Rating: 
Summary: yes, remember that it's just fiction
Review: Enjoy the story, but don't mistake it for a work of non-fiction scholarship as some have. I have a history degree from U.C. Berkeley and a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies and can tell you from my own research that there's no historical basis for much of Brown's story. He doesn't even get the Leonardo part right (for example, as some Leonardo scholars have pointed out, no one refers to Leonardo as "Da Vinci"). So enjoy the ride, but look for historical accuracy elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Da Vinci Fraud
Review: The Da Vinci Code blurs the lines between fiction and fact - in a way that comes across to me as deceptive, false and willfully misleading - such that many readers actually believe the book exposes the truth about "the Church." And many more wonder what is true and what is "fiction." As a parish priest, I have spoken with countless confused people - who have read the book, and simply don't know what to make of the supposedly factual remarks by the book's "scholarly" characters.I like historical fiction - James Michener, Ken Follett, and Umberto Eco are favorites of mine. By different degrees of creative brilliance, Michener, Follett and Eco have each written books which merge bible or church history with legend and their own invention. Michener and Follett are known for a high degree of factual content in their novels, and Umberto Eco is himself a university academic. Eco is handy for a comparison with Dan Brown. At least three of Eco's books - Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino -- involve an intellectually challenging and delighting blend of invention and historical fact concerning the Church. Eco himself is rather like the real-life version of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon character. The Robert Langdon character in Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code is a professor of the fictional discipline called "symbology" - Umberto Eco is a professor of the real-life academic discipline called semiotics. Eco is an agnostic - with no Christian agenda at all. Meanwhile, author Dan Brown appears to have an explicitly anti-Christian sensibility. As well, Eco often writes fantastic stories involving the Church, the Knights Templar, Post Modern philosophy, etc. Sort of like Brown. But the difference between the two appears to be this: Eco doesn't make claims of fact which anybody with a basic church history text and a Bible dictionary can demolish in under five minutes. Brown does. Moreover, it seems that Brown mixes fact with open fraud. Yet, Brown could have written pretty much the same book, without making up a single historical fact. He could have criticized historic Christianity, taken up the cause of women, and triumphed the place of the "sacred feminine" within the factual context of real Church history. He likewise could have retold the same Holy Grail stuff - with little or no need to invent anything outside of the now vast canon of established Grail Lore. Now, I basically enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, except for those times when I saw an outright factual lie and felt my blood pressure go up. And I will never have time to address every single error made by The Da Vinci Code, but I hope to address the things, which drove me the most nuts. Most important, perhaps, I address the themes raised by the book, which are of great importance for Modern Christians. Most important of these are: where is the feminine side of Biblical theology and our understanding of the divine; what roles did women have in the early church of the first two or three generations; how did the early church grapple with gnosticism, the creation of the canon of Scripture, and the eventual rise of "imperial Christianity...
Rating: 
Summary: good writing but 100% fictional
Review: The author weaves together secret societies and conspiracy thoeries and anti-catholic rhetoric in order to devieve us into thinking that Jesus had a wife and child. Lets analyze the lies here. Opus Dei is a 'secret' society, in many ways a catholic rival to the masons, meant to promote catholic power among the wealthy and powerful of the worlds catholic nations. Yet the fact that it is mysterious doesnt mean that it preaches false idols or that it is covering up the 'Truth' about jesus being married. Opus Die is simply catholic reaction to a world increasingly secular. the author claims this organization is involved in something vile, yet he shies away from saying exactly what. The 'secret' organization that Da Vinci may have been a member of didnt have any knowledge of the life of Jesus, it based its 'theories' on cult pracices that have no basis in reality. In the end this book is a great fascinating tale of suspense, but it is a fictional book. Lots of people including ABC news have been duped into beleiving this book has 'truth' to it when it is based on NO EVIDENCE whatsoever. The bible and Josephus are the only documents that speak of the life of Jesus. In neither work is Mary magdelane spoken of as a wife of Jesus. In no place is mary magdelane not a prostitute. The bible is clear on this. If you dont beleive the biblet hats fine, but you cant just make up history whern no text or evidence exists. Just because Da Vinci painted a fresco doesnt mean anything. Did Da Vinci know jesus? No. did Da Vinci have access to 'secret' documents that were written in the time of Jesus? No. All Da Vinci had was a secret society with a tradition that had no basis in history and contained no evidence. A good book but please realize its not true and that its not history, its a NOVEL!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting themes, predictable story
Review: The great thing about this book is how it brings to light how women have been neglected in th history of the Catholic Church. It is worth reading just for the education you get in that. The plot is the thriller-in-a-day variety that the author has used time and again. It works, but it's hurried and formulaic. I'm afraid when they make the movie (and they are sure to) they'll leave in all the action and take out the meat - Who is Mary, who is Mary Magdelene, what is their significance? Sigh.
Rating: 
Summary: Mind-Blowing and Masterful
Review: I loved this book, and I am not normally a big fan of the "thriller"/mystery genre. The writing is fast-paced and easily digested, and the plot moves quickly. But I think I liked it best because the puzzles the characters are presented with (and therefore you, the reader, as well) are so intriguing, and I learned so much I didn't know. I know the book is controversial, and although based on some facts, it is a work of fiction...but still, it gives one some food for thought that challenges some long-standing assumptions that are just taken for granted about Jesus, the Catholic Church, famous paintings, various religious and political figures, and symbols you grew up with and probably never even thought about. Dan Brown gets my vote for a rare author who can create unqiue, entertaining characters, move a plot forward quickly with hooks galore, and make you think and learn at the same time. I definitely plan to read more of his books! - Julia Wilkinson, author, My Life at AOL
Rating:
Summary: an exciting read, but........
Review: This book was definitely an exciting read, but I have to question many of the author's theories. I also felt that the characters were pretty one-dimensional and even unbelievable at times. The plot device of finding each clue and solving it got a little bit tedious at times. However, it was a quick and fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story filled with much anti-truth
Review: Like Angels & Demons, I enjoyed this book for a good tale. There is, however, much to be wary of in the so-called "facts" presented here. Some of it is harmless fictionalization, some of it is dangerous and misleading non-truths about the Priory of Sion, the Catholic Church, and history. Perhaps the most disturbing elements to me are the portrayal of the Catholic Church as out to completely masculinize God and deny the sacred feminine. This is especially incredulous to me since the Catholic Church takes an incredible amount of heat for it's 2,000 year history of "worship" of the Virgin Mary. Throughout its history the Church has paid reverence to true sacred femininity. (btw, it's reverence for Mary as the chosen of the Father, spouse of the Holy Spirit, and mother of the human incarnation of God, not worship of Mary). Mary Magdalene was indeed a beloved follower of Jesus, but she was not his bride. She is remarkable in that she is one of the first people recorded in the Bible whom Jesus exorcised of pagan demons, after which she was one of several women who travelled with him and his disciples. I was also offended by the treatment of Opus Dei and the numerous times that it was stated that Church needs to "modernize" and become relevant to modern conditions. Far from wanting that, solid Catholics want the Church to hold out against the modern world and assert itself as a pillar of objective truth. So enjoy this book, but just remember --- it's just fiction folks!
Rating:
Summary: "The Da Vinci Code" is a Trojan Horse
Review: "The Da Vinci Code" is a Trojan horse. On the outside, it's a gripping murder mystery penned by Dan Brown, a masterful writer of fiction. On the inside, the reader can easily mistake speculative material for fact. Several points that Brown's characters endeavor to establish are not true or are at best speculation; among them: 1 - The divinity of Jesus Christ was determined by nothing more than a vote of fourth-century bishops at the Council of Nicaea.
2 - One of Brown's characters states: "Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ's human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned."
3 - Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, and together they had children and established a "royal bloodline" that exists to this day. Brown's characters' present these assertions as fact; however, there is good reason to suspect they are far from the truth or just plain false. 1 - According to one of Brown's characters, the Council of Nicaea, held in 325 A.D., determined Jesus' divinity by merely voting on it (page 233). However, determining the divinity of Jesus Christ was not among the issues that prompted Constantine to assemble this Council. The Council was convened to discuss and evaluate a new perspective that sprang up within the church and endeavored to deny Jesus' deity. The Council ultimately affirmed a long-standing apostolic doctrine (that is, established truths and historical accounts that originated with actual eyewitnesses of Jesus' miracles over three centuries earlier). The Council overwhelmingly confirmed His deity based on a thorough evaluation of this new perspective in comparison to the eyewitness-based apostolic doctrines. 2 - Constantine did not select or omit different versions of the Gospels, as one of Brown's characters states (pages 231 and 234). He merely initiated the production of fifty new copies of the existing Bible to ensure more widespread distribution and use of it throughout the Roman Empire. The content of the Bible was already well established before Constantine's birth, evidenced by a list of nearly all of the New Testament books (including the names of the four Gospels or references thereto) found on the Muratorian Fragment, dated approximately 190 A.D., nearly a century before Constantine's birth. 3 - To support the proposition that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, one of Brown's characters explains that this "royal bloodline" has been "chronicled in exhaustive detail by scores of historians." This character then refers another character (and at the same time, the reader) to a list of these historians' books (page 253), all of which actually exist. The "tome" among them, according to this character, is "Holy Blood, Holy Grail." However, one of the "historians" who wrote that book describes the book's material as something other than historical fact. Writing in "The Introduction to the Paperback Edition," one of the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," described the material upon which that book is based as "academically suspect" among historians. Describing the three authors' approach to writing the book, he states, "It was with a vision akin to that of the novelist that we created our book." And, "...unlike the professional historian, the novelist is accustomed to an approach such as ours. He is accustomed to synthesizing diverse material, to making connections more elusive than those explicitly preserved in documents. He recognizes that truth may not be confined only to recorded facts but often lies in more intangible domains-in cultural achievements, in myths, legends, and traditions; in the psychic life of both individuals and entire peoples." Note to the reader: this is one of the "historians" referred to by Brown's character. Brown packages these and other vast assertions made by his characters in an excellent murder mystery that is bursting at the seams with highly detailed and very interesting descriptions of myths, legends, religious and pagan symbols, numerology, cryptology, and every other "ology" that's out there. The sheer volume of these presumably accurate descriptions, and Brown's technique for cleverly weaving them into his gripping murder mystery, readily lulls the reader into accepting everything presented by his characters as fact. Just as the Trojans should have been in that mythological classic, readers of The Da Vinci Code should beware. There's great can't-put-it-down entertainment here, crafted by a gifted fiction writer; however, the perceptive reader will be wary of taking anything as fact without first checking credible sources for confirmation.
Rating:
Summary: Da Vinci Code
Review: Research it for yourselves. A lot in this book has already been proven false. Its just another fall in our society... look at how much pain is out there, this books goal is to cause doubt and confusion for those not well educated in Christ. Those who know and love Christ have no problem with pathetic claims like this. It can not shake our Rock and our foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Challenging, Intriguing, Inspiring
Review: I won't give a summary, since that has been done numerous times here, but would like to say that this book kept me fascinated the entire time I read it. The skill with which author Dan Brown compiled what must have been reams of historical data and integrated it into a fast-paced thriller is simply astounding. Be sure to read with an open mind - it's a challenging read, as well as inspirational. Excellent book and one I intend to read several times - simply so I can absorb all this book has to offer.
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