Rating: 
Summary: Very good book
Review: The Davinci Code is a VERY good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Halfway through and can't put it down...
Review: ...except to write a review.My own personal opinion of this book is that it's a hell of a read. It's cheap suspense at it's best - short chapters with cliff-hangers at the end, different people's stories intertwining, and plenty of promises to get a story out but the story doesn't come fast enough. And I LOVE a good suspense novel, as cheap as it may be. Brown also tingles my senses by adding quite a bit of information about the history of Italian art and Christianity in general. The 'facts' (as Dan Brown claims) are presented in a way to convince the reader of a conspiracy within the Catholic Church. I find art history generally a bore, but conspiracy theories and theology are great fun to me, so I got trapped into learning about Leonardo. However, there are two things about this book that I disagree with:
1) The way the facts are presented. They're definitely shown in a way to present a particular argument that supports a negative recount of the Catholic Church's handling of Christ's story of existence. I see very little evidence within the story to disprove these facts, if that's what they are. I'm not a Christian (in fact, I abhor religion, monotheistic or polytheistic), but as a person who's fascinated by theology in general, I was disappointed to find only one side of the story here. In fact, I'll bet that's why so many Christian readers are taking his writing a bit too personally. In addition, some of the stuff he's presented as fact, not necessarily the stuff about theology, is pretty unrealistic.
2) The characters were VERY unrealistic. This guy knows nothing about character development or portrayal, or doesn't choose to. That's a big disappointment. Overall, I'd say this bookd is entertaining in a "James Bond" sort of way, in that it's fun to read if you're willing to overlook the parts of it that are ridiculous.
Rating: 
Summary: its about marketing-stupid
Review: Someone suggested that you sit down with a glass of wine when you read this book. I would suggest a bottle of vodka or better yet get a hold of the hallucinagenic drugs that Brown must have been on when he wrote this junk. I take it back, if he had been on mind expanding drugs, he might have written something creative instead of this low level pulp. Indeed, he would have had to have been completely sober to put together such a contrived story (screenplay) so obviously aimed at the masses. For his success at so cleverly exploiting the current anti-religious public sentiment he deserves the accolade of "genius" so liberally handed out these days to the likes of Madonna, Britany Spears, Justin Timberlake, 50 cent and every other wunderkind of marketing. If you don't demand too much in the way of literary talent in your choice of reading, are ignorant of history and or have a huge capacity to suspend disbelief you may enjoy this novel. If not then give it a pass.
Rating:
Summary: What a page turner
Review: Dan Brown has written of the the best books I have ever read. This was indeed a real page turner. Whether you agree or disagree with the facts presented the book was a sheer pleasure to read. I simply could not put it down. Well done!! I anxoiously await my opportunity to read another Dan Brown Novel.
Rating:
Summary: An absolutely must read!
Review: Almost everyone I knew was reading this book so I thought I would see what all the fuss was about. I AM GLAD I DID. I was so enthralled by this book that I could not put it down, and when I had to, I could not wait to get back to it. It is an intellectual and imaginative roller coaster ride. This book fascinated me so much that I would go on-line to further explore some of the ideas presented. This book exposed me to theories I had not known about art history, the Holy Grail, mathematics and more. I admit, ordinarily topics like art history and mathematics put me to sleep but NOT THIS BOOK. This is the kind of book that intrigues you, gets you thinking, makes you re-examine what you've taken for the truth, teaches you new theories and does it all in the context of an extraordinary murder mystery. Whether you believe all of the theories presented in this book or only some of them is up to you. I took comfort in that fact that the pendulum IS swinging. As a human race we are starting to sense the dangers of our history and of our destructive paths. We are beginning to sense the need to restore the sacred feminine.
Rating: 
Summary: "EVERYBODY" was reading it, so I felt I had to.
Review: Like so many novels the "DaVinci Code" starts off strong and engaging and 2/3 of the way through becomes tiresome and a chore to finish. Being a Catholic Clergyperson, many people told me "You HAVE to read this" because it exposes so much of the corruption of the Catholic Church. I do agree that there is lots of corruption in the history of any institution, the Church included. However I have reminded the folks who told me I have to read this that it is a NOVEL!!! And not a very good one. I did finally finish it only because I had invested so much time in reading the first 2/3 of it. Honestly, I thought I would never get to the end!
I do have to admit that I found Dan Brown's presentation of ancient symbolism to be enjoyable and saw how lots of it probably is true. But the whole premise of the book seems to be that the Church has supressed the fact that Jesus was married to Mary Magdeline and in order to maintain control over the masses, the Vatican and Opus Dei (a conservative faction in the Catholic Church)have to keep this secret. And if the secret gets out to the masses then they will be much more free and the leaders of the Church fear this. I do agree that the leaders of the church don't want people to feel free, but I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not Jesus was married to Mary Magdaline!
Again, it's a NOVEL. And not a very good one.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Time Best Seller FOR A REASON! IT'S GREAT!
Review: I had to laugh at the few low ratings by raving zealots. If you are a person, that has always asked "too many questions," this book is for you! Whether you are a Philosopher, Theologian, or Agnostic, this book is a welcome addition to your fiction collection. This book makes you think, so Fun-dam-entalists should probably skip this one. Right or Wrong, this book will get your wheels turning...which is all that really matters, right? As a voracious reader, I have read the best. It's is a heart-stopping thriller that keeps you turning pages until you arrive exhausted at the end. You're truly "in on the chase." Improbable as it seems, Dan Brown has combined nuclear physics and antimatter with Renaissance art, old Rome and the Vatican. You conjure up the images in your mind, but the icing on the cake is Brown's Web site, which shows you the CERN facilities, the plane and then the exquisite artwork of Bernini and others as well as a peek inside the Vatican. It's a book that teaches, makes you think, and entertains, all at the same time. Few authors can accomplish that. If you are open minded and looking for those books begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. Read 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail,' and ANYTHING by Ken Follett! I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program 'insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. Another fun book is Brad Steiger's 'Werewolf.' I also really liked Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons.' Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban. For those who say this book goes against their beliefs and their dogma, consider this: The tip of the iceberg: Numerous authorities who had noted the errors in the K.J.V. such as William Kilburne (1650's) 20,000 errors, John Wesley (in 1755) 12,000 changes in the New Testament alone, the Revised Version of 1881 consisted of 36,000 errors and on and on. The NIV, RSV and The Living Bible are also replete with thousands of errors. Do some research!
Buy this book, you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: really bad cliche driven tripe
Review: A nice story idea, but so so badly executed. He tries to create a sense of high drama by resorting to hyperbole. His characters swing from sullen, to grinning, to suspicious to astounded over basically nothing, all within the same two sentences. Over and over again. This is a new low. The worst book I've ever read. He makes Anne Rice look talented.
Rating:
Summary: I don't like this book
Review: It's Chris**ly boring. The historical detail is fascinating to a point. This is hardly a thriller though, the character development is thin and so is the plot. Lousy foreshadowing, highly improbable and utterly predictable. I'm more than half done, but I don't feel obligated to finish. I'm glad I borrowed this and didn't buy. (I've found a much better book Taking Lives by Michael Pye.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: Lots of information which is supposed to be fact set around a preposterous story line make this book hard to swallow. Sorry only 2 stars.
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