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Summary: Cryptonomicon for dummies
Review: One time I ate a Krispy Kreme(tm) doughnut; one thing lead to another and I ate the whole box. That same feeling hit me when I finished this book. You will finish the book and ask yourself why?
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Summary: Incredible book! (but a terrible ending)
Review: Only one word can describe this book, and that word is "unbelievable"! Dan Brown has the best writing style I have EVER seen by any author, and the points he makes are very convincing. I encourage everyone to read this book, even if you're a fundamentalist Christian, because hey, maybe it might knock some sense into ya! (lol, jk) Although this book was one of the greatest books I've ever read (if not THE greatest), the ending is terrible! I would have given this the whole 5 stars if the ending had been better, but it was a huge dissappointment!
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Summary: What's Next? OEDIPUS?
Review: OPUS DEI is an anagram of OEDIPUS. I'm surprised they missed that one. Robert Graves and others claim the source of the classic Greek OEDIPUS is Akhenaten. Rosicrucian Leader Spencer Lewis identifies Akhenaten as a prior incarnation of Christ. Osman claims Akhenaten was both Moses and Oedipus. And Freud is convinced the Jews killed Moses in the desert as they killed Christ in Rome--the classic patricide or Oedipal complex as performed by a cultural group. There's plenty of psuedo-history, myth and innuendo out there for a sequel :)
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Summary: This is the best damn fiction you'll ever read
Review: Or it could be a pain in the *** tryin to figure out which facts are correct and which facts are not. Its kinda good for both kinds of people. If you like reading pulse racing fiction, you'll not want to put this book down. And if you are one of those hell bent on trying to pick faults, you will get lots of leads to do some research :) Either way, you should read it!
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Summary: No Big Whoop.
Review: Ordinarily, if I read a thriller like this I would not find the need to comment on it. However, there has been way too many accolades heaped upon a book that, while interesting, is poorly written, has cartoonish characters, and a simplistic plot.I can only surmise that some people "love" this book more for its fictional hypothesis than for any literary merit. And I'm not judging it by high-brow standards. Mr. Brown simply does not write as well as some of his contemporaries within the same genre. Mr. Brown does, however, have a finely-tuned ear. An ear that is able to pick up on the desire for people to re-write history to jibe with current sociological trends. This is fictional religious history for the "girls kick ass!" crowd. I suspect that Mr. Brown, in all honesty, wrote this book with more of an eye towards the "almighty dollar" than the "sacred feminine."
In which case, this book is a resounding success. What was it that PT Barnum said about suckers?
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Summary: It's Fiction, ladies and gentlemen
Review: Other reviewers hereabouts seem to be irate about the book's "research". For me Dan Brown has taken some readings of esoteric texts, various gospels etc. and woven a reasonably fun story of conspiracy and intrigue, not far removed from, say, an "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" which, incidentally, few confused with real history. Some might take the research herein seriously and feel challenged or threatened.
I would like to think, though, that most would regard this as airport blockbuster, leave your brain at the door fare. Or at least that readers might make some attempt to find out more. In which case they will come across, for instance, many online articles on the Priory of Sion and learn that there is much to suggest that this was a hoax. They would find all sorts of re-interpretations of who, or what, Jesus was - including a warrior, a rehash of previous myth elements, or even some sort of metaphor for magic mushrooms (I kid you not) as well as endless speculations as to His life and times. It's an endlessly ripe field, muddied by language and history, by what is included and what is excluded, historical accuracies and inaccuracies: a field in which the whole re-interpeting of ancient texts in order to support strange ideas was gently lampooned by Umberto Eco.
As for plotting - yup it's a rehash of all sorts of cliches - the albino assassin, the hero and heroine on the run, the aged male academic mentor who may or may not be what he seems. But maybe that is itself a use of traditional fictional signifiers in order to build a storyline. Or maybe not. Certainly a few cliches don't bother me - if they bother you what are you picking up this sort of blockbuster book for? There's enough facts and speculation here to keep me amused and make me want to know more, it whiled away a few pleasant hours and then I moved on.
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Summary: Should have waited to buy a 50-cent copy in a used-book sale
Review: Others in this space have already appropriately criticized Mr. Brown's sloppy "scholarship" / "research." But then, I didn't buy this book for scholarship. I did, however, expect to be entertained, not exasperated. I would say Mr. Brown's characterization is cartoonish, but that would serve only to insult great cartoon writers like Mort Walker and Charles Schulz. There isn't any sort of depth or development here. Yes, the plot unfolds over a mere two days, but a "master" (says Vince Flynn on the jacket) would have been able to give us more sharply defined characters. One has to do some of one's own Hollywood casting to put flesh on this screenplay. Moreover, Mr. Brown treats his readers like simpletons as he walks them by the hand through the solution of certain puzzles. This also has the effect of stretching credulity to its elastic limit. For example, are we seriously to believe that a Harvard symbologist (Langdon) and an expert on the Holy Grail (Teabing) are stumped by a clue that is written backwards? Langdon says "My first guess is Semitic" -- you've got to be joking, Mr. Brown! Langdon, knowing of Sauniere's admiration for da Vinci and presumably knowing of da Vinci's use of mirror-image script, would have tried a backward reading first. Sophie Neveu, the DCPJ cryptographer, solves the puzzle only because she recognizes her grandfather Sauniere's writing. There are more such episodes, but there is not enough room here to review them. I won't even give this book away. Into the trash it goes. I've learned my lesson: this author's work is not worth the time or the money.
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Summary: Langdon and Sophie need to get it on sooner
Review: otherwise a great story! I wanted more heat between the lead characters but The movie will change that...
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Summary: Finally found three!
Review: Our book club finally found three books that we all agree are stellar. They are: THE LIFE OF PI by Martel, Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, and THE DA VINCI CODE. While all three are completely different, they are nevertheless great reads--each for different reasons. The Martel is fable/fiction and quite original, while the McCrae is hilarious yet horrifying, with scenes not to be believed! But the DA VINCI was enjoyed for what it was--a very accessible, quick and easy read, with some interesting facts and some interesting half-truths thrown in for good measure. Great fun! Also recommended: LIFE OF PI by Martel, and McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
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Summary: Great book club choice!
Review: Our book club read this book this past month. It sparked a lot of conversation and we all found it very interesting. You know a book is good when the majority of people reading it felt compelled to stay up really late every night reading until they finished it. In other words, we could not put it down. The codes were so interesting. Hight recommend this one.
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