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: It's Fiction & It's Fun
Review: I prefer biographical or legal non-fiction; heretofore, the only two series of fiction I've read are Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe detective novels and the "Left Behind" series by Lahaye & Jenkins. You can imagine why I enjoyed "The Da Vinci Code" so much. If you like history, art, religion, mystery, or puzzles you will enjoy spending a few hours with Robert Langdon.
Rating:
Summary: C + lots of hype, little substance
Review: I purchased this book after hearing rave reviews on NPR (Todd Mundt (SP?) Show). I was pretty disappointed. It's really discouraging what passes for good fiction nowadays. This last winter I read Edith Warton, Eveylyn Waugh, Chaim Potok and Imre Kertesz, really wonderful writing that touches on the human experience. The Da Vinci Code, and much of the top selling fiction, seems to me to be only a step or two above romance novels in the drug store. As a previous reviewer has said, the Da VInci code is a good beach read. Just make sure you borrow a copy. I wouldn't spend money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent
Review: I purchased this book after reading a great review. I'm glad I did. This is a biblical/archeology type mystery with lots of
information about secret societies and the art world. It was hard to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Over-rated
Review: I purchased this book because a few of my friends told me that it's "The best book ever" and other such comments. I should have read these reviews first... Apparently, those who do not know what it means to be a great book tend to over-rate anything they actually read. As the other reviews have said, you will finish this book quickly because it is very fast paced. And it does have some interesting parts. But, in general, the story is completely ridiculous, which makes it very unsatisfying. I also find it to be shallow. If you read books for cheap entertainment value, read this one.
Rating:
Summary: Would not want my children to inherit this book from me
Review: I purchased this book because I read a review referencing it as a battle between good and evil. It was all evil. This book begins in error and ends in error. I.E.: Brown erroneously states that Jesus was only a great prophet. That Jesus was married to Mary Magdelene. That Mary Magdelene was expecting when Jesus was crucified and gave birth to a daughter, Sarah. Brown gives verbal acceptance regarding the Knights Templar's sexual rituals and referenced those acts as a form of worshipping God. Brown states that the main character is a direct descendent of Jesus. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Worth every bit of the hype!
Review: I rarely give books five stars, but this is an absolutely fantastic read. Dan Brown has provided an amazing lesson in art history as well as a compelling murder mystery which takes place in France and England in a period of roughly twelve hours.
There are many who have criticized this work for its views and criticisms of the Catholic Church and Christianity in general--a local bookstore owner said some who've returned it have referred to "The Da Vinci Code" as "scandalous, "blasphemous" and "sacreligious." My response, as a Catholic and a Christian: It's a work of fiction. Again, this is a book I couldn't put down. Religious scholars and art lovers and historians will find it fascinating, and anyone who enjoys a good mystery will find it fascinating, since Brown brings the sights and sounds of Paris and landmarks like Westminster Abbey and The Louvre to life. The grieving cryptologist Sophie Langdon and her accomplice, renowned symbologist Robert Langdon are easy to root for, but every character of any consequence (especially the eccentric Leigh Teabing) is well-layered and compelling. And the ending, while not perfect, is satisfying--there was probably no other effective way for Brown to draw this instant classic to a close. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: More twists and turns than a roller coaster
Review: I rarely read books of fiction but because of the fact that so many of many friends had suggested this book I thought it would be a good idea to keep up with the current, hot summer reading. As a testament to the fine writing by Dan Brown, I read a good deal of "The Da Vinci Code" by flashlight during the recent power blackout.
"The Da Vinci Code" introduces a large number of primary characters but the author makes them different enough from one another that following them is not difficult and the chapters are by and large very short so that the action never stops. But the book has a kind of Keystone Kops quality to it...the reader can't quite believe how inept some of the law enforcement authorities are and how multiple their mistakes are. And, remembering this is fiction, the entire story takes place in a day or two. The movie can't be far behind. I found that the end of the book was the weakest and most disappointing. Still, "The Da Vinci Code" is well worth the read and the pace will keep you turning pages as fast as the plot twists and thickens.
Rating: 
Summary: love the ideas, but the story fails...
Review: I rarely read books with so much media hype surrounding them, but the premise of this book piqued my interest. As an art lover and a spiritual person, I was looking forward to an interesting read. I was incredibly disappointed. I hope no one finds offense in this next statement, but this book was written for the masses. The writing is... obvious. No thinking required. It's a good book to take on vacation, or to read while on break from grad school, like I am. It is not an intellectual endeavor, by any means! With that said, it was certainly entertaining, and I'm wondering if the movie is already in the works. Robert Langdon is likened to Harrison Ford early in the story, and I don't think this was an accident. The reader is stuck with the mental image of Ford as Langdon. (not such a bad thing, of course, but it adds to the Hollywood movie feel of the book!) The potential in this book is endless, and I believe it could have been a masterpiece. Sadly, the claims on the jacket are simply hype... Nelson DeMille claims the work of "pure genius" lies within the pages of this book, but I fail to see it! Every single symbol is explained and explained again, in case you forgot the first explanation. This certainly takes the fun out of symbolism, if you ask me. Every chapter is written with this cliffhanger, Hollywood-esque style, which keeps you turning pages in the beginning but gets tiresome after a while. I love the theories surrounding the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene, and I find the beliefs in the sacred feminine incredibly intriguing. I find it funny when devout Roman Catholics denounce this fictional book as heresy... these closed-minded reviews just add to the controversy and help support opposing theories. In my opinion, Roman Catholicism is the nuttiest and most corrupt religion out there. More people should examine the ancient beliefs in the sacred feminine, something that has been sadly eradicated from the Catholic Church. This idealogy is explored in The da Vinci Code, and I found the history quite interesting. One last thing, in response to some of the reviews I've read - it's difficult to take people's reviews seriously when they can't even keep the story straight. Sophie Neveu was Sauniere's granddaughter in the book, not his daughter, as I have read too many people say. It's an important detail, as the reader finds at the very end of the story. Speaking of the end, that was my favorite part of the book. I saw it coming and was annoyed to have the writer present it as such an amazing revelation, but Sophie's reunion with her family members help tie the story together and add a little depth to otherwise incredibly shallow characters. The end was also my favorite part of the book because, well, I could finally stop reading it! Throughout the story, I kept waiting for Brown to redeem himself as a writer but it never happened. All in all, I feel it could have been a great book but it was mediocre at best. Some of the historical stories and symbols have grabbed my attention though, and I look forward to reading more about these intriguing topics.
Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Read...but don't take it seriously.
Review: I rarely read fiction. But a friend of mine dropped off this book and asked me for my opinion of it. Probably because as a scientist I have a strong interest in numbers and codes as well as in religion. I enjoyed the book very much. Not for its possible relation to fact, but because I detected the hand of an author who had his finger solidly on the pulse of the not-too-critical reading public. They just want a good read...all how-many millions of them. The book kept me leaping from chapter to chapter (they are short, typically four pages long), wondering how the heros were going to escape from their latest predicament. I thought the escapes were clever and imaginative, but then I am not a hardened detective story reader. My deepest quandry was not in how seriously to take the basic theme of the story: that Jesus had recovered from the cruxification and had descendents with Mary Magdelane in France. I would say that the probability is in the low sub-sub-digits, much less than 1%. What Dan Brown has done is to confuse what few historical facts I have in my posession with his well-thought-out revisionist thoughts. In a few years, maybe even tomorrow, I will have trouble separating my spare knowledge of the facts from his pregnant presentation of imaginative events. That aspect I don't like. It is for this very reason that I do not watch so-called TV and movie docum-dramas of events in recent history. I have lived through all the wars since 1940. I have watched controversial political figures come and go. These "facts" are still in my head, although fading. When an imaginative "artist", Oliver Stone, for example, replays history but imposes his personal twist on the "facts", I am at a loss whether to be entertained or ill-informed. So I have made it my deliberate policy not to watch docu-dramas. The same with this book. Read as entertainment, it moves as fast and is more exciting than a James Bond movie, because you can skip through the parts that do not interest you. But beware of cluttering your mind with unproven, even if plausible, theories. Before long they may sit in your mind as established facts. For that reason, you may deliberately choose not to read it. But being forewarned is thus forearmed. If you read this book and you will be able to participate in the innumerable stimulating discussions it has engendered. I am enjoying that activity now. Jesus is by far the most influential person who has trod the planet Earth, judging by the establishment that even today thrives based on his memory. Well-intentioned men, and some not so well-intentioned, have written revisionist themes about his life since its beginning. It is very easy to perceive what Jesus taught, but very difficult to follow his teachings. This book does not help this aspect at all, but at least it turns a spotlight back on the absorbing and intriguing mystery that is Jesus.
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