Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars for a great book, but -2 for bad research!
Review: Since it is written as a vehicle for supposed 'facts' I have to give this a 1... because the facts are distorted or outright fabricated. However, it was well written and highly enjoyable as a story... very fast paced. I'm looking forward to book three of the Robert Langdon stories.That said, let me go over some of the weaknesses: For starters, Jesus is not mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls are Jewish texts, not Christian. There are no accounts of the Gospel, standard or otherwise. Next up. sex rites were NEVER performed in the Jewish Temple. There is absolutely nothing to suggest there were. This is one of the most absurd claims I have ever heard. The author gives two reasons the Crusades were launched... two opposing reasons. Were they a product of AOMPS or the Vatican? Make up your mind! The Knights Templar were not exterminated by the Vatican, but by King Philip le Bel of France. In some countries, they got off practically Scot Free (pun intended). Most modern scholars who have actual degrees in European history discount the stories of Joseph of Arimathea and the Magdalen fleeing to France. Perpetuation of these stories is an outright deception. Finally, the Council of Nicea did not "vote" on the divinty of Jesus... merely to include the statment in the Nicean Creed. The author seems not to know that an intact codex of Matthew from the secind century exists, and it is identical to our current copies... no alterations. Please, read the book, but read it as fiction... ALL FICTION.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining? Yes! Edifying? You Decide
Review: Since Mel Gibson's movie is being released today, I'm sure more people than ever will be reading The Da Vinci Code. I thought this book was a good one - thought provoking, entertaining, providing a good mystery filled with historical data. It seems to evoke either a very positive response from readers or a very negative one. Me? I loved it. It's been discussed at family dinners more than once, and each time, it's a thrilling discussion.
Rating:
Summary: Help me Jebus and Dan Brown - HELP ME!
Review: Since my life consists of sitting around here on Wackoff Ave doing nothing but watching old PORN and writing review after review of this book, I reluctantly decided to let go of my wang (2 fingers baby - all the way!)and write yet another review. People, this book is consuming way too much of my precious time. I've got to figure out a way to leave it go. I will soon die. (I really should write 'let it go' but us unedumacated types don't know no better.) JEBUS AND DAN BROWN, SHOW ME THE WAY!
Rating:
Summary: A twist to the very end.........
Review: Since the book has been out for almost a year, guess I'm a late bloomer on this one. I'd have to say it's THE best book I've read in ages.
The subject matter is fascinating and illuminating. Brown did a tremendous job taking the topic and weaving a superb suspense novel. It's classified as fiction, however, it certainly has some very valid points. With the world situation as it is, it made this reader pause and think.
I already have Angels & Demons sitting here ready to start. A genius of an author with a unique twist on an old subject. The story gripped me till the very end, as one twist after another was revealed.
Well done!
Rating:
Summary: What I mainly got from this book
Review: Since there are many reviews on this book, I will not get into the plot. Of course, it is an intense one with lots of rapid page turning. The main thing I got from this book is how our world has lost touch with the feminine side. Not to say that it is completely gone yet it is definately not balanced with the masculine. Look at the world and see how the masculine energy is expressing itself. The book seems to stress a need for balance in ourselves and the world in general. This was what I think the main issue was, at least for me. The arts are they really that or a commercial venture that is about money? I don't think its all like that, yet it is definately not balanced. Is technology being balanced with the art in schools, in general. Well the book didn't get into this conflict yet I could see how the feminine energy is out of sink with the masculine in these areas as well as other areas. I am grateful to have a deeper awareness of this after reading Dan Brown's book. I truly believe that the reason it is such a hit is because it is really triggering us on not just a conscious level. Lisa Nary
Rating:
Summary: Fun from the first page
Review: Smart, exciting, not bogged down in goopy romantic interest though it's there.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical Ivy League feminist-marxist theory
Review: So much has been said about this book... I will just poing out some serious flaws I noted. 1) In the typical marxist fashion, too many ideas and concepts are presented as dichotomies. Endlessly, Christianity and Christian Europe is presented as "masculine" and has directly suppressed previous "feminine" religious concepts that existed in Pre-Christian Europe. While this is a tiresome theme within the halls of academia, the ignorance portrayed here is startling. Did this author ever read Nietzsche? Pagan Europe was one of a tremendous variety of gods and religions. The chief criticisms of monotheistic religions (or dualistic religions as the author seems to favor) is that they present a limited number of ideals to the people. Rather than the tremendous variety of ideals (and human characteristics) that existed in the classical world, the author seems to believe there was only a masculine and feminine ideal. This is false. 2) The second major critique of Christianity is that it supplants normal masculine behavior with feminine behavior. Feminism, despite its endless ramblings, still has an extremely limited understand of what masculinity truly is. A truly masculine religion would not condemn violence, demand monogamy, and trivialize creativity. 3) If the reproductive aspect of femininity was truly repressed in the world, the human population would not be increasing at such precipitous rate. The god of war has always been a part of more natural religions due to the understanding that death and destruction is a part of life. Too much life is what throws the world out of balance, and only through death can that balance be restored. Despite the authors anti-christian ramblings, his lack of appreciation of war, violence, and killing is ultimately a very christian moralism. 4) The discussion of symbols is so trite I was laughing hysterically. Also in a typical feminist fashion, sexuality is portrayed as dominant aspect of life, including symbols and language. When will they learn it is females who are obsessed with sexuality, not the other way around? I would have much preferred the authors discussiong of the Swastika than the Lambda symbol which he could not even identify as such. That symbol is used on military uniforms because it was the symbol of Sparta(...). Further, such simplistic symbols are hardly as meaningful as the author wishes us to believe.
Rating:
Summary: Breaking The Da Vinci Code
Review: So the divine Jesus and infallible Word emerged out of a fourth-century power-play? Get real.
Perhaps you've heard of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. This fictional thriller has captured the coveted number one sales ranking at Amazon.com, camped out for 32 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List, and inspired a one-hour ABC News special. Along the way, it has sparked debates about the legitimacy of Western and Christian history. While the ABC News feature focused on Brown's fascination with an alleged marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, The Da Vinci Code contains many more (equally dubious) claims about Christianity's historic origins and theological development. The central claim Brown's novel makes about Christianity is that "almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false." Why? Because of a single meeting of bishops in 325, at the city of Nicea in modern-day Turkey. There, argues Brown, church leaders who wanted to consolidate their power base (he calls this, anachronistically, "the Vatican" or "the Roman Catholic church") created a divine Christ and an infallible Scripture-both of them novelties that had never before existed among Christians. Watershed at Nicea
Brown is right about one thing (and not much more). In the course of Christian history, few events loom larger than the Council of Nicea in 325. When the newly converted Roman Emperor Constantine called bishops from around the world to present-day Turkey, the church had reached a theological crossroads. Led by an Alexandrian theologian named Arius, one school of thought argued that Jesus had undoubtedly been a remarkable leader, but he was not God in flesh. Arius proved an expert logician and master of extracting biblical proof texts that seemingly illustrated differences between Jesus and God, such as John 14:28: "the Father is greater than I." In essence, Arius argued that Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly share God the Father's unique divinity. In The Da Vinci Code, Brown apparently adopts Arius as his representative for all pre-Nicene Christianity. Referring to the Council of Nicea, Brown claims that "until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet ... a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless." In reality, early Christians overwhelmingly worshipped Jesus Christ as their risen Savior and Lord. Before the church adopted comprehensive doctrinal creeds, early Christian leaders developed a set of instructional summaries of belief, termed the "Rule" or "Canon" of Faith, which affirmed this truth. To take one example, the canon of prominent second-century bishop Irenaeus took its cue from 1 Corinthians 8:6: "Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ."
Rating:
Summary: Come on folks . . .
Review: So this is the publishing event of the year? I never thought I'd agree with Harold Bloom and all those other literary snobs, but this is a sad commentary on the American reader. This book fails on almost every level. First, the writing: simply horrible - honestly I can't remember reading such wretched prose. It's written at the eighth grade level. Yes, it moves along quickly, but that's only because each chapter is about 800 words. People have been coming up to me and trying to pass off the information they gleaned from this book as historical fact - folks, it's not true! Brown has done just enough research to pull the wool over your eyes, but if you approach a real scholar of church history, ancient history, or art history they will double over laughing that you bought this tripe. Please, please before you decide this is the best book you've ever read try some non-bestsellers, maybe even a classic, like The World According to Garp by Irving, the Fifth Head of Cerberus by Wolfe, Peace Like a River by Enger or the Blind Assassain by Atwood. Those are great books. This is a thinly sketched outline for the next brainless hollywood blockbuster.
Rating:
Summary: If only it lived up to the hype
Review: So, a few years ago Dan Brown wrote a book called "Angels & Demons" which was the first appearance of our intelligent superhero Robert Langdon. In short, that book talked about a conspiracy related to Vatican, art history, a mysterious organization, and fast-paced action. The thing about "The DaVinci Code" is that it is an almost exact copy of Brown's previous book. A young, attractive and intelligent girl who's father has been murdered and who helps our beloved protagonist. A mind-boggling conspiracy spanning several centuries and involving some of the brightest minds of our history. A disarming and, let's face it, interesting array of facts and trivia about art, history, symbology and life in general. If you take all of these pieces and put them together the result should be a satisfying thriller, but despite being thrilled and excited throughout the whole ride, neither of Brown's books can be called satisfying when you finally close the book. To me both of these books are like parts of a James Bond-like series. A series that is meant to be more intelligent than the adventures of double-0-seven, but as action packed and as filled with themes of world domination/destruction. Brown manages to pull the more intelligent part off nicely but his characters are not 3D enough for us to care and his storylines are too twisty to feel real. And believe me when I tell you that Brown's talent as a writer isn't helping much. All in all this book is an entertaining read but the right course of obtaining this would be borrowing from a friend.
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