'CODE' TALKERS

By CHAUNCEY MABE
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
In the beginning -- in 1972 -- there was "The Word," a thriller that enjoyed a long ride on the best-seller list, finishing the year in the top 10.
Older readers may recall its author, Irving Wallace, who concocted a succession of best-selling potboilers through three decades before his death in 1990.
Almost everyone will recognize its plot. Amazon.com's description: "The classic thriller of an ancient manuscript, a secret society committed to hiding an explosive truth, and the man who must uncover that truth -- if he can stay alive long enough."
The "explosive truth"? That Jesus didn't die on the cross, but survived to marry and have children.
That, of course, is roughly the story line of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," which has sold 40 million copies in hardcover alone, while generating ferocious backlash from religious and secular scholars for its liberties with church history.
The debate, which intensified with the release of the movie version, has exasperated some.
But one thing is certain: there's nothing new under the sun, at least not in publishing. What made for a best-seller in 1972 is identical to what made a best-seller in 1902 -- Owen Wister's "The Virginian"-- or century later -- "The Da Vinci Code" in 2003.
Debunks conspiracy aspect
There's the conventional wisdom that the success of "Code" rests largely on the appeal of its conspiracy theories.
Not true, says James W. Hall, author of a series of Florida-set crime novels, including "Under Cover of Daylight," and "Off the Chart."
"At least a dozen or more books are out debunking 'The Da Vinci Code,"' Hall says. "That really doesn't matter; it keeps selling."
Hall also is a longtime professor in the creative writing department at Florida International University. In the 1980s, he taught a course on popular fiction back. With his students' help, he came up with 12 common denominators shared by all best-selling novels.
"Code," which he has read three times, has all 12.
Currently writing a book based on his research, he is reluctant to share all of them, but he is willing to talk about several as they pertain to "Code."
Historical content
High historical content: Like the books of James Michener, Arthur Hailey and Tom Clancy, 'Code' is full of historical data the Brown claims is true . And, it doesn't matter that his assertions have been proved wrong again and again.
"The less information there is in a novel, the more likely it will be literary," Hall says, "although all literary novels that hit the best-seller list have high nonfiction content. Think 'Cold Mountain."'
"Code" purports to offer everything you want to know about Jesus and Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci and the Priory of Sion," Hall says. "And don't worry, you won't get queasy reading about emotions. This brings in a lot of men who don't normally read fiction."
Religion debate
Religious content: "It's amazing how important God is in all these books," Hall says. "Every one of them. Even in 'Jaws,' one woman declares the shark attacks are a plague from God. I'm reading a book -- nonfiction -- about the religion of the Founding Fathers. From the beginning we've been wrestling with how important faith and belief should be in public life, and that debate goes on in best-sellers."
A matter of scale
Scale: A small personal story is set against historic events. "Gone With the Wind" is a romance with the Civil War as a backdrop.
"'Code' is set against the Crucifixion and the entirety of Western religious history, which is a pretty grand scale," Hall says. "Also the hero, Robert Langdon, gets to travel to places we don't normally have access to, which is another kind of scope."
Other keys to success
Brown's book is also high on "American Dream/American Nightmare," as Hall calls it. Our American ingenuity will solve the most arcane puzzle of all time, even with all those forces arrayed against you.
"That's another characteristic of American heroes: they're usually anti-intellectual. Langdon's a professor, but a more blue-collar kind of scholar. He works in the classroom, but he's still a cowboy."
A related and, to Hall, a surprising characteristic is what he calls "the golden country," a moment evoking Eden, an idyllic place before it all got complicated. In "Code," it come as Paris police cryptographer Sophie Neveu recalls the country house where she learned to love riddles and games from her grandfather, who is later disgraced in her eyes.
"Code" may hit all 12 characteristics, but that doesn't mean Brown has been calculating or manipulative.
"The most important thing is Dan Brown is not cynical," Hall says. "He believes everything he writes. You can't fake this, which is why most of his imitators are doomed to fail. Brown wrote the best possible book he could. My book about these principles will not be a formula for success."
Indeed, most break-out pop best-sellers are originals, created by writers who don't really know what they're doing.
Good for business
Hall doesn't begrudge best-selling authors their good fortune.
"If it weren't for Dan Brown, I wouldn't be able to keep my lights on," Hall says. "The Dan Browns, Stephen Kings, Anne Rices flood the industry with cash that pays for the other 95 percent of the novels published. The New York Times book section would never review most Danielle Steel books, but it wouldn't exist if not for her and others like her."