Rating: 
Summary: Shame on Doubleday
Review: I just read in The New York Times Magazine for July 20 that this book has been successful "both commercially and critically" and was giving Doubleday "a terrific spring"; also, that Dan Brown "could become another brand name novelist". I must have read a different book. The "Code" I read was filled with interesting facts and allegations re the Catholic Church but the plotting was so weak it was embarrassing. In fact the plot was so poorly done, I couldn't help comparing it to the The Celestine Prophecy which is a truly awful book (much worse than "Code") that was a great commercial success. It is a sad commentary on the publishing industry that Doubleday decided that "Code" was the book they would make into a bestseller.
Forget "Code" and buy anything by Alan Furst, a wonderful writer (see the July issue of Harpers).
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting typo within
Review: I just read the Da Vinci Code this weekend, and enjoyed it thoroughly. However, I just had to share something with other readers who enjoy a good laugh. I tried to email Doubleday, but could find no way to do so, so I'm having my fun here instead. If you check out the first page of the Epilogue of this novel of cryptic messages, you will find the following freudian slip. The hero is at last enjoying a good hot shower after his many travails in pursuit of the Holy Grail, and the book refers to him enjoying the shower's "message" rather than "massage." Does it get better than that? So I got to enjoy a final good chuckle as I closed the book. Perhaps someone will find a way to get this info to the publisher. Or, better yet, let's leave it in!
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: A Good Read
Review: I just recently read The Da Vinci Code and am still trying to figure out what the entire hullabaloo is about. The book puts forth nothing I haven't heard before. I find it sad that evidently so many people in the world have so little religious training.The Da Vinci Code is a page turning suspense/mystery. I truly enjoyed Dan Brown's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Conspiracy fans take note
Review: I just recently saw "The Adoration of the Magi" in the Uffizi in Florence, so this book really resonates for me. It makes me want to go back and take a fresh look at Botticelli's art, at the Mona Lisa, medieval architecture, and the Bible. I rarely put much credence in elaborately constructed conspiracies, but there is much to fascinate in this novel. The only people I've ever known who were Masons, Rosicrucians, members of various Catholic subcultures, and so forth always struck me as supremely silly people with too much time on their hands. Maybe I ought to take a closer look at them too!
Rating: 
Summary: One more great review
Review: I just wanted to add my voice to the choir. This book is marvelous.
Rating:
Summary: IM VERY MAD (though not about the book)
Review: I just wrote a very in-depth review of the book, and my computer deleted it when i previewed it (and by the way, im not incompetent when it comes to computers). Anyway, i'll sum up what i said in one sentence: The book was good, considering i don't tend to like mystery thrillers, though i was annoyed at the astounding assumptions and conclusions made by Langdon and Sophie, which tended to make the book somewhat unrealistic and idealistic.
Rating:
Summary: It's Fiction, after all.....
Review: I keep telling people: it's a work of fiction. Gladly, the author never claims to be anything else but fiction. He confuses a lot of historical elements and passes them for facts by using the lecture style of the character. For example, all he says about the Gospels is completely inaccurate: he gives the impression that the 4 Gospels known to all and all others were written at the same time and then the "church" selectively chose the four. History doesn't agree. We have no proof. He even claims that Jesus wrote "Q." This document, "Q" is hypothetical (it's mostly a scholarly construct). As for the "Da Vinci" stuff, I am not learned enough to respond. For crying out loud: let's keep in mind that IT IS ONLY FICTION, poorly written, but still fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious and disappointing!
Review: I kept hoping this book would get better as it went on and that was the only reason I kept turning the pages. Brown uses the technique of explaining background to the reader by having the protagonist lecture about his specialty, and boy, does he go on! I felt as though I was listening to a monotonous, late-evening, cable tv, college course. Good thing for this character that the clever granddaughter showed up, who knew her grandfather so well that she could solve the riddles, yet oddly enough, was totally ignorant of the Grail legend. There were four major chase scenes, which became more predictable and sillier as they went on. Sort of like a Bond movie, without the fun or flair. Maybe Brown really wanted to write a screenplay but couldn't pull it off, so turned it into a novel? The subplot of swindling the Vatican seemed mildly interesting but never did make sense. In fact, when the antagonist started to "explain all", the reasoning got murkier. I think this book - given the great hype around it - was the real swindle.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Read In Years
Review: I kept putting off reading this book, even though I had heard all the hype. Finally, my husband read it and loved it, so I decided I'd give it a try. Wow. I picked it up and didn't put it down until 5 hours later. I didn't want to go to work the next day because I wanted to finish reading!! I won't go over the plot line again - that has already been done. This was just so well written - fresh material, fast moving plot, the various threads all get tied up in the end, but not in a pat, disappointing way, but in a way that still satisfies the reader. I can't wait to read "Deception Point" and "Angels & Demons"!
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