The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: watered down apostasy
Review: While this book is obviously entertaining the masses (every other person at the airport seemed to be carrying one) and it is an entertaining and fairly well-written (for the most part) story, I'd sum up my first perception like this: Imagine John Grisham holed up in a far away cabin sinking his intellectual teeth into not only such works as "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "The Templar Revelation" but more blatantly all of the works of Umberto Eco.

The Grisham-like writer then exits the cabin, returns to civilization and "vouchsafes" his "spell-binding," "highly original" story to the unsuspecting masses.

Personally, I see no problem with him twisting around church doctrine and placing women into their rightful (and originally pagan before the Christians 'patriarchialized' everything) place of hegemony. And I'm intrigued that a popular writer is delivering such goods to a mainstream audience.

It's just that The Name of The Rose and Foucault's Pendulum (both by Eco) did it so much better. Not to mention the non-fiction works of such writers as Pagels and Capra.

I'll give it a second read and see if I'm missing something - if so, I'll revise/update my review.

Rating:
Summary: Uncover the Secrets!
Review: Overall, avid readers of well crafted stories will be mesmerized and thrilled with "The Da Vinci Code".

(To qualify this statement, I refer to "well crafted stories" as meaning commonly accepted top library recommendations, critics' picks, and book club selections like "The Secret Life of Bees", "Mystic River", "My Fractured Life", and "The Way the Crow Flies.")

A mystery that exists on multiple levels, "The Da Vinci Code" masterfully traces the secret life of a distinguished man as revealed to his cryptographer daughter through clues only after his untimely demise.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Page Turner
Review: I thought this book was a great read. PROS-1) You can't help but read it. You will find yourself looking up any kind of info on Leonardo Da Vinci. 2) The way that Dan Brown beautifully describes all things Euro is amazing. 3) It will make you question, even if it's for a brief moment, Christianity. CONS-1) The absurdity of explaining things to an expert who is suppose to know about said saubject already. I realize that it's for our benefit but c'mon. 2) The guessing games both Robert & Leigh play, not only with eachother but with others, when time is not very bountiful. 3) The sexual tension between Robert & Sophie.

I won't spoil anything more. Overall, it was a great read. I couldn't stop reading it. Enjoy & good reading!!

Rating:
Summary: Whirl of Renaissance Art and Christian History
Review: There is nothing I can say about this book that is bad, except that i can't get it out of my head. Not only does it (attempt) an explanation of Mona Lisa's mysterious smile, but it describes Jesus's life and defines the Holy Grail.
If you love Indiana Jones, Leonardo da Vinci, and twists and turns on every page, there is no reason you shouldn't love this book.
However, i must say that you have to have a fairly open mind to enjoy this book. Since this does put the (alleged) flaws of one of the world's major religions in the spotlight, many people get instantly PO'd. If you start to read this and think "This is offensive to my faith," either 1)stop reading or 2)use your brain and rememeber this is a work of FICTION and not the be-all, end-all of your life. If you want to believe what Dan Brown says, good for you. If you want to burn him in effigy, um, relax and take a deep breath?
Those who SHOULD like this book: adventure novel readers, art historians, people who like books that create a bit of a stir, people who are interested in alternative history (I think that's the word for it)
Those who PROBABLY won't like this book: extrememly orthodox christians, people who have no experience with renaissance art, people who can't stand "super" hero/ines.
Follow your best judgement. Remember, a book cannot do anything to you or your faith if you don't let it.

Rating:
Summary: Jump off your normal path and onto an adventurous quest!
Review: Once you pick up this book you won't want to put it down! Dan Brown takes you off a simple path and onto a quest...one that involves the Holy Grail. During your journey you'll glimpse tidbits from history, religion, art, and more. It is a great read and you'll whip right through it.

The book opens with a murder in the Louvre Museum in France. The murdered curator is also linked to a secret society that goes back to the time of Christ. Complex clues take you into a closer look into famous artwork and figures throughout history. The curator's daughter is a cryptographer who deciphers the code and embarks on an adventure with a symbol specialist from the US. Exciting events, shadows of corruption, greed, and more thicken the mix. You'll learn interesting trivia and symbolism from many great works of art and figures from the past.

The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling mix of story telling and interesting research into the past. Find out what the hoopla is all about and make your own decision by reading this book--you won't regret it!

Rating:
Summary: JUST READ IT!
Review: IT'S A MARVELOUS BOOK THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT DOWN.
FACT? FICTON? A COMBINATION OF EACH? THEREIN LIES THE RUB AND ONE OF THE MAJESTIES OF THIS BOOK. THE FACT THAT IT HASN'T BEEN "BANNED IN BOSTON," CHASTISED BY THE CHURCH, BEEN BURNED IN EFFIGY (AT LEAST NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE)I FIND MORE THAN INTERESTING - NOT THAT I THINK ANY SUCH THINGS SHOULD TAKE PLACE. I FOUND IT AN EXTREMELY INTERESRTING BOOK ON A NUMBER ON LEVELS, NONE HAVING ANYTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION (OF WHICH I'M AN UNKNOWLEDGABLE SCHOLAR).
FIVE OR SIX STORIES ARE GOING ON AT ONCE, INNUMERABLE CHARACTERS (ALL FASCINATING & COMPLEX), SCHOLARLY INFO, MICKY SPILLANE MYSTERY PLOTS ALL OVER THE PLACE, SHORT CHAPTERS THAT CONSTANTLY SWITCH THEME, ETC. -- YET, THE ABILITY OF THE AUTHOR TO KEEP THE READER INVOLVED, EASILY ABLE TO STAY ON TRACK OF THE ENTIRE PLOT AND VOLUMINOUS FACTS, AND EAGERLY LOOK FOWARD TO WHAT FOLLOWS IS FANTASTIC. AND I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH HE HAD TO DO - OVERWHELMING.
ONLY ONE BRIEF CRITICISM. I THINK MR. BROWN COULD HAVE, AND SHOULD HAVE SHORTENED THE BOOK BY 50-100 PAGES.

Rating:
Summary: Disgrace as a novel
Review: Yes this book is a good read. In fact it is a page turner. However, the character development in this book isn't very good. Also,Mr.Dan Crown seems to be a little too preoccupied with "Divine Feminine" when writing this novel. The firstt half of the book was good, but then later it seems like If the author just wanted to prove his point, going to desperate measures. Even though this is a work of fiction, I believe that authors shouldn't abuse facts in their books. Many of my favorite authors, Clive Cussler, Ken Follett, don't use truthful facts in their books and they are still exciting. Even though I am not a Christian, I believe that slandering anothers religion in a novel is not a nice thing to do. Even, though there may be some truth in this book, read it for the suspense, but don't believe anything in the book.

Rating:
Summary: It may be fiction, BUT...
Review:
Of COURSE it's fiction, but the research behind the story is impeccable, and it makes the story very plausible. I did some research of my own. The organizations named indeed exist or existed as claimed: the Prieur du Sion dates back to 1099, and whose grand masters included such luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton--not exactly lightweights--and apparently one of the more modern leading figures was a priest named Berenger Sauniere, abbe at Rennes-le-Chateau (also the surname name of the murdered curator in the story), and was preceded by the Knights Templar (which was originally founded during the Crusades by Godfroi de Bouillon, who was named King of Jerusalem by the Pope, and was the leader of the first Crusade, AND who claimed to be a direct descendant of Jesus through Mary Magdalene; and the Opus Dei, which still exists at its headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York, exactly as stated by the author, and exactly as he described it.

The novel is obviously placed in the future, as the Pope is described as more liberal than the present pope, John II, and is his successor. The criticisms by present members of Opus Dei on their unofficial website qv:(Opus Dei: their unofficial homepage) quite apparently overlooked that fact in their criticism of The Ds Vinci Code. Actually, as the story unfolds, Opus Dei members involved fared quite well, and were certainly not maligned.

This is a crackerjack of a tale, and it is little wonder that it ranks third in sales on Amazon (out of their over two million titles).

To begin with, the curator of the Louvre, in Paris, is murdered and an American, Professor Langdon--an expert in religious symbology--becomes involved, as does the curator's granddaughter, who is a cryptographer. The two of them set out to solve, not only the crime, but the mystery of the Holy Grail. I prefer not to tell more of the plot.

There are many surprises and unexpected twists in the story, but underlying it all is a generous history lesson that tells much about the early history of the Christian faith, much of it relating to the Gnostic Gospels which were found in the Egyptian desert near Nag Hammadi in 1945; the Roman Emperor Constantine and his part in suppressing most of the eighty some Gospels in favor of the four which were "blessed" by his scholars at the Council of Nicaea, and where the idea of the divinity of Jesus, the immaculate conception and the resurrection were given coinage by his "scholars".

The Da Vinci Code certainly has an agenda: to give the legend of Mary Magdalene a wide audience, which it does in spades--and obviously, judging by its wide readership, it has achieved its purpose handsomely and quite plausibly.

Those who most strongly ctiticize The Da Vinci Code ovviously do not do so because of the writing, editing, or research. All of those functions are quite acceptable if not outstanding. So, their criticism is because the story undermines their own religious faith. An understandable reaction.

But, this book is an education in itself. I have done a great deal of research myself in this area, and I can tell you that I admire Dan Brown's effort immensely. He has done well to bring, even if it is in fictional form, so much information
in such an assimilable form to so many people, most of whom will not have heard it before.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre,

author of The Road to Damascu: Our Journey Through Eternity

Rating:
Summary: Bad history, bad theology, and unforgivably bad fiction
Review: I've seldom been so disappointed in a book on so many levels. It's very bad, misleading, and agenda-driven from a historical and theological standpoint. However, I'm often willing to overlook those things in support of a good story. This is a very weak story, with wooden prose, poorly-drawn characters, gaping holes in the plot, and terribly transparent plot devices. My husband and I finished the book, but were mostly driven by how bad it was and "could it get any worse." My eleven year old read the book, convinced that it was going to be great because so many of his middle-school/jr high peers loved it. The book did keep him enthralled over three days of Christmas break. At one point he asked me whether the Teabing character's polio was somehow symbolic or significant. I thought about it for a while and responded that I didn't think so; just another dumb plot device (along with the big dumb Albino and the red-headed female cryptologist). After he finished the story he commented that I was wrong: Sir Leigh is crippled in order to foreshadow the lame ending. I think he has a point.

Rating:
Summary: fun page-turner, but patently absurd FICTIONAL assertions
Review: I'll admit it - it's a fun suspense novel. But the author knows just enough to be dangerous, sounding plausible with the absurd claims he makes. May God help him if he leads just one person from their salvation with his irresponsible work of fiction. As a Christian with a degree in art history, it was easy to spot all the places that Brown gets it wrong on so many counts. An example: page 246 has an excerpt from the fictional Gospel of Phillip in which the disciples call Jesus "Saviour." Yet the core of Brown's assertion is that Jesus' divinity was decided in a council vote 300 years later for political gain by people who claimed to have proof it wasn't true, and that the disciples knew Jesus was "just a man" like them. If that's so, then why would they have called him Saviour? Another example of his inaccuracy is his description of Da Vinci's painting "Madonna of the Rocks" where he mistakenly reverses the identities of Jesus and John the Baptist as infants. Jesus is the one holding up two fingers, an internationally known symbol for teacher/rabbi, and it is John the Baptist who is kneeling in prayer to Christ, and the "talon-like claw" that Brown sees in Mary's hand is actually her blessing Jesus, as a clergyperson blesses communion elements. Caught you at your own game, Brown. Try to get it right next time. The book is filled to the brim with inconsistencies in Brown's self-created world. Enjoy this fiction, but read the real truth for yourself in the Bible.