May 20, 2008
Recent Reading: The Rule of Four
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. A few years ago, at the tail-end of the DaVinci Code craze, I read a review about this book, The Rule of Four, which claimed this book was much better than Dan Brown's book. And better written.
I confess that I never bought into the Dan Brown frenzy. And the primary reason for that is all the reviews I read indicating that while his stories are page-turners, they are poorly written. So I just never subjected myself to his books.
Caldwell and Thomason, graduates of Princeton and Harvard, respectively, certainly crafted a well-written story. Even better, it's about men who are so obsessively infatuated with a book that they will forsake their families, their careers, their lives, and their futures. Through flashbacks woven into the present-tense story line, we almost participate as Tom Sullivan and his friend Paul unravel the mysteries surrounding a cryptic (literally) Renaissance text. For a lover of puzzles and thought-inducing books, The Rule of Four is riveting.
Since we all know there's going to be something I don't like, I'll get to it. I think this book is indulgent. It takes place mostly on the Princeton campus, which makes me wonder if Caldwell and Thomason flipped a coin to determine the alma mater star before they started writing. I liken it to me writing a novel featuring my beloved Agnes Scott College, where I would highlight any number of ASC-specific rituals, dormitories, buildings, and legacies. Pretty boring stuff for anyone without a real interest in that stuff.
But overall, I'd definitely recommend this book.
Rita Diane Devlin
All rights reserved.