The Nation's Bad Education

[dotinthesky]

What is worse: to be caught reading The Da Vinci Code on public transport, or one of Dan Brown's other novels? Because to read The Da Vinci Code tells the world that you are a sheep, a lemming with no taste; but to read another Dan Brown novel means that you actually liked The Da Vinci Code.

Other books you should not be caught dead reading on public transport:

• Harry Potter novels (for anyone over 14). Yes, they are pleasurable to read, but reading one in public is like going to work in your Halloween costume. There's a time and place (i.e. your home) for these if you are an adult.
  
• The Dummy's Guide to...
  
• How to Make Friends and Influence People
  
• Chick lit novels (these usually have pink or baby blue covers, with cartoonesque drawings.)
  
• Jehovah Witness pamphlets
  
• Celebrity magazines and trashy tabloids (although it's OK to read The Weekly World News.)
  
• Autobiographies by ex-Big Brother contestants
  

Any other reading material I should add to this list?

Comments

[kevyn-kronycles.livejournal.com]

Actually, Dan Brown's Angels and Demons was quite good, better than the DaVinci Code...of course, still no chef d'oeuvre in the literary department

And, yes, I have read Harry Potter on public transport and quite enjoyed it

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'll never ever pick up a book by Dan Brown again. I didn't even finish The Da Vinci Code.

I always feel guilty when I read Harry Potter because I know I could be using my hours for something better written. It's sort of the same as when you realize you've spent your weekend playing videogames when you could have been doing something more productive with your time.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

Actually I felt the same way about A&D. Admittedly, Langdon jumping out of the helicopter into the Tiber put me off a bit, but I loved the details about Vatican City.