Thursday, May 04, 2006

Da Vinci Code Writers and Bad History [posted by Troy] In a general sense, I agree with Nathan and Kim's comments on the last post. We really cannot (and do not want to) limit a writer's ability to use the past (or any data) as he or she desires in fiction. However, if writers do this, then the real responsibility must fall to historians, critics, scholars, and the media to call out these writers. That is how it works in an open society. Don't sensor anyone, but our society must have an open debate about ideas. For instance, William Styron was criticized for his use of history in both Sophie's Choice and The Confessions of Nat Turner. In both cases, he wrote about important pieces of history (Holocaust and US Slavery). Personally, I think that both of these books are great works, but there deserved to be some public debate about the treatment of these pieces of history. When a book is as popular as the Da Vinci Code and when it misuses history as badly as Dan Brown does (even his Web site still uses bad history), then it is appropriate to point out the problems and abuses in the historical record. 9:34:59 PM  permanent link  Reader Comments []  Google It!

© Copyright 2006 Troy & Kim . Last update: 10/29/2006; 11:55:02 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme. The title and description for this blog are quotes from Cameron Crow's 2000 film Almost Famous.