Un Cours Français

Saisir, contraignant, faire frémir, intriguer, cerveau-taquiner, fasciner, impulsion-s'activer, etc...

Tout qu'ils disent sur le dos du livre broché du code de Da Vinci est vrai. Everything they say on the back of the paperback of The Da Vinci Code is true.

The plot line is very interesting, and the characters are built very strongly. Dan Brown est un génie. Peut-être un des meilleurs auteurs dans son âge. Well, I only figured this out, but I think I’m gonna put him in the same place as Michael Crichton and Frederick Forsythe.

The funny thing about reading a gripping novel is that somehow you want to hurry yourself to the end, and just 10 page before the last you’d like to stop a while, and really try to let the words seep in. Somehow you’d feel that it’s such a waste to part with such a good book so soon.

Perhaps it’s one of the reasons why I’ll never be able to finish a 500 page book in one sitting. But then again, there’s always other factors such as fatigue, boredom, sore eyes, time limit, and all the sort.

Come to think of it, a relationship is just like a good book.

The first quarter is gripping. You’re bombarded with lots of new information. The character building is strong and its conflict results in a whole new set of experience. You will read it at full speed, zooming your eyes from the left top corner to the right bottom corner in no time.

The second quarter lets you slow down a bit. You will take your time to really let the words consume you. Sometimes you even have to squint your eyes just so you can understand what is being said. And sometimes you’d like to savor the moment and stop a bit to catch your breath.

Third quarter is sometimes the hardest part. Sometimes you’d like to stop after every chapter because it is so energy consuming, but you’d feel that you just can’t put down the book. The story is too good. And plus, you want to know the ending. When you’re feeling tired after a long hard day at work, sometimes you just want to give up and not read at all. But you know the minute you walk into your room, you will catch that book with the corner of your eye, sitting nicely on your bedside table, just waiting for you to spare a minute or two, a chapter or two to kill time, and eventually fall asleep.

A good book will increase its speed again in the 4th quarter. This is the defining moment. In this quarter, you’ll no longer feel that you HAVE to finish the book. You simply seek out the explanation, simply feel the need do to know where this is going to end. Will it give a good solution? Or will you meet tragic end? Will you not like what you find at the last page. That’s why, sometimes you will have to stop a while before it reaches the last page.

And somehow, even though you cheated yourself by peeking at the last page even when you’re still struggling in the third quarter, you will find a whole different answers when you actually experience it step by step, page by page.

Now, which quarter do you like the best?

Da Vinci Code is no longer a French Course. No longer a small reminder of that pile of French books laying untouched. But it also reminds me that every relationships, like every good book, will slow down and peak up again. It reminds me to be patient if I really want to know the end.

Félicitations Dan Brown. Vous avez fait grand !