Rating: 
Summary: REALLY BAD history
Review: This book had definate potential in the first 10 chapters, which made me all the more frustrated when, by page 325, I realized the ridiulous route it began following by page 225 was not going to change. I am not a historian, but I enjoy history, and have a personal interest in the Knights Templar. The historical mistakes the author made concerning the noble Temple Knights were legion- so many serious errors that I cannot help but feel he took real events and twisted them to conform to a contrived plot that served his own literary interests. With this realization, I began to question his professional integrity, given his claims to accuracy that he made in the opening intro. The many "clues" which guide the characters through a laberynthine maze of intrigue become tedious and never ending, and ultimately one gets the "answers" long after they have stopped caring about the "questions". Sometimes, the clues are just ridiculous: "Eros is an anagram for Rose," points out one character, suggesting a deliberate historical significance in the etymology of the word; except they come from two different languages separated by several centuries. In one chapter, there is a sample writing that the cryptologists cannot decipher. One comments that it looked Hebraic. It looked nothing like Hebrew- and I would expect a linguist to know this. This said, I found the plot ultimately pressing a point that was inconsistent, pushing a feminine goddess agenda while seemingly denying a male god:
Jesus was a mere mortal man, his divinity contrived by the political motives of Constantine; but Magdalene, his wife, was a goddess, worshipped and revered by a secret fertility based religion with sex-rituals, which seemed to be portrayed as normal (only abnormal to modern society because an oppressive, patriarchal based faith condemned free sexual expression). I never understood why Jesus was mortal, but Magdalene was divine. And I could not help but feel this point, pounded repeatedly, was ridulously represented in the main female character, who seemed to take everything, no matter how ridiculous, at face value, because the main male character said so.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced semi-suspense held together by mediocre writing
Review: For a simple two-day read, Dan Brown can't be beat: his writing is simple and carries the plot along at a good pace, uninterrupted by long tangents or paragraphs you must read over a few times to get the hang of. However, The Da Vinci Code only gets away with this because the writing is mediocre, entirely lacking in description. All of the characters, including the protagonists, are not only stock, but entirely static. Langdon, the run-of-the-mill handsome genius; Sophie, the run-of-the-mill gorgeous genius with, as always, long legs. There is, of course, a secret romance going on that has its silly climax somewhere around the last page. The characters are as flat, maybe even more flat, than those in Tom Clancy novels. The plot is very basic; it's about as linear as a sharp edge. There are no unpredictable twists in the story, as the first sentence describing any suspicious characters were drawn out of the Obviously Sinister Character Box. The plot and its characters are so trite that it's clear that the only reason they're there is as a method of dragging the reader through the superficial character development and car rides and into the only gem of the book: The Priori. Reading any of Brown's books and you will discover that the best parts are in the brain-candy conspiracies (Illuminati in Angels & Demons, NRO in Deception Point, and NSA in Digital Fortress) and developing technologies. All of these elements are researched and described simply and without too much effort for the reader. Nothing may be as intellectually thrilling as discovering the dark and hidden conspiracies that help shape the world. The Priori is no different, and the symbolism brought forth in Da Vinci's works is stunning. If anything, The Da Vinci Code is a quick read with good brain-candy that gets your mind thinking. In the interim, you'll find the characters are cardboard and unchanging, and the plot far too obvious.
Rating:
Summary: Little research and less plot
Review: This book, doubtless making its author a fortune, is an example of the credulity of even the editorial reviews when making judgments. I teach religious studies, and have no objection to reading creative reinterpretations or fictional accounts. But the so-called "historical" basis and "sweep of Western culture" are really erroneous or absent in this book. Nor did I find it thrilling, which could have made up for its single-minded Catholic conspiracy theory versus real people scenario. I found the characters wooden and the premise absurd.
Rating:
Summary: Biggest piece of schlock I've ever read
Review: I feel violated having read the Da Vinci Code.
It was not well written, had glaring historical inaccuracies, and predictable plot twists.
The biggest question I have is why did an author attempting to bring attention to the goddess cult make the only female character incredibly stupid? She is blindly influenced by the male characters in an extremely pathetic manner.
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest page-turner ever!
Review: I'm not always after reading "high literature" but enjoy being entertained now and then, and, boy, this book truly delivers! You will NOT be able to put this book down after reading the first 2 pages -- and that, in my opinion, constitutes a spectacular success! It's the best page-turner I ever read. Other book I recommend: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez
Rating: 
Summary: Anti-Catholic, neo-feminist silliness
Review: The first few chapters of The Da Vinci Code drew me in to the story. It was fast paced but still full of details that make a great mystery. I love how Brown interweaves history in to the story. What could be better than a modern mystery that involves real historical figures like Da Vinci, Newton and Christ? Add a legendary mystery like the Holy Grail and I was totally hooked. And then it begins. Christianity is painted as *the* villain and not just a few weirdoes in the extreme Catholic cult, Opus Dei. Soon Brown's novel begins to sound like an Oliver Stone conspiracy script. "OK", I thought, "it's part of the novel intended to advance the plot." But as I continue to read, a new voice begins to intrude into the narrative, distracting me from the story like an annoying buzzing in my ear. It is not the voice of any character, not even the voice of the narrator. It's the author, on his soapbox, trying to sell me something. His anti-Christian rhetoric is no longer a vehicle to advance the story. Sadly, now it is the story that has become a vehicle for bashing Christianity. Brown ties to be subtle, hoping hide his mesage as Da Vinci's hid Mary Magdalene in his painting of "The Last Supper." But, in the end, the book becomes something less than a novel, and more like propaganda. Try a few Googles and you will find that this novel has fed the fires of Christian bashing. People are quoting it as a trustworthy source of factual information about Christian history. But it's just a novel right? The author can't be blamed if people take a work of fiction and believe it as fact-unless that was the author's intent. Both in the novel and in subsequent interviews Brown makes it clear that he is a true believer concerning this 2000 year Christian conspiracy. In an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio, Brown said only the characters and the plot involving them were fiction--everything else is historical fact. Well maybe he's stretching it a little? One small example is that there are 673 panes of glass in the Pyramid at the Louvre, not 666. Hmmm, I wonder what other "facts" are wrong? But hey, in a novel the author should be free to fudge historical facts to color the story--unless the author has a hidden agenda, or an axe to grind. Clearly, promoting the book as historically factual is disingenuous at best. Does Brown have an axe to grind? It's hard to conclude that from a single novel. But read his earlier book, "Angels and Demons" and it becomes clear that he has a distaste for Catholic Church. Perhaps he has good reasons for those feelings. If so, he is free to speak out against the church. But I would rather he did it openly rather than putting that message into his mystery novels. To quote Michael Medved (Washington Post), "Yeah, the Da Vinci code is nonsense. Read an analysis of its neo-feminist silliness in that bastion of reactionary Catholicism, the New York Times" (see NY Times Book Reviews, Sunday, August 24, 2003)
Rating:
Summary: The Code of belief, not conduct
Review: I was really surprised in reading the reviews not to see more complaints about the nature of this book and some of the assertions in it. The book itself is almost a text book of how to hold a reader's interest while the author delivers large amounts information about old and arcane subjects necessary for the story line to hold together that the reader did not realize until right then that they had an interest in finding out more about. Some of plot points are a bit contrived, but by then you really don't mind because you just want to find out where this very interesting mind is leading you. While not a Catholic, I did find that the book bashed more often and more heavily than I thought was necessary a noble and important faith. On the other hand in the last 2000 or so years some people have done some literally unforgivable things on behalf of faith and the Church. So a balance of truth is the question and there the author gets the benefit of the doubt in order to tell his story, and what a story it is. I will not give it away, but to include the movie Eyes Wide Shut and Leonardo da Vinci in a story that begins with the story of Christ and ends in present day Paris is quite an achievement. The author does tie it all together. He faithfully, if at times obviously follows the rule that, if there is a gun on the table in the first act it most certainly goes off in the third, and again behind the curtain as it drops. Great stuff this.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I loved this book! Don't read it if you are looking for a textbook, but only as a light read that also deals with the real role of christianity. Despite small plot flaws, this thriller is fun and a great introduction to the grail story.
Rating:
Summary: Jesus was married!?
Review: The book starts out GREAT! Then gets weird for people who are looking for a Christian thriller. Well writen, but the ending is just not up to the hype.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story
Review: I really liked this book, but there have been enough positive reviews that I will not be able to contribute anything that hasn't already been said, so I will comment on where I think this book needed a little more work. I wasn't as engulfed from the start as many reader's have stated. I thought the first 100 or so pages were very slow at best. The book starts off with Sauniere being murdered and with little time left, leaves many symbolic messages in the museum that need to be decoded due to the high security needed for the keystone, you would think the same security or even a little more would be needed for the golden KEY to this stone, nope, just WRITE the address on the key is good enough. My only guess is that he got tired of coming up with codes and puzzles protecting this key all his life, he wanted a few minutes of peace as he lay dying. Our buddy Dan Brown seemed to be reaching in some parts of the book. I mean come on, I can buy the whole Jesus was married, the Catholic religion is based on other religions, and the Vatican will spare no expense to keep the truth hidden, but to claim Walt Disney is a pagan worshipper because he made cartoons like Snow White and Cinderilla is just a little tough to believe. And Sophie (the cryptogopher). Who is giving this girl a job?! I've seen tougher puzzles on a box of apple jacks that this girl couldn't crack. Seemed like she was only any help by giving input relating to childhood games she would play with her grandpa. Surely the French have higher standards than that when seeking new law officers. The villian, Teabing, isn't the smartest bad guy in the bunch either. As our 3 heros are on their quest to find and unearth holy grail (exactly what the villian wants) he starts shooting up the place and gets arrested, I mean, why not wait until you've found the grail or at least the map before making a big scene. But seriously, I liked the book. Great read, it picks up, you just have to play along. The Da Vinci messages were by far the best parts of the book!
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