Rating: 
Summary: Good Author, Bad Book
Review: After reading Dan Brown's "Deception Point", I now know Brown is a good author who missed the mark with the Davinci Code.I read somewhere where Brown's agent heard the plot and said "wow this is gonna be great" so they cranked up the promotion of this book. Unfortunately, I don't think the publisher read the book first. Da Vinci Code is about a symologist who gets brought into a murder case and ends up breaking codes after codes until he discovers the secret of the Holy Grail. Your view of Christianity will have a big impact on how you view this book. I happen to not believe Brown's premise, but the book could have been good if Brown had made it as good as some of his other novels. As Brown unveils each new answer to a code, it reads like an encyclopedia of art history and hidden symbols in famous paintings. While intriguing, Brown fails to make it interesting, especially for a novel. Brown would have written a better novel (in my opinion) if the characters had to overcome doubt about what they were discovering. But that wasn't the case. As each new "supposed truth" is discovered, the characters accept it as fact, in the same way that modern day Christians accept the facts about Jesus (and Brown criticizes this blidn faith). Brown has written good books, this just isn't one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Can you say overrated???
Review: OK, I know there was (and still is) a Da Vinci Code craze. Fact of the matter is, most of those people involved in the craze probably didn't read Brown's other book which is better by the way, Angels and Deamons. The Da Vinci Code is pretty much a rehashing of A&D, using similar characters, motives, and situations. Brown needlessly gives the readers a twist at the end, revealing that what you have read before was false, there is no conspiracy, just someone pulling strings to make it seem like there is one, in order to further their own agenda. I would love if Brown wrote like there were conspiracies like these happening, with two seperate entities battling it out instead of a villain taken from any generic mystery. And take away all the religous artifacts and undertones, and that's what the book is, generic. Only the subject matter makes it readable and interesting. Brown is lacking when it comes to believable dialogue, essentially borrowing parapgraphs from text books and throwing quotation marks around them for his characters to explain the plot devices. It hardly ever seems real or based in reality. I think in this case, if a movie is ever made, it will be better than the book. We can only wait.
Rating: 
Summary: Three recommendations
Review: Prior to reading the DA VINCI CODE, I have three strong recommendations. First, read Brown's DEMONS AND ANGELS. In DEMONS AND ANGELS, Brown introduces the main character -- Robert Langston, the Harvard professor. The reader will have clearer insight into Langston character develop. In fact, the DAVINCI CODE begins the day after DEMONS AND ANGELS ends. Second, find a copy of the Mona Lisa on the Internet. There is a URL that offers the contrast within the context of Brown's framework (da Vinci's smile/Mona Lisa's smile). My friends who have read the DA VINCI CODE and have seen the constrast have developed a renewed appreciation for da Vinci's artistry. Third, find a copy of the da Vinci's The Last Supper that enables you to enlarge it. You'll need to revisit it several times while reading this great novel. As a child, I have seen The Last Supper more times that I can count. However, while reading THE DAVINCI CODE, I developed fresh perspective and a deeper appreciation for this masterpiece. Like DEMONS AND ANGELS, THE DAVINCI CODE offers a series twists and turns that evolve into a series of difficult to predict outcomes. The common question for this type of novel becomes, "who did it?" The reader enters a struggle to uncover "who did it." prior to the writer revealing the details. I was totally taken off guard. Brown is able to effectively distract the readerby bringing in a series of highly plausible evil doers. In fact, reading DEMONS AND ANGELS first offers the basis for additional suspects. The most thrilling aspect of this book is Brown's style. Brown is a crafty writer who has the ability to take the reader to another place. I was so absorbed, I lost track of time and forgot where I was. Brown's vividness creates pictured in my mind -- making me forget that I am reading a book and creating the feeling that I am writing a great film.
Rating:
Summary: Death Doce Civin (ooh, an anagram!)
Review: At one point during the reading of The Da Vinci Code a distinct image comes to mind. Robert Langdon, Sophie Neveu and Sir Leigh Teabing are flying in a small plane over the English Channel, drooling deliriously over an object composed of five rotating pieces around something that gurgles inside, aka a "cryptex." But wait...Robert Langdon is actually (gasp) a woman...the long-flowing tresses and secretive, knowing smirk undeniable beneath the symbolic facade. And he (she) is looking not at the cryptex, but at Sophie, who is actually (gasp, gasp!) a giant, blooming rose! Hold on now, for between them sits Leigh (is that really a MAN's name?) Teabing (an ingenious anagram of 'Beating'!). The Briton is wearing an androgynous mask, half white, half black, so if he turns one way he appears black (man), and the other way white (woman).
Oh, the symbolism! The double entendres! The shocking yin and yang of it all!
The Da Vinci Code is "based" on one fact: there once was a man named Leonardo da Vinci, and he painted some paintings and he jotted down some nifty ideas. Beneath all of the hype, The Da Vinci Code is genuine fiction. If not recognized as such, a lot of bad information and misinformation gets propagated to the masses.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting premise but poorly plotted
Review: I read this book because it was in the listing for our book club. I thought it started well, but petered out pretty quickly. The characters are poorly drawn. Plotting is weak. Not much happens by way of story. Mr. Brown the teacher seems to have triumphed Mr. Brown the author. Reach Foucault's Pendulum instead.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I thought this book was wonderful. It is well written and very interesting. I recommend this book to my friends and family.
Rating:
Summary: Great first half, good historical conjectures, bad ending!
Review: I found the first half of this book really interesting and catchy; even the "historical" data is very interesting (I looked at the last supper, and indeed there is a woman sitting to the right of jesuschrist). Even with the new research on the historical persona of Christ (he never really existed but his life is a series of compilations from other religions), it is interesting to read how he was seen by freethinkers of other ages. However once the fact throwing stops and the characters start changing sides the plot turns into a "hollywoodlike thriller" and you almost want to put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: A Book To Talk About . . .
Review: Your friends are probably talking about the DaVinci Code, and you probably will have to read it in self defense. Notice that they only talk about it's thesis. No one remembers the characters or the writing, it is unmemorable. No one grows or learns except possibly the minor character of the Bishop. It's not really a novel. You've already learned from the other reviews that the thesis was lifted from an earlier book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, so what else can I tell you? Two things, both about the thesis. First, from a mythological perspective, the thesis is laughable and cannot be. The Christian story is a member of the family of Middle Eastern religious stories involving a dying and ressurecting deity who is a son (Jesus, Baal, Adonis, Dumuzi, Tammuz) or a daughter (Persephone). Not one of these deities had any offspring. It was their function to sacrifice their personal fertility to provide for the fertility or salvation of the rest of the planet. Had Jesus had offspring, his story would not have been believed by anyone in the Middle East, but in fact Christianity spread rapidly there. So we must conclude that the bloodline thesis is mythologically unsound. Feel free to impress your friends with this post-obvious fact that they will not have thought of. From the perspective of legend, the Grail is first mentioned in Chrieten de Troys' Perceval in the 1170's. Chrieten makes it clear he is writing a work of fiction, even though it is based on an earlier story (which does not survive). You may read this for yourself or watch the movie Perceval, and it will be clear that a serving vessel that contained food (not beverage) is described, and that it is carried by a woman and many women are involved in principal roles in the story, so there is no reason to suspect the Grail is an indirect reference to a woman. There is no hint of the bloodline thesis in Perceval. While it is clear the Lance and Grail are probably intended to represent Christian relics, most of this explanation is added by later authors who continued Chrieten's story. What is the opinion of scholars on the origin of the Grail legend? It has been much studied and there are many opinions. One voiced by Jessie Weston in her book From Ritual To Romance actually does involve the Mediterranean Mystery Religions, and their regenerative aspects, but there is no trace of the bloodline thesis. The established view, and so firmly established it would be very difficult to dislodge, comes from Roger Loomis in his The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol, in which he convincingly traces its origins to a pagan dish of plenty which is never exhausted, and functions as a fountain of youth and wellness for anyone eating from it. Two stars are due, as the book is at least a page turner. But don't expect to learn any secrets, because Brown doesn't have any, so he never lets any character actually see the rumored proof. But if you are handy with a search engine, you can discover that the principals of the Priory of Sion have admitted they founded it as a hoax in 1956.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing premise, lack of depth
Review: I picked up this book with the highest of hopes and left thinking the book was.....ok. First off, the plot is derivative, a retread of every dime thriller I have ever read. 50 pages into it I had figured out the ending. However, the plot is, thankfully, not the books main selling point. That honor belongs to its somewhat dubious "intellectual appeal". I did like Brown's provocative take on Da Vinci and Catholicism, but I was left wanting more of his engaging conspirary theories and less of his lackluster story. Furthermore, the tidbits he passes off as "facts" are riddled with conjecture and historical inaccuracy, leaving the reader bewildered as to what information can be taken at face value. For instance, Brown gives a figure of 4 million witches burned in the few hundred years the inquisition reigned. The actual number is closer to a tenth of that (most historians place the number between 100 and 500 thousand). He also takes great freedom with the Knights Templar, warping their origins and twisting established history. These are just a few things I found in a single casual reading, I cannot imagine what further wrongs would be revealed with a little more reseach. All historical faults aside, it is a fairly engaging book.....as long as it is taken with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Controversial and Clever
Review: The fascinating aspect of this book is the author's brilliant weaving of fact, conspiracy, and fiction. Most reviews I've seen on this book are either highly positive, or highly negative. That is due to the contraversial theories presented, and because the author presents them with known facts or ideas, the reader begins to wonder how much of the story is actually fiction. The book is dotted with mathematical theories and versions of history that I was not privvy to, which made it an uncommonly rich story. It is emotionally engaging and has a clever way of pulling you into its world... I wish I could go into more detail, but you'll see! I read it in two days. I actually took notes while reading the book because I wanted to keep track of what the author was presenting as fact. This book extends beyond its pages. There is a world of historical issues and science that I didn't know existed, but find intriguing. I may not agree with all of it, but it's refueled my interest in history, math, art and architecture.
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