The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: First of all, this has been one of the best books I have read. The flow of the story and the suspense are two great reasons for picking up this book. But the fact that this book has been well researched and is able to mix real life with fiction made me like it even more. This is a great gift. Anyone who picks up this book won't want to stop reading until it's over with.

Rating:
Summary: Umberto Eco Meets Indiana Jones-Terrific
Review: This book is everything its fans say it is. The story is fast moving, intelligent, fascinating, and the mystery is wonderful. Absolutely perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Indiana Jones Lite
Review: I really don't understand what all the fuss is about. The Da Vinci Code is nothing special; it's a religious mystery that feels a little too familiar at times. This is one case where the book doesn't live up to all the hype surrounding it.

And maybe that's why I was so disappointed by it. We've seen this before, and better. How many time have we followed historians or archeologists who are seeking the Holy Grail? This time around, we're following historian and art expert Langdon and Sophie, a young French police officer who's grandfather has just been assassinated. Before dying, the old man wrote a strange message in his own blood. Once decrypted, the message will put Landon and Sophie on a road they do not necessarily want to be on.

And that's pretty much all there is to it. I love mysteries that make you work for your money. This one didn't. When the characters are faced with a problem, the answer will usually come to them as if falling right from the sky. They never work really hard to achieve their goals. Everything is pure coincidence. The book - and author - believe themselves to be much more clever than they actually are.

Their search leads them across France and England, as our two heroes try to find what they seek all the while trying to dodge the police (and their many enemies). I have to admit that the pacing of the books was pretty quick. Written in short chapters, this was one quick read. But maybe a little too quick. I wanted more out of this story. I wanted more complicated characters, situations that were not so easily solved, and a plot that didn't feel so deja vu.

In the end, The Da Vinci Code is nothing special, more the product of a great publicity campain than a real innovative thriller. This book almost reads as if it was written with one sole purpose in mind; to become a Hollywood movie. As it now stands, The Da Vinci Code is just another religious conspiracy thriller that is all talk and no action.

Rating:
Summary: I got good news, and I got bad news.
Review: The good news: excellent research, interesting premise, intruiging settings, thought -provoking trvia. The bad news: predictable plot, mundane dialouge, tepid characters, one- page "chapters", and an unrealistic timeline. It's difficult to identifiy with the protagonist, who is suddently expected to display an ability towards committment, when no prior examples are shown. Even the antagonists, appear to have come from nowhere. Who are these people ? Other characters appear, make gestures that suggest an actual interest in events, and then walk away or disappear as if recovering from a fugue state. Even foils have to be developed. I was under the impression that references would be made to several of Da Vinci's works, but this was not so.

Overall, it is apparent that there are some aspects of history that demand to remain in the past. To transplant them into the present day renders them awkward in a way that is worsened by forced attempts to surround it with a contrived plot. After all is said and done, the reader is still asking "so what?" I better stop here: the more I write, the more stars I end up taking away.

Rating:
Summary: Ho Hum
Review: I had expected a better written book after reading the glowing reviews. The story is fast-paced and exciting at first, but it soon got predictable. Nonetheless, I give credit to the author, for his imaginative ideas. But! do not doubt that this is a poorly written book. It could/should have been better.

Rating:
Summary: Well researched & interesting concept
Review: Mr. Brown has done an excellent job of taking lots of facts and theories and weaving them together into an interesting story. Although it's billed as a mystery, it's really more of a theoretical theology tale. Mr. Brown certainly did a lot of research for this book. A lot of the premises that he sets forth, I checked up on and found them to be real.

For example, yes, there really is an Opus Dei. Yes, there is a web site....Read his description of Da Vinci's last supper with a good copy of it at hand to follow along. It's astounding how the symbolism he describes is there.

I'm sure that Mr. Brown has done nothing to endear himself with some in the Catholic community, since he does paint the church in somewhat the light of the 'bad guy', but none the less, he has put forward a very interesting theory. I'm sure that if I were a student of comparative religions, of the Knights Templar or of symbology many of the theories that Mr. Brown has put forward are in the learned literature, but Mr. Brown has put them into an enjoyable read for us common folks.

I must however subtract one star from the book for the same criticisms that many of the other reviewers have stated. The only character that is given any real motivation seems to be Silas. All the other characters seem to be there for the delivery of dialogue to explain the theory that Mr. Brown is developing.

Rating:
Summary: Just Not Very Good
Review: All hype, very little to offer. Just skip it. Believe me, you'll forget it in a day if you spend the time to read it. Too bad it is such a big bestseller....lowers the bar, in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and pick up a book by Anne Tyler or Alice Hoffman. Musch more rewarding then this trite book.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Book! A thriller, mystery and historical book +
Review: I admit I was skeptical about reading a mystery thriller when first introduced to this book. However, the book was much more than just a who done it type of fiction. The book's plot was intermingled with historical details that made the book far more than your typical mystery novel. The book really made an impression on me as far as theology goes. I could not put this book down--it's plot takes so many exciting and unexpected twists. Even if you don't normally read mystery/thriller books, this is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone looking for a great story that gives you some things to think about history and religon-wise.

Rating:
Summary: It [stinks]
Review: I swore to never read anything off the best seller list again, so I got what I deserved. It started off with some interesting premises, meant to make the reader think he/she must be rather clever to understand the seemingly arcane knowlege possessed by the characters. By about page two hundred I realized that this book had gone nowhere, that the "hidden knowlege" was a bunch of pseudointellectual bull, and that the reason I kept falling asleep every time I picked it up was because it was deadly boring. I kept trying to continue but it was impossible. Phooey. Stick with independent publishers. What a bunch of tripe.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Read
Review: This is the best thriller I've read in years. Dan Brown presented a fascinating idea in a quick paced plot. I can't wait to read the earlier books on this subject.