Comments on: The Rule of Four: the review

By: Chandra

Chandra — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:33:16 +0000

I liked the narration better than the central theme of figuring out the puzzle.The character sketches of Katie,Paul,Gil and Charlie is written in an abstract manner,as if they are not living people but subjects in a painting.There is probably a bit too much about princeton and the social mores and customs in place , but I skipped over that bit,when I couldnt relate to it.I think both kids did a decent job about writing this yarn.

By: noname

noname — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 09:39:49 +0000

I must disagree with the review. This book was nothing like the ..Code, so comparing it with Brown’s novel is like comparing Los Angeles from New York. I was hoping for a gay-love-arc but nothing.

By: m gilleo

m gilleo — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 13:33:02 +0000

A dreadfully boring read, which I would have accepted if not for the endless comparisons to the DaVinci Code. The DaVinci Code (which I enjoyed but did not love) was a riddle wrapped in a relatively fast moving story. The Rule of Four is a far less compelling riddle, on a far less interesting topic, wrapped in a story that goes nowhere slowly.

By: Mohammed Ali Azeem

Mohammed Ali Azeem — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:18:40 +0000

This has to be one of the worst reviews I have ever read. Not only does it fail to make sence, it was also poorly thought out.

The book itself for a pleasent read. There are areas it could have improved on greatly, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

Mohammed Ali

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:59:49 +0000

Not to say that the book wasn’t a little dull, but I think you guys are missing the point of the story. It wasn’t about the puzzles or the mystery, or the “stuff”. That was just for fun. It seemed the authors were mostly trying to make commentary about life and love. It was about how people are always torn between two loves. I think they just threw in the happy ending to avoid frustration from the less perceptive readers. It would’ve been better if they’d had Tom slump deeper and deeper into depression and finally kill himself. That’s real life.

Or better yet, maybe the book only seems dull until you solve it’s mystery? Arrange all the letters in 80 column rows and apply the rule of four, and then it becomes a more fascinating, action-packed story?

I don’t think it should really be compared to the DaVinci Code, though. Dan Brown’s stories are much more fictitious, and contain almost no human story, other than the eventual hooking up of Robert Langdon with the current leading chick. The puzzles are similar but the emphasis, I think, is much different.

That’s my $0.02, anyway.

By: Temit

Temit — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 15:56:31 +0000

I ended up reserving the audio version of this book at the library by mistake. After hearing halfway to Audio disc 3 I had to bail. The most exciting thing that happened while ‘reading’ was nearly losing my life in a car accident because I could barely stay awake. Do you know what its like to read “Hypnerotomachia” over and over again? Do you know what its like to hear it that much??

By: Lauren

Lauren — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 16:47:46 +0000

Im a sophmore in highschool and for some reason chose this book for a book report, hoping that it would be similar to the Da Vinci Code, which i finished in less than a week, so i figured i could finish this one and it would be just as exciting. But here i am due tomorrow and i have about 150 more pages to go and i still just can’t get that excited about this book, I mean its ok, i’ve read worse, but i don’t understand how people like Paul and Tom’s Dad could become so obsessed when in the end the truth was ok but nothing to become obsessed about, o well just my opinion.

By: Diane Patterson

Diane Patterson — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 05:06:20 +0000

Well, gosh. That kind of incisive rebuttal to my points sure put me in my place.

I stand by my opinion of the book even more now.

By: adfg

adfg — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 01:51:13 +0000

It is clear that whoever wrote this review did not pay much attention when reading the book, because many comments are misguided. This books was very interesting and beautifully written. Don’t pay attention to the nonsense in this review

By: Whitney

Whitney — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 03:45:25 +0000

This was one of the most disappointing books I have ever had to slog through to finish. I agree completely with the whole timeline problem; the emphasis was definitely on conveying the whole Princeton experience and did not have any coherent means of advancing the story in a believable way. The only good part was nearly 3/4 through when the mystery of the ancient book was laid out. This could have been fed out in installments and I would have at least been able to finish it within a month. Boring.