The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: Stupid, Absurb, Ridiculous and Overrated
Review: I thought that this was one of the most stupid books I ever read. The plot stunk. The history so faulty it was laughable. The characters were boring, underdeveloped and tedious. The riddles were the most ridiculous and predictable. The conclusion....ho-hum.

Don't waste your time

Rating:
Summary: A novel with precise detail for reality
Review: Dan Brown is a great author. He has captivated me and will continue to do so. Reviews are trashing on the book stating that Mr. Brown is making things up and tearing up the Catholic belief, or Christians for that matter. It's a shame people are so close-minded to see the truth. Perhaps someday you will realize that Dan Brown was only trying to pry open that part of your brains to try to get you to remember the truth.

With that said, The da Vinci Code is a piece of art in it's self. It has opened new horizons for me. I have finished each of his books within 5 days total and I am anxiously waiting the next.

Read the book. No one is making you believe what you don't want to. The book is an awesome find, sure to keep your interest. If you fail to leave without the knowledge that was intended, oh well, at least you will leave it saying it was GOOOOOOOOD.

Rating:
Summary: Bad Writing Contest
Review: I just read this book. I can say that it has really given me great pleasure...laughing out loud at the incredibly bad writing! What a bunch of overblown melodrama. Some of the dialogue is so bad, I couldn't decide if it was more like an episode of THE HIGHLANDER television show or some of Dr. Evil's lines in an AUSTIN POWERS movie. Someone should start a Dan Brown/Da Vinci Code bad writing contest. As for the story itself, it is definitely a poor imitation of an Umberto Eco novel. Brown has about half the erudition of Eco, and a quarter of the writing skill.

Rating:
Summary: illogical, inconsistent and inaccurate
Review: With the promise of a thriller complete with secret societies and cold-blooded murders, and a subject matter of no less than Christianity and the Church, the book is intriguing. Indeed it is rich in "historical" tid bits and art symbolism, all suggesting a different way of looking at Christianity and the Divine. I am not an expert in art or symbolism, and I read Brown's presuppositions with interest (albeit not without serious questions on some). Likewise the puzzles (cryptex) are fascinating. His religious assertions, however, are off the wall. I agree that throughout the history of the Church, the feminine aspect of the Divine has been suppressed. But Brown's suggestion that this is embodied in Mary Magdalene (if such a person in fact ever existed), perpetuated by a cult that has to be kept in secrecy for ages is not logical. There are other points: such as his theory about the bloodline of Jesus (why France?), Mary instead of John at the Last Supper, Mary Magdalene as the Holy Grail, even the symbolism in Disney's Lion King (a real long stretch) -- all thrown together to make a good story.

And yet the story sinks. The plot is convoluted, and full of illogical inconsistencies. Right from the start with the murder of the curator of the Louvre: he and the other keepers of the secret were killed after they supposedly told the murderer the secret. But knowing that these are the highest members of a secret society sworn to keep the secret to death, how could the murderer be so naive as not to suspect that what they told him might not be the truth? (so that killing them would completely close the possibility of finding the true secret). If the curator was able to arrange a very complex sign before he died to pass on the secret to his granddaughter, why didn't he add the name of the murderer for the police (who were not interested in solving the secret)? The two investigations were separate. But of course if he did, the police would have no reasons to chase the two scientists. The chase started in the middle of the night and involved interrogations, solving complex puzzles, escaping the police, driving all around Paris, two long stops, being driven to the countryside and then to Versailles, a very long discussion on the holy grail, a murder attempt, and yet by the time the police closed in it was still dark? And so on and so forth; illogical actions (like having barely escaped the murder attempt, why bring the murderer along to England?) just to support a twist in the story.

One can certainly read the book as entertainment and enjoy the ride. But it is a bumpy ride if one reads it with a critical mind. Historical "facts"? Art history? Brown is yet to convince me.

Rating:
Summary: Page turner badly spoiled by lack of credibility, ideology
Review: In the last third of this book, I started skipping paragraphs, then whole pages. Some of the storytelling devices are so overused that they become boring. But I have to admit that this book is indeed a page turner, and that it is difficult giving it up without knowing what happens next.
I just hope that not too many people take it seriously. Most of the facts that you would have expected to be researched are so flawed that the lack of credibility becomes a problem. I love Indiana Jones movies for example, and these movies obviously have all their science (archeology and history) wrong. But for some reason the liberties taken with the facts there do not bother me as much as they do in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Echoing Eco Da Vinci falls in pseudo-intellectualism
Review: It is a sad thing to realize that people read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and believe to be reading intellectual material. And the fact that this novel tops the bestseller list for over a year only proves that the average reader limits his/her choice to book with dubious quality. This is the same kind of readers that call Brown's moneymaker novel of high intellectual stuff.

To begin with "The Da Vinci Code" is far to reach any level of being called an intellectual book. Plain and simple, this book is a very mediocre thriller written with no style whatsoever. As so it works for about 300 pages when its story becomes tedious and predictable. Moreover, nobody expects a writer who deals with such material to be a James Joyce or a Faulkner, but, nevertheless, there is no need of writing for dummies, like Brown insists on doing. Thoughts come in italic, and to make sure that his reader has understood it is a thought indeed, the writer pens after such sentence 'thought Robert' -- or whoever used his/her brain. To make matters worse, the vast majority of these thoughts aren't necessary. If Brown trusted enough in his reader's intelligence he would leave room for imagination and wouldn't state every single thought every character had.

The characters are so archetypical --and far from being human -- that they laughable. Not a single soul lives in this book. Moreover, the supposed 'mind games' are silly and for dummies. It is impossible to believe that someone could find pleasure in seeing Robert breaking a code. Da Vinci deserved more respect and not his (Da Vinci's) name and works in a material with such a low quality. By the way, using Da Vinci's name in the title and Mona Lisa's eyes in the cover of the book was a very smart move. The Renascence Genius has little to do with this book, but his masterpiece has even less. The famous painting is mentioned for about 3 or 4 pages in the beginning of the book and then forgotten. So, be aware, those who expect something on Mona Lisa's smile.

It is clear that Brown attempted to copycat Umberto Eco, and his most notorious fiction: "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum". But he failed. Oh, boy this is good to tell how much he failed. While Eco is a genius with novels as deep and smart as extremely well written, Brown writes pseudo-intellectualism for the masses that have never read a really deep and labored book. But with "Da Vinci" the writer is reaching a part of the population who has never read something brainy. Mind you that his book is not intellectual stuff, but some people may find it so, due to their lack of background.

There are people with hot arguments on the theological implications on 'The Da Vinci Code'. Personally speaking, I believe that with his fantasies Brown may have managed to get closer to the truth than we have ever expected. But his prose is so plain, so silly that it is impossible to take his side. Nevertheless, I wouldn't take the other side either.

Readers who look for intellectual and well-written material should stick to the original one, i.e. Umberto Eco. Brown is for the masses indeed, for those who read a book for mere fun and not for the ideas. Writing --and reading-- this kind of prose is not a crime, but it is so to try to sell it disguised in insightful material.

Rating:
Summary: This book serves a Great purpose
Review: After reading this book, I think I can offer an opinion of the book itself with tainting it with religious dogma. This is a great book. The fact that it's at the top of the best seller lists restores my faith in the American reader.

This book will without a doubt eventually be turned into an incredible film. I can see a film very similar in pacing and character to Grisham's THE FIRM.
As to the religious zealots that cannot even address the topics this book without injecting their dogma, I am reminded of how blind they are to the original meaning of the word faith. People with such strong religious beliefs should invite discussion and opposing views. One thing this book has certainly done is INCREASE the discussions of God and religion -- and that should be seen as positive by peoples of all faiths.
To react with anger and fright to this book shows a probable pre-existing crisis in faith in these reviewers and I can only hope that Dan Brown will follow this with an even bolder novel to shake these people thoroughly into fits of self-righteous delirium.

Rating:
Summary: to be confused or not to be
Review: i am a catholic and am currently reading this book. lots of criticisms has been said regarding the church and even the media is bragging about every controversies here. you see, i love books and i appreciate every kind of it. for me, this book is only fictional. though the author stated some true researches which many said are false ones, i believe him enough to love all his books. i am not against this book even if i am a catholic. i believe if the truth is really for real, then we just have to accept it. happy reading!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good premise, bad execution
Review: This is a book I have very mixed feelings about. While I am very glad that the facts of Christian history are finally reaching the general public, & that the indispensable "Holy Blood Holy Grail" is back on the best seller lists thanks to "The DaVinci Code", I regret that the novel itself is not a better one.

Putting the underlying premises aside, & simply reading "the DaVinci Code" as one would any other thriller, the reader is left with one impression: Dan Brown is not a particularly good writer. Without the (to many) sensationalistic aspects of this story, I doubt Dan Brown would ever have found many buyers of his books.

His primary fault as a writer is that his characters (from protagonists Robert Langdon & Sophie Neuveu down) are cardboard. They never "live". Each is given one or two defining "quirks" such as Langdon's Mickey Mouse wristwatch, but a quirk does not a character make. The reader simply has no idea who these characters are. They react, they make speeches to each other, but they never come alive as individuals in the reader's mind. In a thriller, this would normally be a fatal flaw, since, to be thrilled, one has to care about the characters as if they are real people. Dan Brown never achieves this in "the DaVinci Code".

If you have already read "Holy Blood Holy Grail", you won't find anything particularly new or interesting about "The DaVinci Code". If you haven't, by all means read / buy this book (AND "Holy Blood Holy Grail"). It is a good introduction to some 2000-year-old secrets. Just don't expect good narrative fiction, because Dan Brown has not delivered that.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre literature
Review: I've finally read this so much talked about book. And what a dissapointment. Don't be misguided by the catholic close-minded, but don't be fooled too by the supposed intricacy of the code: half of the quests in the book are childish to make me cry over a stupid, blockbuster-born couple of protagonists, while the other half weren't quests at all, but guessworks for the book actors.

So don't expect much excitement by that side. Literary qualities, ITOH, are completely missing: this book will not be remembered five years from now, unless I've already lost track with current readers, but that would imply a much greater level of ignorance amongst the common people, and I don't believe it.

This is, in short, another cliche movie script slightly baked up to make a book. Handsome couple, hinted romance, action scenes... chapters are short to the ridiculous, the seem more cutscenes than real chapters... is current average attention time-span that of a snail?

And last but not least, this book is PC to tears. The complainers are these kind of people who can't stand a single critique to his "faith", be them in one side or the other.