bibliographing

It’s actually very rare that I would read a book because of a family member, because we just don’t have a lot aesthetically in common, and when my father picked out The Book of Lies for me I was surprised (that he would choose something—he is a list-user) and a little frustrated (because it was not something I would normally read and I would feel guilty about not reading it). Then, in typical my-dad fashion, he was all, “Yeah, I was thinking that you could probably finish that one pretty fast while you were still here, so I could have it after.” N.B.: Those readers who know my dad will not be the least surprised at this remark, though others may find it rude or even scandalous.

So this is how I came to read Brad Meltzer’s The Book of Lies, which falls into the broad category of nonbloggable books. Or does it? Now, the matter of Taste came up in a recent conversation with friends, and ever since then I’ve been noticing and thinking, but I’m not even going to go there. And anyway, I’d have to say that on the whole The Book of Lies is a success: I read it in one sitting, at the end of every chapter I wanted to move straight on to the next one, and there was a fairly continuous feeling of excitement and tension that I don’t encounter in my normal reading life. Yes, the writing was bad, and yes, at one point it referred to what “Naomi” said in the attic when of course it was Serena who had been in the attic (and there are only two female characters in the novel).

But. The point is, what is the name of this new genre that is completely and 100% imitative of The Da Vinci Code, that is to say, of Angels and Demons? Yes, The Da Vinci Code became the most popular thing since sliced bread, so I can completely understand that it would spark knockoffs, but from my limited experience I think it’s actually gone to another level. The Da Vinci Code is like a template for a genre as well-defined as the detective story, and with just as many mysteries to make up and then solve. Is it just that I’m not exposed to this kind of thing enough? Did Tom Clancy do it too, or Stephen King, or whoever like that? Because while I see them as wildly popular and perhaps somewhat faddish, I don’t think I have ever seen, springing fully formed from a single novel, an archetype like this. It’s weird.

At the same time, I feel like it can’t possibly be new. Maybe detective fiction did start this way. But no, it doesn’t seem this mechanical—some does, but not all. The mechanical stuff is the stuff we say is bad. Is there nonmechanical, nonbad da-Vinci-genre? I don’t know; I suppose it’s possible but it’s hard to imagine something overcoming that shadow.