Saralee Says
If books like The Jane Austen Book Club (Putnam) and Bridget Jones's Diary (Penguin) are considered "chick lit", then The Rule of Four (Dial Press) is "rooster writing" or literature for men. Turnabout is fair play, and The Rule of Four was Larry's pick.
Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Gil Rankin and Charlie Freeman are seniors at Princeton on the eve of graduation. Sullivan, the son of a renaissance scholar, is the narrator and his roommate, Harris, is writing his senior thesis about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a really strange book written in 1499. Sullivan does not want to end up like his father, who was obsessed with the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and Harris wants his help solving puzzles about this ancient book. Rankin is busy organizing the social scene for Princeton, and Freeman is about to enter medical school. What should be the last few celebratory days of college instead turns into murder and mayhem for these seniors.
The Rule of Four is being compared to Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code (Doubleday). Do you think it is as good as Brown's book? I do not because The Da Vinci Code had a beginning, middle and end and was impossible to put down. The Rule of Four is a challenge to read and did not captivate me. There were too many subplots and too many flashbacks, and I thought the ending was too predictable. I urge you not to make the same mistake that I did. Instead, do your research first and "google" the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili before you read The Rule of Four. I wish I had done this investigation before reading the book in order to understand the background about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili since that would have made my time with The Rule of Four more enjoyable.
This is the first book for Ian Caldwell, who graduated from Princeton in 1998, and his best friend Dustin Thomason. Obviously, it does not matter whether or not I liked this book or not - The Rule of Four is already a runaway bestseller.
Larry's Language
The Rule of Four could be a secret blueprint for wealth and fame or it could be a trap that destroys reputations and lives. It is about a 500-year-old secret hidden inside a riddle, buried in an almost unbreakable code.
Sullivan, Harris and their college roommates are fascinated and almost addicted to puzzling out the meaning of a Renaissance book, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. They believe that it will explain the death of Sullivan's father, clarify the earlier disgrace of a friend, and answer questions that have confused scholars for centuries. Also, it will satisfy their senior writing requirement and allow them to graduate.
Their bookish, but physically dangerous journey takes us on a magical mystery tour through the Princeton campus and the steam tunnels underneath the college as at least a dozen felonies are committed in their supposed academic quest for truth.
These four modern musketeers engage in swordplay, paintball, burglary, deception and escape from the police. They contemplate grave robbing - but for a good cause. What seems strange is these four college seniors pay almost no attention to the Nude Olympics of their fellow students, almost never appear to engage in or even contemplate sex, music, alcohol or parties, and classes do not seem to exist. Oh - maybe that last item is realistic for some college students.
The conflicts are academic, emotional and criminal as Sullivan and Harris seek solutions for the riddles in the book ("What do a blind beetle, a night owl and a twist beaked eagle share?) while trying to avoid arrest.
Sullivan's girlfriend Katie, whose favorite writer is H.A. Rey, author of the children's classic Curious George, is a saving grace although she needs serious attitude adjustment at times. That's probably understandable since Sullivan is the kind of boyfriend who forgets her birthday.
The Book of Four has more word-of-mouth publicity than any other new book because it is a true puzzle and is perhaps the most intriguing and entertaining thriller of the year.
Join us for our next bookclub discussion which will feature My Life by Bill Clinton.
