Rating: 
Summary: A Divine Page Turner!
Review: I have not lost sleep or been late for work due to a book for a long time. This time it's Dan Brown's fault! Excellent read, informative and exciting. Just read "Beyond Belief - The Secret Gospel of Thomas", which first brought the actions of the early Christian church to my awareness. This book was a great follow on for me on that topic. But "Da Vinci Code" stands as being just a good 'ol pager turner mystery!
Rating: 
Summary: Leonardo in drag
Review: Some of my fellow reviewers wrote that this was a book they couldn't put down. But once I started it and I did put it down, I found the book hard to pick up again -- my mind just filled with so many other things I'd rather be doing. About half way through I gave up the fight and didn't even try to start reading again.It isn't that the book is dense or difficult to read. To the contrary: I'd say that at first glance, author Dan Brown is a compelling storyteller, adept at seamlessly leading the reader from one scene to another. Sure, his constant foreshadowing is more often than not heavy handed, and some of the peripheral characters seem a little two-dimensional. But those are (unfortunately) common flaws and not the reason I was so displeased by the book. What really bothered me was how much Mr. Brown got wrong. The first example is the book's title: "da Vinci" isn't Leonardo's family name, it is a reference to his illegitimate father, which is a reference to the father's home town of Vinci, just west of Florence. In Italian, "da Vinci" just means "from Vinci." No, Leonardo, like his contemporaries Raffaello and Giulio Romano, like Giotto, like Caravaggio, like Rembrandt ... like modern day Cher or Madonna, is correctly referred to by his given name. The book should have been called "The Leonardo Code" or "The Leonardo da Vinci Code." Inside, there is more of the same. The author refers to some invented speculation that the "Mona Lisa" is really a portrait of Leonardo himself in drag. Proof? Mr. Brown narrative says that computers show that key facial features are the same as those in contemporary portraits of Leonardo and that without this explanation the identity of the model is a mystery. The truth? No contemporary portraits of Leonardo exist, while the identity of the model in the famous painting is extremely well documented. There is more: Leonardo's "Last Supper" is not a fresco, as the book says. And the idea that Mary Magdalene somehow dressed up as a man and appears in the painting in lieu of one of the apostles is more than a little far fetched. I know that a novel cannot be taken as a historical document and that by definition, events are fictionalized in any work of fiction. But they have to be fictionalized in a context that is real or at least believable. If that doesn't happen, the structure of the story crumbles because we no longer know what means something and what doesn't. A more specific example: the "Mona Lisa" carries with it certain information, who the subject was, what the painting means, who painted it, and its place in the West's cultural canon. Those factors are part of the package that simply cannot be jettisoned. If the author wanted a painting (or an artist) that didn't carry those exact meanings, then he would be better off selecting different subjects, or just making them up from scratch. If a novel set in modern times included a character who drove a '78 Ford Pinto, we could draw certain conclusions about him. Maybe he doesn't have much money, or he has a bad taste in cars, or he has been forced to use this unfortunate vehicle. But if the story is written so that the Pinto is candy apple red, that it attracts "oohs" and "ahhs" from people who see it, and can race down the highway at 200 mph, then we scratch our heads. Why did the author call the car a Pinto? Wouldn't it be easier and better to have called it a Ferrari? When I first started to notice these kinds of incongruities in The Da Vinci Code, I wondered if they were early clues that Robert Langdon, the main protagonist, was a bit delusional, or at least too free and easy with the facts. But it didn't take long to understand that the one who was too free and easy with the facts was the author.
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: Yes, the topic of the Holy Grail can be found ad nauseum on-line or in conspiracy theory books, but, regardless, I found The Da Vinci Code hard to put down. It is intriguing even if it can be somewhat predictable, I lerned a lot and his sources and interesting factiouds throughout the book make the plot and the central idea seem even more credible. It definitely caught my attention and Dan Brown has earned my respect as a fiction writer.
Rating:
Summary: masterpiece-schmasterpiece
Review: The Da vinci Code is completely devoid of artistic value. It was designed to make money, which it certainly has. Let be an example to starving writers everywhere. P T Barnum was right.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I received this as a Christmas Gift. Like other reviewers here, I began investigating some of Mr. Brown's suppositions. That is exactly what they were. Although there is a measure of truth in the fact that these secret societies existed, there is no evidence of the suppositions he makes beyond that. In fact, his 'research' is text from other books. It is a good thing that the book is listed as "ficition".
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST OF DAN BROWN!
Review: This book is a literary masterpiece. I enjoyed the way so many historical facts were woven in so smoothly throughout this mystery novel. This book is worth the time and money. It is truly a work of art itself and deserves to bear the name of the great Da Vinci. This book is hard to put down, so clear your weekend schedule!
Rating:
Summary: how to make money with a book
Review: rewrite the work of a few others into one book: richard leigh, michael baigent, henry lincoln and their research (namely _holy blood, holy grail_); umberto eco's _foucault's pendulum_ has murders and museums and templars and most of the rest of _da vinci code_; lynn picknett's _the templar revelation_ gives us the da vinci connection. and ALL of these books are written better.
Rating:
Summary: Haiku Review
Review: Impressive puzzle
and interesting premise.
Characters are flat.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Much Conspiracy
Review: The DaVinci Code is a page turner in its own right, however filled with a few too many hypotheses stated as facts and disregard for scientific method. Devout Christians should be weary. The DaVinci Code is a slap in the face to faith-followers. Personally, I would recommend Angels and Demons by the same author over The DaVinci Code. Angels and Demons is less critical of Catholicism with more tact, yet still holds to the theme of science's ancient conflict with religion.
Rating: 
Summary: Da Vinci Code - over-hyped and over here!
Review: The Da Vinci code is undoubtedly a page turner and contains some interesting (though not new) material on Mary Magdalen and the sacred feminine. However, it is extraordinarily badly written with some very cliched characterisation - upper-class villainous Brit - how very Hollywood! A green eyed red haired heroine - how often has she been done? Some good editing, preferably from a non-American would have been helpful. I'm sure no Frenchman would regard the Eiffel tower as the symbol of France - Marianne fulfills that role. And since when has anyone English said 'I'm truly sorry for your loss'. Lastly, scholarly English librarians simply would not indulge in tactless banter with an esteemed American researcher over the wisdom of knighting Rudi Giuliani. Was Dan Brown trying to make a post 9/11 point? Buy this book for its silly frenetic plot and intriguing artistic insights but don't expect great literature.
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