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Summary: Mothers advice... say something nice
Review: A pot-boiler of the second order.... Plot driven!
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Summary: Formulaic and predictable
Review: A quarter of the way through I realized why this book is such a page-turner. Brown uses a tried-and-true formula for keeping the readers going, even when the story lapses into incredible implausibility. Develop a series of mysteries within a bigger mystery and keep the reader interested by making every chapter a cliff-hanger. One mystery solved leads to another mystery to be solved. Etc., etc., etc. Now that seeing how it's done by a master I'm going to write a similar novel, make a million bucks, and retire. Unlike Mr. Brown, however, I won't bother writing more than one bestseller. I'm not greedy. I figure one good bilkering of America's dumbed-down readers is enough.
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Summary: Compulsive Reading!
Review: A quick summer read, a suspense-filled thriller, an educational tool and a mind-bending experience. The DA VINCI CODE has it all. The only problem with this book is that eventually it ends, and you're left having to research some of the more fascinating topics you've read on your own, rather than having them laid-out before you using Brown's masterful words. Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
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Summary: A reader from Michigan is a BIG LIAR!!!
Review: A reader from Michigan is so full of crud. Not a freakin thing in this book is true. He's a big liar. He didn't research it. The liar. This book sux and you really shouldn't read this load of cr@p!
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Summary: DaVinci Code
Review: A real eye opener. A definite must read. Enthroling, Enlightening . I learned a great deal from this book.
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Summary: Controversial, but Fun
Review: A remarkable book, reminiscent of Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum and also Eco's Name of the Rose. A Havard symbologist, Robert Langdon, is summoned by French police to the Louvre, where the chief curator has been murdered. Langdon initially believes that the police are looking for his help, but with the help of French cryptologist Sophie Neveu, realizes that he is a suspect, and has unwittingly stumbled onto an age-old mystey -- and to solve the murder and prove his innocence, he must do no less than find the Holy Grail. The book has numerous word puzzles that Robert and Sophie must solve enroute to finding the grail, with the assistance of a rather eccentric British grail enthusiast. The book hits much of the ground covered by Baigent and Leigh in their conspiracy classic, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", as the two race to discover the secret of the grail and its mysterious guardians, the Prieur de Sion, ahead of ruthless rivals including a devout, yet murderous, albino monk from the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Many people consider the book anti-Catholic, and one wonders why Brown felt he had to single out a real Catholic organization to provide his villains, but Brown does carefully exculpate the organizations in the end through a series of plot twists, preventing serious religious fury, and no doubt, some lawsuits. Nevertheless, the book is a rich tapestry of fascinating facts about Leonardo da Vinci, several of whose works figure in the plot clues, as well as taking a stroll through ground Grail conspiracy researchers know well -- the Louvre, St. Sulpice Cathedral, the Temple Church in London, and Rosslyn Chapel. Devout Catholics will no doubt find the book disturbing, for it is not sympathetic to the church. It is, however, a fascinating mystery, and lot of fun for those who love conspiracies.
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Summary: A Review of the Da Vinci Code
Review: A Review of The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is an exciting enigma filled with suspense, romance, and many interesting facts. The story starts out in Paris, France where symbologist, Robert Langdon, is on a business trip. While he is there, Langdon ends up doing much more than just a lecture. A murder has been committed in the Louvre museum and Langdon is one of the prime suspects.
After reading this fascinating novel, it has come to be one of my new favorite books. As well as being an extremely thrilling, suspense-filled book, The Da Vinci Code also contains many interesting facts that will not let you put it down. One of my favorite things that Dan Brown (the author) does is he makes most aspects of the novel completely unpredictable. This makes it difficult for the reader to pull their nose out of the book. I also really enjoyed the fact that Brown did not bore the reader with too many tedious details. He never described the characters too much. This allows the readers to use their imagination and decide for themselves what they think the characters should look like. I loved how this stimulating tale made me question all of the things that I had learned and believed in before. It kept me curious and really made me think about what I was reading. The Da Vinci Code made me see everything in a new light. It allowed to me to open up my mind and discover new things.
There were not many aspects of The Da Vinci Code that I did not enjoy. Most of the book was thoroughly enjoyable for me. One part of the book that I disliked was that Dan Brown seemed like he was trying too hard to make it unpredictable. For this reason, the book sometimes seemed a little unrealistic. I also found it frustrating that Brown sometimes used French without saying what it meant in English. Since I do not speak French, this made it difficult for me to understand some of the conversations. I would have also liked it if the book had pictures in some parts so I could get a better understanding of some of the Da Vinci paintings that Brown described. Though I did not enjoy every aspect of this exhilarating novel, I still enjoyed most of it and it is one of the best books I have ever read.
If anyone were to ask me what books I would recommend for him or her to read, I would recommend The Da Vinci Code first. It has become one of my new favorite books and it has inspired me in many ways. I give it five stars.
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Summary: Riveting story, not so the writing
Review: A riveting story and fascinating information about the Knights Templar, the Priory of Scion, Agnus Dei, and the Holy Grail. Some fun as you attempt to solve the puzzle clues along with the protagonists. But character development is mostly nonexistent, and the overuse of certain sentence structures (e.g., "Shedding his own suit coat and tie," "Reconsidering," and "Returning to the truck," - all in the same paragraph) eventually starts to grate. Just sloppy writing, and apparently sloppy editing, which unfortunately can distract the reader.
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Summary: Mr. Brown writes like he has ADD
Review: A short, choppy "thriller," written for people with short attention spans, deserves no place on the bestseller list. Every short sentence, poorly-written visual description, screams "Make a movie out of my book! Make me richer and give me a way to push my obnoxious, poorly-researched ideas onto the gullible moviegoing public!"
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Summary: Momentary divertissement
Review: A sluggish cryptology caper whose storyline I'll leave to others to summarize. Author Brown is of the tour-guide school of novelisting, relentlessly filling us in on every reference and footnote. To be fair, he manages it more seamlessly than many others. It's also crying out to be filmed (which at last check shows no option snapped up, but that's for his agent to time). On the run, our hero and his comely Sophie Marceau-style feisty companion find refuge with a Paris-based knight with a name to rival Tufton Beamish, Leigh Teabing. Mysteriously reluctant to allow his guests more than a fleeting glimpse, on page 231 Sir L tantalizes them with the teaser that, "Da Vinci painted the true Grail, which I will show you momentarily." Honestly, it's one thing to have airline pilots taunt us with a brief bumping of tarmac before bouncing off again to Lord-knows where, but to have a man of supposed letters flub at this basic a level - and with a K of the Realm - just makes one despair. Not much further on, Teabing credits some heavy-handed duplicity to his time with the "Oxford Theatre Club". This could well be the case, but considering how carefully Brown fashions LT as a bogus and pompous oaf, he's far more likely to pretend a link with OUDS. No match for the double whammy of sloppy research and a tin ear, I handed this fairy tale to *my* Rémy Lagaludec (another ludicrous nomen) with instructions that it be placed below stairs for the maids' amusement. I've no idea how or if DVC reaches any workable conclusion. Perhaps one of les domestiques will post their own assessment.
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