The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: Quick read, fun ideas, mediocre book
Review: After watching the Da Vinci Code flying off the shelves of the bookstore I work at, I figured I might as well give it a try myself. It was better than I expected--which isn't necessarily saying much--but overall a perfectly ordinary thriller. The book's mindfull of a lot of Michael Crighton's work: obvious indication of meticulous research, fast-moving plot, but written with an eye for the big screen, leaving some of the settings, and more grieviously the characters, somewhat threadbare.

But so what? It's a quick read and entertaining, and while the plot itself is forgotten almost as qickly as the final page is turned, some of the ideas the novel plays with linger on. The nature of PHI, the existance of Opus Dai, the Priory de Sion, and the exploration of Da Vinci's works--it's all great stuff and fun to read. Some of the grail conjectures are dubious at best, but again, so what? Most texts about the subject are equally goofy.

My biggest complain with the novel is a glaring error in the research that comes early in the novel and proves surprisingly important later on. The apple. Though modern tradition has it that humanity was booted from Eden for Eve's munching of the apple, it remains exactly that, a modern interpretation. The Bible refers only to a fruit, not an apple, and earlier interpretations of the scene have substituted other fruits--like a pear, for example. Which seems like nit-picking, but wouldn't a world-reknown symbologist know this? So much for suspension of disbelief.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: Any person who reads this book will have their eyes opened wider than ever before. You do not have to be a lapsed catholic to enjoy the mysteries surrounding the Roman Catholic Church. Dan Brown is a master at using words to create a scene like no other author.

Rating:
Summary: A most original and daring story!
Review: An art historian and curator is mysteriously murdered in the Paris Louvre. Barely alive and aware of his impending demise, he leaves clues as to his murderer and the reason for it. His clues are contained within a complex series of riddles that lead key individuals to all the right people and all the right places to solve the crime and pass on a special secret. The secret is something that has haunted the leaders of the Catholic Church and questions the validity of the entire Christian institution.

Most certainly a unique story, this work of fiction is one of the most well-composed dear reader may ever come across. Some may find offense because it questions the interpretation forced upon us by the New Testament. Brown's writings remind us that the bible is written in a metaphorical sense that Christians have been told for centuries how to interpret, without using our own senses. One enjoyable aspect of the story is that Brown introduces us to the origins of common words and phrases for which most of us understand little. Whether or not these origins are correct is probably a worthless concern. It will certainly have us stopping ourselves in mid thought when we say stock phrases about our observations for which we have no idea why! All in all, a page-turning novel that keeps us second-guessing and changing our minds about the real reason for our rush to get to the end... whodunnit and why?!

Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking!
Review: I just finished reading the Da Vinci Code and was so pleased with the experience, I am starting Angels and Demons. (By the way, I was surprised to learn Angels and Demons takes place a year before the Da Vinci Code and has the same main character.)

What is enjoyable about the book is how Dan Brown exposes us to theories and research about religion that are not mainstream. The story is well constructed with a wonderful balance of fact and fiction. It will take you into a facinating world of symbolism and art...and may even challenge your point of view.

For example, in the story, an interesting perspective on the painting "The Last Supper" is introduced that makes you think about it in a whole new way...Trust me, if you haven't heard about this twist already, when you read this part of the book you will put it down imediately to look at the painting online. Then you will do a double take and ask yourself "How did I ever miss that?" The book is filled with moments like this.

What adds to the enjoyment of this book is the puzzles Dan Brown created online. All you need is the book and some time. Then, go to Dan Brown's web site where you actually find a scavanger hunt of knowledge that has you look at the cover of his book in new ways.

If you like mind puzzles and codes, you will love his website (www.danbrown.com) and how he hid messages on the very cover of his book.

This is a fun read. Open your mind, relax and take the book in for what it is...A fun mystery filled with puzzles, interesting opinions and enjoyable characters.

I highly reccomend this book!

Rating:
Summary: I challenge you to put it down!
Review: I read this book in TWO days, I simply could not, would not put it down...absolutely remarkable. This book is not only wonderfully written, the reader comes away from the book yearning for more, more, more. This book is daring, cunning, fast-paced, EVERYTHING a superb suspense novel should be. You owe it to yourself to read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Just in: Beach reads have reached a new low
Review: Ok, this makes me laugh. Not only is this book riddled with misinformation, and I don't care what anyone says, a novel that deals with a historical setting should at least get the facts straight and keep them clearly delineated from the fictional storyline. What is even more glaringly ridiculous is how staggeringly stupid he makes professionals who are supposed to be top in their field. One example : the notorious professor of religious symbology from Harvard University, who :

1) is baffled by the backward handwriting in da Vinci's notebook ! (now remember, this is a storyline set in the present day, where da Vinci's backward handwriting is about as well known amongst art students and professionals, as is checking for email is amongst computer owners)

2) has already seen it before in a museum where he was also supposedly baffled, and now he is wondering if he is looking at semitic handwriting which it doesn't vaguely resemble ! But, Brown doesn't stop there, he has to magnify this outrageous farce, he has a British Royal Historian join in on this parody of academic pondering, he wonders if it is ANCIENT. He is 'ASTONISHED, it is like NOTHING he has ever seen!' Does he live in a shoe ? Or has he just acquired his eyesight ? No, he is simply in Dan Brown's book. Not even the genius cryptologist is spared. Although she escapes being assigned guesses bordering on imbecilic, she beams with pride at recognizing...now I hope you are sitting, because this will knock the wind out of you, BACKWARD HANDWRITING ! A cryptologist ! How absolutely, fascinating ! A cryptologist who can solve a mystery so perplexing as to confound a 12 year old for an entire New York second. That's right, I opened up the book in front of a 12 year old, saying nothing more than, "here, read this." Without a word, he got up and went to the bathroom to hold it up in front of the mirror and began reading it out loud. Now, forgive me for bragging, but I didn't even need the mirror.

Obviously Mr. Brown enjoys assigning these sort of attributes to these hapless experts. He has us know that our good friend the professor of religious symbology, has trouble believing the Vatican would kill for preserving their reputation. What a novel idea ! A powerful and aggressive world power in which there might actually be people who are not entirely altruistic ! Wow, if I was a art historian who had studied, oh for maybe...uh...5 years, the intrigues of Renaissance Italy, because they are so entwined in the understanding of this key period of religious art, I know I could have easily overlooked the perhaps, 800 references to such a thing, how about you ?

As if these and an additional steady stream of such bloopers are not enough, we are subjected to ignorant observations : 'da Vinci is less artistic than Fabergé' ! than 'assorted cloissoné artisans' ! Did you know that ? I didn't know that ! I still don't know that ! There's lots more 'wisdom' on this victim, be warned.

Not only does he relentlessly bungle his facts and couple them with unfounded and preposterous social commentary, he has the nerve to insert this comment, about a film : "Sadly the filmmakers had gotten most of the specifics wrong..." And if the reader is not sufficiently impressed with Mr. Brown yet, they get one more clue, by including this esteemed opinion on the supposed creator of the mystery: "...he was a frighteningly clever man." Where does it end ! On page 484, directly before the blessedly blank flyleaf, where I breathe a sigh of relief of not only being done with this bestselling drivel, but that my name is not defiled by being included in the acknowledgments.

Rating:
Summary: buyer beware
Review: Alexander Pope once said "a little learning can be a dangerous thing." How true that is. Like others, including Oliver Stone, Brown has taken a few interesting bits of historical information mixed with some out-right fabrication and attempted to form a conspiracy of sorts, involving the Catholic Church and among others: Constantine, Mary Magdalene, Victor Hugo, Leonardo da Vinci and even Walt Disney.

The trouble, of course, with this kind of fast and loose investigation in which the presumption that because A follows b then b must have caused a, is that it more often than not leads to mistaken conclusions.

Ah, but this is a work of fiction, you say. That does not seem to be the message that Mr. Brown is spreading as he markets his novel. I suppose that the belief that this nonsensical pulp could be based on reality is essential to sales. So let that old caveat "buyer beware" continue to be your warning.

Rating:
Summary: pretty good... could be better
Review: While I enjoyed the book, I was disappointed by the last hundred or so pages. I found it getting increasingly far-fetched... especially with the revealing of the "Teacher's" identity. THAT was lame. However, the stuff about the Priory of Sion and da Vinci's art work is quite interesting. Too bad the story line doesn't quite meet that level.

Rating:
Summary: The Da Vinci Disaster
Review: Interesting for the first 100 pages. After that, the plot quickly loses steam. I expected more theory and research, much in the way Graham Hancock writes in "Fingerprints of the Gods," or "The sign and the Sea."

Here, there were absolutely no references to where Brown received his information. His theory is interesting, yet is merely an opinion. THe book contains interesting "side-notes" of academic worth, but even these are not sufficient to salvage the disaster that is the main plot.

Though provoking, yet highly disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal Work!!
Review: This book was both entertaining and informative and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is literate!!