Rating: 
Summary: Smart and Gripping WhoDunIt
Review: Kudos to Dan Brown for writing a gripping novel that pushed a lot of my buttons (in a positive way).This book has great pacing, with a twist or important occurrence happening about every three or four pages. Amazingly, the author has written a plausible plot that hurtles through four hundred plus pages covering a period of less than twenty-four hours. For history buffs, this book captures the imagination. Great figures like Leonardo Da Vinci and Sir Isaac Newton figure prominently in the plot. The Vatican, Opus Dei, the Knights Templar and a secret society that may still exist called the Priory of Sion are part of the story. For those who like mysteries and codes, the book abounds with them. The author gives the reader enough background information and clues that it is possible to appreciate and even figure out some of the codes that drive the story forward from solution to solution and the ultimate prize. And a clever story it is. Without revealing the central mystery, this book revolves around two forces continuing an almost two millennium battle over information that could rock the very foundations of the Catholic Church and Christianity. A murder in the Louvre of one of the principals in this battle brings Dr. Robert Langdon, -- Harvard Symbologist who specializes in church symbols, mysteries and codes -- together with the beautiful Sophie Neveau -- French police code breaker with a few mysteries of her own. The eighteen or so hours after the murder involve the two central figures, flight and manhunts across the France and England, double crosses and mysterious personages, quick lessons in church history, the art of Leonardo Da Vinci, the Knights Templar and the very early Christian Church (as early as it gets) and code breaking from verse, art and symbols. Brown gives the reader a heck of a ride. This book works as a thriller, intellectual exercise, and historic fiction. I have to say historic fiction because Brown has taken some license with history to create the situation needed to foster his story. My only criticism of the book is the author's forward note in which he claims truth regarding the organizations and events portrayed in the book. It is true that the Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, the Dead Sea Scrolls and symbolism in Da Vinci's art exist. However, the author does use these truths in a subjective way to support his thriller. He makes claims for the Council of Nicea and the Dead Sea Scrolls that are not accurate, or are tenuous at best. His statement that most Christians at the time of the Council believed Christ was a fully human, non-divine being is contradicted by everything I've read of Church history (without going into it here, see www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/sbrandt/nicea.htm which states that those holding the non-divine position were a very distinct minority of contemporary Christians). Also, the Dead Sea and other recent scrolls do not give the statements ascribed to them by the author, except for one which contains an ancient Greek word that can be translated in various ways -- and upon one translation not generally accepted he bases his assertions). The above are important because the general statement of truth the author makes would lead some to believe he meant existence of the historic characters, groups and happenings as well as the conclusions he takes from them. That digression aside, this is one of the best novels I've read -- great pacing, fascinating history, terrific conspiracy and interesting symbology and code breaking. Truly a book you'll stay up late to read.
Rating: 
Summary: bottom of the barrel
Review: Lame, clunky, corny, simple, pedestrian, silly, contrived, wooden and that's just the dialogue folks! Don't even get me started on the dopey plot. A truly miserable effort, but hey Brown is crying all the way to the bank.
Rating:
Summary: What Dan Brown failed to mention...
Review: Leonardo Da Vinci hated the Church and anything to do with Christianity. The reason being that he lived an immoral life and hated any institution that could condemn his immorality. Da Vinci tried to discredit Christianity by portraying a contorted gospel in his art. The Last Supper he portrays as a marriage super of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, being one of many misinterpretations of scripture in his art. Da Vinci's view of Christianity is pure blasphemy, yet Dan Brown gives him credibility as a commentator on Christ.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Premise . . . Writing Gets a "B"
Review: Let me start with a disclaimer, I'm fascinated by stories that involve the Vatican and the power of the Catholic church. As a Catholic in the United States, I'm intrigued by the vast monetary and property holdings that the church possesses worldwide, as well as the loyalty that the church has inspired. As an institution, you know that the Catholic church has the power to survive many scandals and crises. So, if the premise of the Da Vinci code is the search for information so powerful that it has the power to reduce the mighty Vatican strucutre to rubble, I'm hooked. Mr. Brown does a nice job of framing a thriller with monks and bishops serving as the "bad guys," even though they're trying to preserve a religion. My only problem with this book is the "gotcha" factor. I won't give away any of the secrets, but I was annoyed by the fact that every puzzle and mystery in the book was solved by the prime characters within a few pages in some form of dazzling revelation. If the mysteries remained buried for almost two millenium, you'd think it would take more than 36 hours for the main characters to get to the bottom of them. Mr. Brown gets an "A" for his idea and a "B-" for the execution.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read!
Review: Let me state that I rarely read "best sellers"...in fact I avoid that whole Best Seller wall like the plague. In fact I only picked up this book because of several weird instances of synchronicity (which I won't bore you with hehe). I had trouble putting the book down once I started reading it. I found the story quite compelling, the characters multi-faceted and interesting, and refreshingly devoid of gratuitous sex and violence. Yes there are some murders going on. But the Terminator movies were much more graphically violent. In my mind the murders only served to advance the plot. As for the historical accuracy, well I'm no Biblical scholar. However there is indeed QUITE a bit of corroborating evidence (confirmed by actual historians), for much of the stuff cited in the book. And the more that is coming out about early Gnosticism, the more it looks like the early Church was indeed engaging in a cover up. But those issues are really irrelevant if you are looking for a good NOVEL, which is what this is. It's not a theology textbook people. If you are some ultra-conservative wanker, stay away from the book completely, as your fragile little world is unlikely to handle having your religion questioned. Everyone else though, with even slightly open and curious minds, is likely to find the book a fascinating and good read.
Rating:
Summary: I Almost Regret Doing This.
Review: Let's start off with flaws. "The DaVinci Code" rarely takes time to slow down. The entire 400-something pages happens, for the most part, in less than 18 hours of time. The characters are pretty thin, with very little true analysis and/or dimension. The only exceptions to this are Silas and the Bishop, who receive less of a role in the story than they deserve. For a book that has an endless amount of plot twists, (which some may find to be incessantly mind-numbing after awhile) it seems rather linear in the sense that once you figure out what the real conflict and goal is, it's just straight ahead without too much diversion. There can't be anything very interesting about a book centered around two highly predictable cryptographers and a slew of rather unimportant characters racing towards something that isn't even fully explained until the last third of the book, can there? Well, if you guess "no", then Dan Brown has proved you wrong. Horribly wrong, in fact. The DaVinci code is so captivating, that many people will not even be able to realize the technical errors that would usually stand out like a sore thumb. Brown makes no attempt to flood the reader with everything at once. Because there is quite a lot to take in. Instead, he uses a rather cheap, but highly effective method, of keeping his audience captivated. You will find, when reading this book, that there are very few places where one can really come to a stop. It's very, very difficult to put the book down and take a break. When finishing one chapter, you will be introduced to an incomplete plot twist, which will remained uncompleted until after 5 more chapters have passed. By that time, you've already been introduced to another twist. Intertwined in this suspense-thriller game of cat and mouse is a thick overtone of cryptography, history, and religious conspiracy, for lack of a better term. This aspect of the story will probably captivate some as much as the thriller aspect. The two main characters are forced through solving code after code, while learning about a historical battle of epic proportions that has remained virtually hidden from the light of common knowledge for all these years. Well, Dan Brown just may have changed that.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story filled with much anti-truth
Review: Like Angels & Demons, I enjoyed this book for a good tale. There is, however, much to be wary of in the so-called "facts" presented here. Some of it is harmless fictionalization, some of it is dangerous and misleading non-truths about the Priory of Sion, the Catholic Church, and history. Perhaps the most disturbing elements to me are the portrayal of the Catholic Church as out to completely masculinize God and deny the sacred feminine. This is especially incredulous to me since the Catholic Church takes an incredible amount of heat for it's 2,000 year history of "worship" of the Virgin Mary. Throughout its history the Church has paid reverence to true sacred femininity. (btw, it's reverence for Mary as the chosen of the Father, spouse of the Holy Spirit, and mother of the human incarnation of God, not worship of Mary). Mary Magdalene was indeed a beloved follower of Jesus, but she was not his bride. She is remarkable in that she is one of the first people recorded in the Bible whom Jesus exorcised of pagan demons, after which she was one of several women who travelled with him and his disciples. I was also offended by the treatment of Opus Dei and the numerous times that it was stated that Church needs to "modernize" and become relevant to modern conditions. Far from wanting that, solid Catholics want the Church to hold out against the modern world and assert itself as a pillar of objective truth. So enjoy this book, but just remember --- it's just fiction folks!
Rating:
Summary: Open the Box¿Then
Review: Like dolls that nest inside one another Dan Brown's newest book, "The Da'Vinci Code", is, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, as Sir Winston Spencer Churchill once wrote. And Like Sir Winston there is a Knight in this book as well, Sir Leigh Teebing. Sir Leigh and our protagonists are faced with constant puzzles, one of the most fascinating of which is the cryptex, or more sinister, nesting cryptexes invented by none other than Da'Vinci himself. This book is a thriller, mystery and even a healthy measure of counter-factual history, how might the World have been different if only a certain what if had occurred? The variables examined are done with skill, a very clever pen, and most importantly with respect for the subject matter. Religion is as volatile an issue as there is; to successfully use it in a work of fiction is a tribute to the author as a writer and individual. The brilliance of this tale is that you don't know, that as you open the first doll, that a variety of smaller ones wait within. Dan Brown sets a box in front of you. Open the box and you may find another cube or perhaps a pyramid, and inside that a sphere. And every layer you work your way through requires a different method from our protagonists to move forward. Open an object correctly and the quest continues, puzzle out your solution in a flawed manner....and who knows? The author also firmly plants the book in reality with a real organization he mentions at the book's start and that you can visit on the web. The nature of the group lends credence to extremes in points of view, makes what could be fantastic possible. The great news is that when you have finished the book the fun has only begun. The author has placed a quest for readers on the web, and I have spent a few hours puzzling through it and can state without condition it is wonderful fun. This is the fourth book from this author and I feel it is his best. His previous work, "Angels and Demons", was number one with me, and now perhaps is 1A. This book is a fantastic ride, and will get you hooked on this man's work if you are not already one of his readers.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing More Than A Cliché Thriller...
Review: Like every single other novel he wrote, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is an over-the-top paranoid conspiracy thriller that's riddled with a poor plot and questionable "research". All religious controversy aside, the main problem with this book is just the godawful clichés that are everywhere. The unstoppable assassin (who despite being albino has no vision problems even though the lack of all pigments cause albinos to have bad vision), the forced romance, the ridiculous plot twist that's supposed to shock us all, but seems to lack reason, and inane puzzles. Additionally, the plot is rife with mere stupidity. How does someone dying of a gunshot wound manage to write a diagram and other various things on the floor? (It's rather like the scene from Monty Python And The Holy Grail with the Castle Aaarrrggghhh....) Why is it that the aforementioned dying character have the same last name as a priest who dabbled in the occult about 100 years ago (talk about obvious allusions)? Why do the main characters stop to look at a painting as they're being chased? Why are all the villains so stereotypically malicious without any motivation? Why does the villain do the old "tell 'em everything before you kill them" routine that's been in every single James Bond movie? Finally there's the whole religious issue. Obviously, Dan Brown has some issues with the Roman Catholic Church as evidenced by this book and his other work Angels & Demons (which by the way is EXACTLY the same as this book), but that is not what bothers me. What bothers me is that he claims all he is written is true, when most of his sources are of questionable integrity and much of what he writes is apparently woefully inaccurate. To conclude, The Da Vinci Code is a formulaic thriller that only stands out due to its subject matter, which cannot save it from the woeful clichés that pepper the novel. If you want a thriller based on fact, read The ODESSA File by Frederick Forsyth, or Spandau Phoenix by Greg Iles. These novels manage to combine fact and fiction and do not fail on such ridiculous cliché.
Rating:
Summary: Jurassic Park for History Nerds (almost)
Review: Like Jurassic Park this is very good genre fiction, which the author roots in real concepts (J. Park- genetic engineering, chaos theory, DV Code- religious, medieval and art history) but very seemlessly builds on those concepts using his own imagination and constructions. If Jurassic Park is the pinnacle of genre fiction (5 stars), than this book deserves four stars. The two main reasons being its pacing, short cliff hanger chapters, which gets slightly redundant after a while, and a (slight) let down of an ending. That said, as an admitted history nerd myself, I really enjoyed this book. I like the way he reveals the whole back story over the course of the book, as I stated before, moving from actual history into his own theories. I like the clues in the art he uses, and the connection between the main theme of the book (I don't want to give it away) and well.. everything, from Rennaissance Art to language to pop culture and everything in between. The writing was good, I didn't expect much, and it was a true page turner. I read it faster than any thing I've read in a while. All in all, a very entertaining read with some very interesting ideas.
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