The Codex by Douglas Preston

[goldilocks]

“There is one person above all others who must be thanked for the existence of this novel, and that is my good friend the inestimable Forrest Fenn...” and so begins the Acknowledgments to The Codex by Douglas Preston. Although Preston states right from the get-go that the story is complete and total fiction, one can’t help but wonder if there is an imaginary line where fact and fiction blur within the pages.

I just finished The Codex and would love to share ideas. Has it changed the way you think about Forrest Fenn's Chase?

[goldilocks]

Ok, some of you may be thinking why read The Codex? I’m sticking to the poem and TTOTC because that is what Forrest said to do. The rest is just background noise. I understand and I for one had a hard time parting from this hunt long enough to finish the book. Boy am I glad I did. Detectives employ all sorts of knowledge to crack a case and in my eyes this is no different. Douglas Preston is not just an acquaintance of Forrest but a friend, a friend with whom Forrest felt comfortable enough to share this crazy idea. For starters, the word halt was used no less than 13 times, and that was when I started counting at p.132, there is a native with teeth filed to points (a main character I might add), a bridge suspended with cables to bear the heavy loads, three sons with the impression of never living up to their father’s expectations and of course the burial itself. Could any of Forrest's private words with Doug Preston have come through in this book at all? We will never know but it is fun to think about.

[ramblinpam]

On page 138,One of the characters makes a statement to take care of the map, they may need it to start a fire.
“Don Alfonso - Take care to keep this very important map dry. We may need it to start a fire someday.”
That’s very similar to TTOTC page 60, Looking For Lewis and Clark - Where Forrest Fenn and Donnie Joe burned their map to start a fire.

[goldilocks]

Apr 2, 2019 9:37:11 GMT -5 ramblinpam said:

On page 138,One of the characters makes a statement to take care of the map, they may need it to start a fire.
“Don Alfonso - Take care to keep this very important map dry. We may need it to start a fire someday.”
That’s very similar to TTOTC page 60, Looking For Lewis and Clark - Where Forrest Fenn and Donnie Joe burned their map to start a fire.

What's really interesting about this Pam is that The Codex was published in 2004 and TTOTC in 2010....so was this "map burning" scene a coincidence or a verbal anecdote Forrest shared with Doug, long before TTOTC was ever published?

[ramblinpam]

I found this from an article on Mysterious Writings, TTOTC was written when he was 80. “I see my memoir as being a story that was ordained by some unknown hand. It came to me at age eighty as though my entire life had been waiting for that moment. The bulk of the book was written in six weeks and phrases that I had never thought of before, suddenly appeared on my computer screen.” 🙂
mysteriouswritings.com/six-questions-with-forrest-fenn-author-of-the-thrill-of-the-chase/

[ramblinpam]

I also found this interesting: Page 141
"Here’s the rub, Philip, the weakness in the Viziers plan. It required Genghis Khan to trust at least one other person with his secret. My question to you, Philip, is who was the one person your father trusted?"
"It wasn’t a girlfriend or ex-wife...The Only man he trusted was his pilot."
One of Forrest’ quotes - Two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

[goldilocks]

Both great quotes Pam! When I hear the word ordained the first thing that comes to my mind is in the religious sense of the word. I know F has said his beliefs are more spiritual in nature but it does make you wonder who in his life who would've made this kind of impact on him, the co-pilot in his life so to speak. The one person that comes to my mind right away is Peggy...

[goldilocks]

Another thing I found interesting was the way he describes the Sierra Azul mountains as mountains with a jagged profile like the teeth of a saw. The letter S in the NATO alphabet is Sierra...on p. 324 he mentions the jagged mountains again and on that same page "a fat viper jerked itself into an S-coil". Is he drawing attention to the letter S? Why didn't he just say a coil?

[ramblinpam]

I agree his co-pilot that comes to my mind also would be Peggy. Douglas Preston uses a lot of the same descriptions as Forrest Fenn (or vice-versa LoL).
On that same page, Page 324
Suddenly they came to the edge of a vast precipice.
(Fenn use this verbiage) You do not need to climb any steep precipice
mysteriouswritings.com/featured-question-with-forrest-fenn-on-the-thrill-of-the-chase-treasure-hunt-know-the-limits/


Page 325
He led them along a trail skirting the edge, then through a cleverly hidden gap in the rock that seemed to lead over the sheer cliff.
This stood out to me as a good hiding place for the treasure 👍

[Jeff]

Goldilocks, thanks for inspiring this section and pointing me towards The Codex.  I've picked the book up and am just getting started reading it...I hope to participate some more in this thread after I finish reading it.

In my reading of TTOTC, I suspected that Forrest likely shared it with someone for feedback/creative guidance/etc.  This is not uncommon among writers, in my limited experience.  I suspect this simply because TTOTC is pretty complicated in structure and (although I admittedly know nothing about the content of his previous writings/books) this may have been his first major foray into this sort of creative writing.  Could Douglas Preston have read early copy and provided feedback?  Maybe so...

I'm not intimately familiar with Forrest's statements about his
construction of the poem/chase, but I believe I read something to the
effect that he'd worked on it for 15 years prior to publication.  It's
not unreasonable to suspect that TTOTC was crafted over a similarly prolonged time frame.  If Forrest sought feedback from Douglas, it could have easily antedated his writing of The Codex.

We know that Forrest had written slightly different versions of some of the stories in TTOTC at least several years prior to its publication.  There may be more examples out there but the ones I'm aware of include a variation of The Totem Café Caper in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in 2008, a version of Looking for Lewis and Clark in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in 2008, a version of My War for Me published somewhere in 2006, a small portion of Blue Jeans and Hush Puppies Again is recited (recited!) almost verbatim in an interview (starts at 2:08) that Fenn gave in 2006, and a variation of Flywater in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle again in 2008.

These examples of phrasing or incident similarities between TTOTC and The Codex (beyond simply the general plot of a hidden treasure) would support the contention that Douglas Preston did indeed read some or heard some of the stories that made it into TTOTC.

In terms of how it would change my thinking...well, that assumes that I'm thinking.  It gives a little insight into the construction of the whole enterprise and this always has a chance of providing some additional information that will aid in finding the prize without really playing the game as intended (think back to Kit Williams' Masquerade, for example).  In the end, my guess is that it will probably be interesting from a contextual standpoint but not very illuminating from a solve standpoint.

[Jeff]

Goldilocks, thanks, the book was a fun read.  Quick too, the pages turn.  It could easily be a movie, lots of similar devices found in other treasure adventure movies, particularly the Indiana Jones series.  I certainly hope that if I ever comes to it my search for the Fenn treasure will be a lot, and I mean a real a lot, less exciting.  I would prefer if no guns were involved.

I agree there are a lot of curious syntax and word similarities between TTOTC and The Codex.  Many situational similarities too.  In addition to what was already mentioned, there were some other stand out items that suggested that Preston had probably read at least some of TTOTC prior to writing The Codex: "and then it came to me" like in Gold and More, "it's like staring down at L.A. from thirty thousand feet" like in My War for Me, "what he would give to do it all over again" like in the Preface and Epilogue, "Broadbent reached out a trembling hand and touched the painted surface" of his beloved Lippi painting like in Teachers with Ropes.

[goldilocks]

Apr 12, 2019 9:57:49 GMT -5 Jeff said:

Goldilocks, thanks, the book was a fun read.  Quick too, the pages turn.  It could easily be a movie, lots of similar devices found in other treasure adventure movies, particularly the Indiana Jones series.  I certainly hope that if I ever comes to it my search for the Fenn treasure will be a lot, and I mean a real a lot, less exciting.  I would prefer if no guns were involved.

I agree there are a lot of curious syntax and word similarities between TTOTC and The Codex.  Many situational similarities too.  In addition to what was already mentioned, there were some other stand out items that suggested that Preston had probably read at least some of TTOTC prior to writing The Codex: "and then it came to me" like in Gold and More, "it's like staring down at L.A. from thirty thousand feet" like in My War for Me, "what he would give to do it all over again" like in the Preface and Epilogue, "Broadbent reached out a trembling hand and touched the painted surface" of his beloved Lippi painting like in Teachers with Ropes.

Thank you for reading it so quickly! Based on the limited responses in this thread I would guess that not as many Fenn searchers have read The Codex as I thought. Hopefully more people will be inspired to do so after reading our comments.  I agree some parts were a little graphic, but the story is entertaining nonetheless, complete with a Wizard of Oz reference and of course the infamous Alpha and Omega. Although Mr Fenn has said he wrote TTOTC in 6 weeks, it's probably more like he compiled it in 6 weeks. We know that some of the stories in TTOTC were recycled over the years but there are many small details in both books, which are undeniably similar. 

[goldilocks]

There was an interesting mention of Doug Preston in the most recent SB 199...

Here is a recording from AGK Media's YouTube channel of Forrest, Doug and Shiloh at the Collected Works on Nov. 2, 2017. This recording gives us some insight into the relationship between Forrest and Doug.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR1LZIFKYUg

At the 15:10 minute mark in above video Doug states that "there are vital clues" in OUAW. This tells me he may have some knowledge regarding clues and/or possible treasure location. 

[goldilocks]

I have a gigantic what if...

The ancient Mayan manuscript in The Codex was reportedly worth billions of dollars to the pharmaceutical industry, which made this manuscript a very desirable object to investors (the antagonists) in the book. Every plant and animal in the tropical rainforest was listed within the 2,000 pages including instructions on how to extract and use them to treat illnesses. I had a fleeting thought when the book was discussing the SEC (The Securities and Exchange Commission). Could the CES as seen on the latch of Indulgence be a hint to the SEC? What if Forrest made a significant and valuable archaeological discovery in his career, could the special item in the chest be something like a security or financial asset which the finder would receive title to once the chest is found?