Critics have found in the narrative a veneer of erudition that cloaks nothing more than a James Bond-style romp, albeit a highly addictive one. His publisher has described it as 'a thriller for people who don't like thrillers'. One newspaper put it thus: 'It is terribly written, its characters are cardboard cutouts, the dialogue is excruciating in places and, a bit like a computer manual, everything is overstated and repeated — but it is impossible to put the bloody thing down.'

— David Smith in "Veni vidi da Vinci" in

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Critics have found in the narrative a veneer of erudition that cloaks nothing more than a James Bond-style romp, albeit a highly addictive one. His publisher has described it as 'a thriller for people who don't like thrillers'. One newspaper put it thus: 'It is terribly written, its characters are cardboard cutouts, the dialogue is excruciating in places and, a bit like a computer manual, everything is overstated and repeated — but it is impossible to put the bloody thing down.'" in the context of "David Smith in "Veni vidi da Vinci" in The Observer (12 December 2004)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Dan Brown" (Quotes about Dan Brown: Alphabetized by author ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Dan Brown

About Dan Brown

Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author of thriller fiction, featuring recurring elements of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories.