Rating: 
Summary: EXCITING BUT TOTALLY FICTION
Review: I found the DaVinci Code to be a mystery thriller that kept you on the edge of your seat for a time. "The treasure hunt" for the Grail became tiresome after a while. As a work of fiction I'm sure many people would enjoy it however the book is blantantly Anti-Catholic. Many will take Brown's research for this book as gospel, which is far from the truth. You'll find Brown's so called historical facts regarding the Catholic Church, the Knights Templars, and Christology are completely false. Anyone that doesn't think so should get the other side of the story and click on www.opusdei.org
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer beware! An anti-Catholic novel.
Review: This book is awful. It isn't just the agnostic-to-pagan religious theories pumped out through the fictional hero (I know, I know, it's a novel!) - Jesus as a Jewish reformer only, not the divine person he claimed to be, married to Mary Magdalene with whom he had a child of whom the hero's girl friend turns out to be a decendant (wow!); the alleged conspiracy of the evil Catholic Church to suppress the Magdalene story; the goddess worship; the alleged fraudulence of the Bible at the hands of - you guessed it - the Catholic Church; the favorable presentation of obscene pagan cult sex orgies. No all those would just make it one more anti-Christian rant. But it is the implausible, James Bond action story line, the jejune dialogue and much more other nonsense that makes it a poor work of fiction. It is a sad commentary on American writing and taste that this trash has been a best seller for many weeks.I expect that the book is already being scripted for the screen as the latest action epic of an heroic American battling the evil international forces - in this case the Catholic Church and Opus Dei. Brown portrays Opus Dei, the Catholic lay apostolate, slanderously as a fanatical, even violent group. The primary evil person is an unstable, violent member of Opus Dei, a former criminal under the direction of the head of Opus Dei; hardly the kind of agent anyone would use even if they were a member! In his narrative Brown also accuses the Catholic Church of suppressing the female "divinity" (Mary Magdalene) and oppressing women generally, not they they fared better elsewhere. This seems odd in the light of the many female saints and the exalted position of Mary, the mother of Jesus in Catholic doctrine, a teaching for which Catholics are often criticized by other enemies of the Church coming from a different angle. The picture of the Catholic Church in this book is a veritable modern version of the "Maria Monk" stories of Know Nothing times. I would laugh it off except that wiser persons than I have said that anti-Catholicism is the "last acceptable prejudice in America". Can you imagine a novel accusing the Jews of such conspiracies? It would never be published. The story line will likely appeal to Hollywood but they will have to tone down the more blatant Catholic bashing and cult sex promotion and add a few explicit sex scenes which are mercifully absent from the book. This is a snap for Hollywood. Brown even suggests that the tweedy Harvard professor hero actually looks a lot like Harrison Ford who regularly appears in such films. Hint, hint. I grudgingly gave the book one star because it is very easy to read due to its short chapters and scene switch-backs as well as its interesting travelogues of Paris and London. The bad stuff is in the serious content: the French bashing and English fawning and implausible story line. I can well imagine the book being popular with the Bush administration. Casper Weinberger actually wrote a glowing review of a Tom Clancy action novel for the Wall Street Journal. Above all the book is bad because of implausible story line which crushes it for anyone above 15 years of intellectual age. One example: the action takes place over a period of 48 to 72 hours (it is never quite clear so rapidly does it move from place to place) with the hero being awakened at the start without sleep so we can add maybe another 12 hours for him. During the ensuing frenetic chasing around and violence the hero and his female companion never sleep, never eat and engage in constant violent action. At the end of all they still appear as an "attractive" couple as Brown tells us and mentally sharp too, working out the various puzzles which are part of the story line. Personally, I would have needed a nap and a shave at least. This is second rate Tom Clancy stuff except that Clancy was more realistic. Again, in order to keep the reader in suspense about the nature of the Holy Grail, the object of the frantic search and violence, Brown resorts to such childish dodges as saying that the hero just didn't have time to explain things to his female companion. She doesn't complain. Please! The book is full of this kind of thing. Brown has done some reading about Church history, the Knights Templars and secret societies and relentlessly pushes an anti-Catholic line in interpreting historic events. I have no idea of his own religious background (agnostic if his hero here speaks for him) but there is a danger that gullible readers might take his views as real history. The hero is forever saying that his religious views are backed by substantial scholarship and freely associates the names of famous persons with them. An example is the history of the Knights Templars. This is a subject of debate to this day and Catholic and non-Catholic scholars can be found on both sides of their story. Some think they were unjustly suppressed by religious and secular forces of their time jealous of the power and vast holdings. Others take the opposite position, saying that theu had indeed become corrupt and unfaithful after a noble if robust military beginning. Brown presents them in a favorable light as the antecedents of his real heroes, the Priory of Sion, a secret masonic type organization opposed to the Catholic Church, having pagan overtones and dedicated to keeping the Magdalene proofs hidden from the evil Vatican, which of course wishes to destroy them to protect the Jesus story. If true it sort of makes one lean to side of the suppressors of the Knights, but never mind. There are many examples of this kind of "history" in the book - which I know is after all a work of fiction, but in a country which learns its history from Hollywood films and TV this is a real concern, much bigger of course than this book. Some of the reviews already illustrate the point.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down
Review: I don't usually get into suspense/mystery thrillers, which made my discovery of this novel that much more of a pleasant surprise. Its power, of course, comes from the fact that it builds on actual theories and little-known facts about ancient events and the formation of the early church. It whetted my appetite to find out more. Extremely thought-provoking and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Such Hype! What a letdown!
Review: I'm a 63-year-old guy whose mind probably isn't as sharp as it used to be. I am of average (at best) intelligence. I graduated from an average small public college with A's and B's in my major/minor (journalism/English), the rest of the grades I'm not too proud of. That said, without -- I swear, promise -- even going to the various Da Vinci Code (DVC)-related websites, i.e., w/o being tipped off there even was a code, I IMMEDIATELY spotted the code on the jacket and wrote it out, in order. I IMMEDIATELY rearranged and understood the "Fibonacci number sequence" before author Brown explained it, and then, on page 298, I IMMEDIATELY read the script (it's only English backwards, for heaven's sake) that none of the "brainy stars" in the book could figure out for several pages. I mean, c'mon. At best this is Clancy with culture. Is it a page-turner? Sure -- I just can't wait to see how much more ridiculous it can get as far as plot goes. I'm just over halfway through DVC and am shaking my head. It's nothing more than a few cute, clever alphanumeric tricks that Brown builds stories around, linking them rather weakly, i.e., trying too hard, and it's SO obvious. Half-way through, the characters in the story have been to hell in a hand basket and back in the span of, oh, 6 to 9 hours of night-time. They are sleep- and food- deprived and yet are as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as well-fed squirrels eyeing a dog. Totally coherent. Yeah, right. Oh I'm learning neat things about the Louvre and the streets of Paris, all of which I've never seen. I'm learning about the factual factions of the Catholic faith/church, that Da Vince was a homosexual, biblical references, that Mary M. was really cool (and thus hidden) and other interesting stuff, but other than that, THIS BOOK -- not just the story of Christianity -- is really the "greatest story ever SOLD" (to borrow a quote from the book). An occasionally interesting, implausible laugher. I'm really hugely disappointed, but I'll finish it out. Boy, has the English-speaking public ever been duped!
Rating:
Summary: I barely ever read but this one got me
Review: With a thrilling and enticing plot, Brown gives a very real topic an exciting scenerio. Does the Catholic Church really take lives in this Grail Quest? Maybe. They have in the past. But that's not even the important part. Not only will this book keep your imagination running but you will also discover the etymology of words like "horny". If you think about it, what do "horn's" and sex have in common anyway? Well here ya go. This book lets you know that it is very possible that the grail isn't anything like what Indiana found as well as other useful information you can pretend to be smart and tell your friends about. However I did find myself suddenly questioning my own religion, being christian, wondering why I wear a crucifix around my neck and not an equal armed cross...so when reading, keep an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: Dan Brown does it again!
Review: I PICKED UP THIS BOOK BECAUSE I HAD READ SEVRAL OTHER DAN BROWN NOVELS. THE DA VINCI CODE STARTS OFF STRONGLY, WITH A PLOT THAT REALLY CAPTURES YOUR ATTENTION. IT MOVES ON TO A HISTORICAL SCAVENGER HUNT, WITH INTRUIGING CHARECTERS AND UNEXPECTED PLOT TURNS. THE BOOK DOES LOSE ALITTLE GROUND IN THE MIDDLE, ONCE WE KNOW WHAT THE QUEST IS ABOUT. BUT IT ONCE AGAIN GRABS THE READER'S ATTENTION AND COMPELLS YOU TO READ JUST ONE MORE PAGE...
DAN BROWN WEAVES A PLAUSABLE, INVENTIVE STORY THAT IS INTRESTING AND CAPTIVATING. HIS TOPICS(THE HOLY GRAIL, SOCIETY OF SION, ECT) ARE ALL VERY INTRESTING AND LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE. EVEN THE WAY HE TIES HIS IDEAS TO PAINTINGS AND CLUES IS MASTERFULL. THIS BOOK IS A REALLY GREAT SUSPENSE NOVEL, FULL OF MYSTERY, INTRIGUE AND FACTS THAT WILL LEAVE YOU WANTING MORE. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!
Rating:
Summary: An attack to history
Review: This is a fiction book that tries to position itself as well-documented, when indeed lots of things are simply invented. Moreover, it attacks the Catholic Church and the figure of Christ telling lies that try to appear as truths to the simple and undocumented mind.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't stop reading it...!
Review: Yes, I really enjoyed this book. I read the Spanish version because it came easily into my hands (perhaps I'll read the original Language), and I finished it in only 4 days, from Tuesday evening to Friday night (note: I work 9 hours a day)... just couldn't leave it. The history don't have any weak or boring part... and the theme... is great!
I give 4 stars cause in the last 2 pages the final get obvious, but anyway, this book worth my sleepless nights.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Quest
Review: I read this book in four days, it was an easy read. The story was interest, it makes me think differently about the Catholic church, and the values that I grew up with being Catholic. I would recommend this to anyone who questions the Catholic church and their beliefs. My only critizm of the book was too much detail, but that is probably my complaint about most books.
Rating:
Summary: Page Turner!
Review: I loved this book more than I had imagined I would. I couldn't put it down! I kept telling myself that I would just finish this chapter and do something else - impossible. Facinating and mysterious at the same time. I was sad to finally reach the end. A great book for a friend in the hospital or on bed rest!
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