The battle of the books. Photo: PA
So the Da Vinci Code trial has finally creaked its way to a conclusion, and the nation - nay, the world - breathes a collective sigh of indifference. The judge's ruling this afternoon that Dan Brown is not guilty of copyright infringement for his regurgitation of some of the theories expounded by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh in their more modestly profitable book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, does at least feel like the sensible decision.
To a laywoman such as myself, the pair's assertion in their book that they were uncovering the truth appeared to conflict so crashingly with their claim that Brown had stolen their ideas that it was difficult to give their case any credence. As the reclusive Brown himself said in a statement today: "I'm still astonished that these two authors chose to file their suit at all." While he may be astonished, however, you can bet your bottom dollar that astonishment is the very last thing on the minds of Random House execs this afternoon. Not since Dickens found himself rocking up the charts again after Andrew Davies' adaptation of Bleak House has a backlist title received such a boost.
Without wishing to cast aspersions on the quality of Messrs Leigh and Baigent's doubtless gripping and illuminating tome, however, one can predict with a fair degree of certainty that their appeal will be rather less enduring than Dickens's. With the case over and the verdict in, it seems inevitable that over the coming weeks and months the book will sink once again into inevitable and frankly merciful obscurity.
As they begin their inevitable slide, however, they might perhaps take comfort from the fact that Brown's conspiracy theory-worthy domination of the book buying public's collective consciousness does at last appear to be slipping. Despite blanket publicity from the trial, according to this week's Bookseller, Brown is continuing his slow but steady retreat from the top spot in the bestseller charts: he's at number nine this week, down from seven the week before and five the week before that. Proof positive that even the power of the Lord can't guarantee your sales forever. To which I ask you to join with me in saying: Amen.
