Rating: 
Summary: groan
Review: This book is awful, simply awful. I glanced back at some of the other customer reviews, and I am incredulous that some readers think this is a good thriller. The characters are ridiculous and without any resemblance to real people. The plot is ludicrous from beginning to end, in too many ways to even list. Suspense? How can you care after the first hundred pages of this never-ending chase? Some reviewers complain about the concocted history that underpins the plot, while others try to justify it as "hey, it's fiction, whatever he wants to put in is okay." Sorry, but The Da Vinci Code doesn't even make it as a competent story.As for the book's research, it's too pathetic to be an "indictment" of Christianity. More like an indictment of the author. The book this most reminds me of is "Chariots of the Gods" -- the same kind of loony fabrications.
Rating: 
Summary: People, Please!
Review: I believe those of you below who have written such vitriolic words of comdemnation for this book have forgotten one very, very important fact (yes, fact): this book is a novel, thus a work of fiction. That means it is a made up story written for both the writer's and the reader's enjoyment. It is a book to be read for enjoyment and escapism, not for historical, factual enlightenment. While there are elements of truth and historical fact, such as the Priory of Sion, Opus Dei, the Knights Templar, all of which happen to be real - that is true of any novel: they all have elements of truth used to build a story. Forest for the trees, people! Just in case any of you are wondering, I myself am a very strong Christian who also happens to be Catholic. Having said that, I enjoyed this book tremendously - it's a really good work of fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: So Mary Magdelan should be revered?????
Review: I found the book entertaining to a point. However, "the historical accuracy" is severly in question. This is a different mystery novel. In order to enjoy this book, you must let reason fall by the wayside. If you can't do that, this book would fail miserably. The storyline, while interesting is not realistic. The anti-heros, namely the Catholic Church, are portrayed in the worst possible light. The author has worked a very dry subject into an interesting storyline.
Rating:
Summary: Okay thriller, okay premise, GREAT rattler of cages
Review: The puzzle: easy. The writing: not too bad. The premise: old news. However, if you've never encountered the actual history of the Catholic Church or noticed the extreme anti-woman ideology of Christianity, this book might lead you to further questioning and research of your own. Independent thought is frightening and difficult (witness the wailing and gnashing of teeth in many of the "reviews" so far); if this mediocre book encourages even one person to Google something new, then more power to it.
Rating:
Summary: I would rate it lower if I could
Review: This book fails on so many different levels. Firstly, the author's specious scholarship and poor exegesis(because he claims that all "history" presented in the book is true), secondly as literature, and thirdly...well, I'll get to that. This book caters to women's reading groups. It is meant to reinforce femminism. It fails in this respect also. The lead female character, Sofia, is a dumb twit with no common sense, who spends most of the novel being tiresomely lectured by her male cohorts. Also, one of them purports to being a professor of "symbology". There is no such field of study. What the author refers to is properly called "semiotics". If he makes such ridiculous errors in such basic areas, how can the rest of his scholarship be trusted? Also, Mr. Brown has based the majority of his "research" on a book called 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' by Elaine Pagels. This book is a severe case of revisionist history with a sinister agenda. It is based, mostly on Gnostic gospels, many of which were not written until at least a hundred years after Jesus' death and for some reason are given more credibility by Ms. Pagels than the four canonical Gospels, of which the earliest was written about 30 years after Jesus' death and the latest about 90 years. Does this make any sense at all? In addition I agree with the reader from Evergreen, CO about the mistaken theory of Mary Magdalen being in Leonardo's 'The Last Supper' painting. Also,this painting is not a fresco as Mr. Brown claims. That is precisely the reason that it continues to deteriorate. Another case of poor scholarship is Mr. Brown's presentation of the witch trials in medieval Europe. Firstly, only about 50,000 "witches" were killed. Secondly, not all of them were executed by burning. Thirdly, only half of them were killed by the Roman Catholic Church. The rest of them were killed by the local governments and protestants. The inquisition is also given a very skewed presentation. To top it all off, Mr. Brown's plot is ridiculous. None of the characters ever sleep (over the course of several days)and yet none of them are ever tired. They all think just as clearly as if they were getting 8 hours a night(except for Sofia, who has no common sense). Also, Sofia pulls a painting off the wall in the Louvre and threatens to run her knee through it. This painting is actually 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. She must have taken alot of steriods the previous day. There are many other errors of this nature. In conclusion, this book is nothing but poorly written, poorly researched, anti-Catholic (or even more broadly anti-Christian)garbage. It says something about people today that this book is a best-seller. It shows that anything presented in an attractive format with a good dose of scandal purpoting to be truth can sell and even change lives(for the worse)because we're all too lazy to do a little background reading and are all too willing to take scandal at face value. Why? Because we're bored. If you want to know the truth, read 'Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way'
by Philip Jenkins. God help us.
Rating:
Summary: A page-turning indictment of Christianity
Review: The Da Vinci Code is a polemic against Christianity in general and Roman Catholicism in particular. That said, and except for an annoying tendency to flip-flop between the odysseys of the Langdon/Neveu/Teabing characters on the one hand and the Bishop/Silas characters on the other, the pace of the action--the twists and turns-- leaves the reader breathless. Taken purely as a suspense novel, it's as good as it gets, and if Brown's subject matter had involved,say, a plot to defraud the Depository Bank of Zurich (an institution which plays a role in the plot)i.e. a variation of the traditional crime novel, this work would have rated five stars. What a pity, then, that he chose instead to tilt at Christian windmills; in so doing, he simply subsitutes what he considers one myth (the divinity of Jesus Christ)for another (the "eternal feminine"--whatever that means, the Cult of Mary Magdalen,etc). Although it must be said in fairness that Brown does make reference to this very human cul-de-sac, his focus upon what he considers a male-dominated, testosterone-driven institution obsessed with retaining its power amounts to beating a dead horse. The "power" of The Church is yet another myth. Surely Brown should know that Christianity has been in headlong retreat at least since The Reformation (though some trace it even earlier, to William of Occam and the nominalist controversy).As to the accuracy and historicity of the facts marshalled in support of his worldview, I have my own ideas but will pass in silence except say that Brown knows nothing of the science of astronomy. At the end of the novel, he writes "...but to the east, a single point of light glowed brighter than any other....It was Venus". On second thought,one need not be an astonomer to know that Venus first appears in the WEST!
Rating:
Summary: this book is a direct attack on the cathollic church
Review: This so called mystery is a thinnly disguised attack on the catholic church.By someone who is ignorant about history and the catholic church. I pray he sees the evil he has unleashed for he will pay for his umbelivable lies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate, plastic characters, & pregnant with intolerance
Review: This book is slander, Calumny and Detraction all rolled up in one. Someone wrote a review saying this book is "only fiction." I want to ask them, If I wrote a fictional novel in which they were portrayed as a notorious bank robber, murderer, and sex offender would they still say "It's only Fiction?"
Rating:
Summary: Historically and Theologically inaccurate
Review: I am an MA Theology & Philosophy Graduate well-acquainted with art and ecclesiastical history, literature and theology. The plot is foolish, it is weak and contrived, and the characters are cartoons. The person who said this topic was well researched has studied history about as poorly as the Author. 'research' done in preparation for writing this book could've been better accomplished though Classics Comics. Theological inconsistencies abound, such as a root question: why might such a preposterous ruse ever have been initiated in the first place? I noted that Brown refers to Leonardo as 'DaVinci,' a nomenclature never used by art historians, who refer to him as 'Leonardo.' The representation of Opus Dei was patently fabricated ab ovo, bearing no relation to the real entity; this is the case whether one loves or loathes the prelature in question. As is also the case with his other work, Brown is at it again making a fast dollar from a gullible and uncultivated public. The reason this book is popular is because a media and industry hostile to Catholicism like to distort, enlarge, and lie about the faith, and this book is one after their own hearts.
Rating:
Summary: I'm simply amazed
Review: Clearly everyone and his dog has had his or her nose buried in this book for quite some time, but I didn't get to it until it was loaned to me by someone whose opinions I respect, then recommended by another friend in the same category. Oh my goodness. I'll acknowledge that I only read three chapters. The writing was so bad I just couldn't get any further. Combine that with the assertion, in the third (and my last) chapter that a spring evening in Paris was "winding down" prior to 1 AM (as evidenced by the main, purportedly, character's observation that he had been asleep 20 minutes prior, which time was given as 12:32). A small detail, yes, but evidence that this author has so little respect for his audience that I would not invest any more of my time when there are actually well-written, non-pandering books out there to read.
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