A number of New York subway trains currently have posted in them an advertisement for a suspense novel (Brad Meltzer's Book of Lies) said to be a combination of The Da Vinci Code and North by Northwest. We know about the huge success of the former, especially in its book shape, but it's reassuring news that a 50-year-old film is still taken to be a household, or rolling stock word. But what about the combination? Meltzer's novel will tell us how and if it works, but we could still be left puzzling over the intended meaning of the ad, the sign value of the two titles.

LRB 9 July 2009 | PDF Download