The Da Vinci Code

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Summary: The Da Vinci Code is not only the greatest book of the year
Review: The Da Vinci Code is by far probably the best book I have ever read. This thriller sets the hook of all hooks and drags the reader along. I couldn't put it down. I was on my computer researching the historical information from the painting just to see that they were true! Dan Brown is pure genius!

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Summary: A Winner! Fun and Fast Reading!
Review: The Da Vinci Code is by far the most interesting book I've read in a while. It's good enough just as an intellectual mystery novel, but it's the controversial theory that makes it truly intriguing. It brings up many points about faith while presenting quite a shocking view of Christianity. It is easy to view this as an anti-Christianity novel, but I see it as more pro-truth. Brown does not seem to be calling for denouncement of the religion but rather for the seeking of truth about it, something I'm sure Christ would be all for.

If you're looking for a book that will challenge both your mind and your soul, look to The Da Vinci Code. It will make you look more closely at life itself. Two other quick, fun recommended Amazon purchases are: [e-mail] by Tom Grimes, The Losers Club by Richard Perez. Happy reading everyone! Happy Holidays!

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Summary: masterpiece-schmasterpiece
Review: The Da vinci Code is completely devoid of artistic value. It was designed to make money, which it certainly has. Let be an example to starving writers everywhere. P T Barnum was right.

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Summary: The Da Vinci Code Review
Review: The Da Vinci Code is Dan Brown's finest work yet. Follow Robert Langdon and Sophie Nevue as they try to solve the mysteries of a secret society Sophie's grandfather was involved with after his murder. They follow clues to knowledge that died with Sophie's grandfather, and they're running from both the police and the Church. As secrets unveil and the plot takes twists and turns, the Da Vinci Code will suck you in from the moment you open it to page one.
One of the specifics I enjoyed from the novel was how interesting the historical facts were, and how much I learned about the truth of the Church. This book certainly does not support Christianity. Another enjoyable aspect of the novel is it's fast-pace read, and how it never stays in one place for too long. There are also many shocking twists in the book, and it makes you want to keep reading. This book is great, and you'll never want to put it down.
There aren't many things I didn't like about the book, but there are a few faults. One of them is that some of the characters were a little bit too made-up, and it was difficult to believe in them. It's difficult for me to relate to the personality of a character that doesn't exist. Another aspect I might change is how much the book resembled a movie. Instead of a traditional descriptive text, the story moved like a dialogue for a motion picture. I also think that you don't get a good enough description of some important characters. Yet, overall, I recommend The Da Vinci Code if you're looking for a great mystery novel, or if you want to pass time. It's full of interesting facts, and it's a creative way to pass the time. This book is the shortest 450-page novel I've ever read.

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Summary: Good execution of a routine formula
Review: The Da Vinci Code is Dan Brown's suspense novel about the hunt for the Holy Grail and those who would stop its discovery. It is an intriguing presentation of theories about the Grail and various religious conspiracies, but fans of the suspense genre may sense a certain been-there-done-that feel to the book.

The story begins with Robert Langdon, a professor specializing in religious symbols, being called to the scene of a strange murder at the Louvre. The victim has conveniently taken long enough to die to leave a riddle behind, a riddle intended to team up Langdon with the victim's granddaughter, Sophie, and send them off on a quest for the Grail. They set off on this quest, pursued by the police (who think Langdon is the killer), a mysterious figure called the Teacher, and a giant albino monk who is hired muscle (all these types of novels have some freakish killer) and part of an extreme sect within the Catholic Church.

Apart from some interesting theories about the Church and the Grail and various pieces of art (such as the Mona Lisa), this novel doesn't offer much, but Brown does write well enough to keep things reasonably exciting. Though the story requires a lot of exposition, Brown does a good job of parceling it out in small doses mixed in with the action.

Although the theories in the story sometimes cross the line into implausibility, Brown does put together some rather intriguing concepts. This is far from a perfect novel, and far from an original one, but it is a fun one.

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Summary: Not a masterpiece
Review: THE DA VINCI CODE is disappointing. The problem is not that the book isn't fast paced and suspenseful - it is to both. But that's all it is. There are plenty of "hooks" and plot twists, but they occur on a page-to-page level. Once the story is established as a quest for the Holy Grail, the arc of the plot becomes highly predictable. That the story is about the search for the actual Holy Grail, and the biggest conspiracy in the history of western civilization, is another problem. The scope is as big as it seems. The suspension of disbelief becomes shaky less than halfway through the book and never recovers (side diatribes about the theological implications of THE LITTLE MERMAID don't help matters). As if that weren't bad enough, after we come to realize the story really is about the search for the Grail, even after its "true nature" is revealed, even after it is actually located... we don't get to see it. Had the book ended with some doubt about whether the Grail - and the massive conspiracy about it -- was real, hiding it would have worked. But by the end of the book there is no doubt about its authenticity. We are told somewhere in the middle of the story what type of thing the Grail really is (it isn't a cup), but we don't learn much more about it once its location is discovered. The whole thing has the unpleasant smell of the new-age self-help book, THE CELESTINE PROPHESY. Well, it wasn't quite that bad - but precisely because it wasn't that bad, it was even more disappointing.

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Summary: Couldn't Put It Down
Review: The Da Vinci Code is exceptional! It starts off a tad bit slow but really takes off after a hundred pages or so. The story is a good mystery with many twists and turns. I don't know how anyone could rate the story under a 4! Remember, don't be afraid to read this book if you are a devout christian. The book is not "historical" so do not read it as such. Focus on the story itself, not the "history lessons."

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Summary: Entertaining, Fast-Paced, Fun Read
Review: The Da Vinci Code is far from perfect, but that didn't keep me from flipping all 400+ pages in an afternoon. This book has much to offer:

1.) Interesting facts about artwork, the golden proportion, cryptography
2.) Details enough about Freemasonry, the Priory of Sion, Opus Dei, and the Knights Templar to make budding consipiracy theorists salivate
3.) Plenty of red herrings and foreshadowing to keep you guessing and revising your guesses
4.) Excellent pacing

Some readers may find the short chapters unusual, but they work well in maintaining multiple concurrent threads. The result is a page-turner in the truest sense--the reader almost feels as if he is in the same desperate chase as the characters.

The Da Vinci Code is far from perfect, however. The writing sometimes calls attention to itself, and the author often pauses the narrative to provide backstory and history lesson. The lines between historical fact and pure fiction are intentionally blurry, but that may be unsettling to some (devout) readers. And some scenes, including the ending, an interrogation early in the novel, and a climactic scene at Westminster Abbey, seem contrived.

Also--don't believe anything Brown says about Harvard...

Overall, this is a fun and entertaining book that doesn't deserve the harsh criticism it has received. I recommend it without reservation.

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Summary: The Da Vinci Code
Review: The Da Vinci Code is full of symbolism, allegory, suspense, and a myriad of mysteries that will have readers twisting and turning every chapter. This book kept me on the edge and wanting to know more and more. The many riddles in this book are intricately woven and geniously put in to keep the reader guessing. This book doesn't just jump around like others, but gives you, in full detail, the situation of the current events and any background information needed to understand (and there's a bunch). I thought that the symbolism and allegories were very intriguing, and they made me want to try and figure out what they could be before I actually knew the answer. And maybe the best part is that there seems to be no resolution, only climax right until the end! All-and-all, this is one of the best books that I have read.

This book is for anyone who loves to be toyed with and kept guessing before the revealing of the twisted truth. For those who like to find hidden meanings in allegories, this is a great book. The plot is consistent throughout, but it is how the story plays out that makes it most interesting. If you like tons of mystery and suspense that will make you want to stay up late at night just to figure out the next mystery, this book is for you. And let's not forget those who are interested in a novel that deals with religious artifacts, great action, and a good thriller.

Chris Protos

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Summary: Good fiction, bad history
Review: The Da Vinci Code is just about everything a good fiction novel should be. The topic is fresh and interesting, Dan Brown obviously has a command of the material, you'll learn a great deal while reading it (a la Crichton), the story is a page turner and Brown's prose is okay - about what you'd expect for this type of book. However, it *is* fiction, and before you run off and renounce your belief in a Christian god who isn't a woman, it's wise to remember that. As a work of fiction, "The Da Vinci Code" succeeds greatly. As a text to present facts, it is much less successful. Unfortunately, while I would love to just judge the book on things like characters, plot and dialogue, there is a great deal of information in this book that is presented in a very one-sided fashion that while entertaining, will certainly serve to confuse opinions of an already distraught religion.

I would liken Brown to a magician. A magician is one who creates an illusion, the audience buys into that illusion completely, and thus we have magic. Brown achieves the same result with "The Da Vinci Code." He is able to convince the reader that the very world is at stake within the outcome of this story, and that Da Vinci's opinion on a topic is as authoritative as the Bible itself. He accomplishes the first task by alluding to supernatural secrets early on, but very gradually reveals that this "world changing" secret is nothing more than the conspiracy theory of some cultish history club. However, Brown does it in such a way that we don't even notice it and the "secret" seems important right up until the end of the novel. This is not an easy thing to accomplish as a writer and it's why I say Brown largely succeeded. (I'll come back to this.) He achieves the second task of making the reader believe in Da Vinci's opinions as gospel by showing us things we've never seen before about his paintings, even though they are right in front of us. For the reader who looks up one of these painting on the internet and follows Brown's analysis of it, it can be startling and before you even realize it, you've forgotten that Da Vinci was just a man with an admittedly warped point of view. This ends the book review. What follows is a short commentary on the topic itself.

First, what's the validity of this secret of the Knights of Templar? Brown writes about their secret documents and what they say, and asserts that the originators of the Bible kept those works out for political reasons. This is conspiracy speak at its best. The fact is when you delve into the documents that weren't included in the canonical scripture, yes they say certain things that seem to contradict other areas of the Bible. But many of them also contain areas of factual inaccuracy, such as historical inaccuracies, that deems them of a dubious source. Compare that with the four Gospels - the most researched, time tested writings in this planet's history - and almost no discrepancies in transcription have been found, even with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, the logic that these documents were left out for political reasons is a little sketchy, since including them in the canon would only have tightened the cords between paganism and true Christianity, which is what the conspiracy "experts" assert Constantine was attempting to achieve. Lastly, how important would revealing these secret documents be, even if they directly contradicted established biblical truths? Would the foundations of Western culture come crumbling down around the black hole of the Catholic Church? I don't think so. Just because these documents, if they even exist, say something other than established scripture says, it doesn't mean they are accurate, especially considering they would be presented by people of a very strong theological bias which automatically questions their credibility. At best, all it would do would be to expose a slightly plausible alternative to traditional Christian texts, something that has stood the test of thousands of years and hundreds of scholars. Change the world? No more than Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses or Christian Scientists have, and probably less. There are masses of historical documents that say any number of things we as a culture don't largely believe. This would only be one more set. And most of what Brown criticizes about organized religion applies to Catholicism only - the horrors of the crusades, the intertwining of paganism with Christ - these things were largely addressed by something Brown conveniently ignores, something called the "reformation" which has given us the entirety of Protestantism, a tradition free from the Papal influence he calls into question.

And at the end of the book I was left feeling Brown had done an excellent job of making something out of nothing. He had given the façade of importance to a discovery that would probably make national news, might merit a National Geographic channel hour-long special and maybe would give those few remaining Catholics on the fence after their priests unthinkable actions an excuse to bail out.

So we're back to fiction. As a work of fiction, "The Da Vinci Code" stands strong. I just hope people don't take it too seriously.