The Man Who Was Thursday is a great suggestion. As is Foucault's Pendulum. Also The Illuminatus Trilogy.

Try Lempriere's Dictionary.

Then try Zeno's Conscience.

Then UBIK.

Then Rene Leys.

Not all of them are anything like The DaVinci Code, but all of them are better. Dan Brown is the Tom Clancy of mystical cabal hoo-ah. Boring.

I really, really hated The Rule of Four.

I was going to suggest The Illuminatus but omiewise beat me to it. Check out Robert Anton Wilson, though, for all kinds of interesting stuff - way better written than the Davinci Code. And Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon.

oh, yes! Cryptonomicon is one of my absolute favorite novels, and perfect for what you're asking for, Space Coyote (without the religious/mystical element, but so completely engrossing... and like Ecco, it seems every page opens up a whole new fascinating area of inquiry, if one feels like pursuing it.)

Joseph Campbell provides a lot of the source material for Brown's sources, it appears.

It's dense, but in this series, esp. the book I linked, it's all in there. Not a light summer read though.

If I was wearing my librarian outfit, I'd recommend The Rule of Four, maybe The Last Templar, maybe Holy Blood, Holy Grail if the patron liked (ahem) nonfiction. And I'd ask questions to determine what aspects of Da Vinci Code the person enjoyed--church history stuff, conspiracy theory stuff, suspense/thriller stuff, complicated narrative stuff, etc. Each of those, of course, would call for different recommendations (off the top of my head, let's say The Name of the Rose, James Ellroy's American Tabloid (or nonfiction), Davis Bunn's recent The Lazarus Trap and Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.

If I wasn't wearing my librarian outfit, I'd pursue approximately the same strategy, except that I'd probably make fun of Da Vinci Code more.

...I guess it would be fair to call The Da Vinci Code the Matrix of the literary world, huh?

really? the matrix was solid sci fi; it was well done and pretty smart. I haven't read the da vinci code, but it looked pretty bad. maybe just humorless? I dunno what it was that turned me off, but I looked over it when it was recommended and couldn't get interested.
(and no, not everyone 'knows it's crap'/ doesn't take it seriously. i know at least one person who recommended it to me because i'm "into philosopy" and it's just the kind of book I would love, etc.
Maybe that context is what turned me off, though.)

For other beach reading centered on classical/scholarly mysteries - I remember enjoying The Secret History by donna tartt (although I just saw that it is going to be made into a movie by gwyneth paltrow, which is terrible...). There is also a series of murder mysteries set in ancient rome that my dad got into, and one summer I read a bunch of them - can't think of the author now, but they had lots of wonderful little details about life at that time. though the effect kinda wore off for me after a couple (my dad read them all though). aha - quick google & it was Steven Saylor I was thinking of. Not having actually read dan brown, I dunno if these things are really anywhere in the vicinity of davinci code, but they're what comes to mind for me (most of my favorite books are on the purple prose rather than good story end of the spectrum)

I also heard that NPR bit about "danielle" brown's guide to finding a man. that was hilarious.

box, would that be the standard crepe-soled-shoes-a-line-skirt-bun-and-glasses librarian outfit? Or is there a special uniform for male librarians?

I'd pull out of my librarian hat everything by Arturo Perez-Reverte (but especially The Flanders Panel, The Club Dumas and The Fencing Master), Ex Libris by Ross King, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and The Eight by Katherine Neville.

Khakis-clogs-button-down-long-sleeve-shirt-and-glasses, most days. I probably wouldn't wear an A-line skirt, because I prefer to cover my tattoos while working in public areas.

Another vote for DVC being a fun, light read. I can't believe the guff it got from the Catholics, etc. Uh, people? It's fiction. His other books are about the same caliber - fun, not to be taken seriously.

As for the original question - can't really help with that although Foccault's Pendulum gets mentioned a lot (I haven't read it).

wow, philip seymour hoffman is an excellent choice for ignatius. that may be the perfect casting.

oh, and the reason I hate davinci code is because it is so abyssmally typical.

1. heavy usage of the "gary stu" protagonist. a gary stu is what you call it when an author casts an idealized version of himself in the lead role. for chicks it's a mary sue. the hero of dvc is described as "harrison ford in harris tweed." the author photo on the book jacket? dan brown in harris tweed. there's more stuff, too, but I'm not cataloging the damn book.

2. really really tired and typical mystery plot. SPOILER. the way to recognize cheap crappy thrillers from the get go is as follows: when a character is framed for a crime, the first person he turns to for sanctuary will be the person behind the crime. this is exactly what happens in DVC. it's an old OLD trick, and I hate it. END SPOILER.