Rating: 
Summary: My mind is still spinning!!!
Review: This book challenges everything you have been taught your whole life about religion. Not only entertaining and heart-pouding, this book really questions the core of the readers beliefs. I can imagine that many extremely devout Christians will be upset at this book, but God gave us free will and the ability to question. What is amazing is that I don't know what I think of my previous definition of God anymore. I can feel the student in me getting excited about learning again. This is a must read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Mind Blowing
Review: This book completely blew my mind. It is not often that I read a novel that had me immediately, after reading the last page, running to my computer to research the secret societies, symbols and other topics of this book. I found it very intriguing and exciting. It is definitely a book that makes you think and I wouldn't consider it a light fast read, although not being able to put it down myself, it didn't take me long to finish it. Definitely one of those books that you wish could last another 300 pages. A MUST READ!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Chilling read
Review: This book deals with the perplexing tale of a litte rubber duck who happens to murder Dan Vinchi. It all started back in Battery Park, New York City, New York, United States of America, Planet Earth. The rubber ducky himself was murdered by back in the galactic year 200.000.000.000.000.009 on a small palnet now know as Dgr'po'nâr by the native inhabitatns. But he was reincarnated as Derk Witherspoon (an english cattle farmer) in the year 1694 (Western time). I leave the rest for you to discover within the pages of this beatifully bound edition of The Vinc'i Code.
Rating:
Summary: Shed's a new light on religion and writing...
Review: This book DOES NOT deserve 3.5 stars from Amazon readers. Many deeply pious people blame Brown for writing such "propaganda" against religion, upset in his trying to discredit their beliefs in that of the church. Well I disagree, strongly. Everything Brown has released in The Da Vinci Code is not new information. Although it is new information to many readers, the same information was known already by historians, researchers, etc. The points Brown brings up are valid and well researched, and not just pulled from the air. He not only presents facts which I have never known about, but he has the amazing ability to create a FICTIONAL story around them. He is simply the messenger, and as the quote goes, "Dont kill the messenger". Now for the review:
D.V.C is a great book, one of the best I have ever read, and for that, it deserves 5 stars. Before starting this book, I had finished Angels & Demons, and thought it cannot get any better. It didn't. Don't get me wrong, like I said before, D.V.C is amazing, however compared to A & D, it is not nearly as fast paced or suspensful. As a whole, it is quite a feat that 3 out of 5 of the best books I have ever read have been Dan Brown's.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book does not live up to the hype. Its a quick and easy read because the chapters are very short and virtually every one ends in a cliffhanger. In between cliffhangers the characters stand around explaining things to each other with long verbal dissertations about feminine symbolism. The ideas presented are old conspiracy-theory stuff, which is ok in itself, but I think the author reaches too far into the unbelievable (Disney? The Vatican is broke?) The Big Secret is not a new idea, either. The ending of this book is particularly silly. I only gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because it inspired me to learn something about the Council of Nicea on my own - certainly a very important event in history, but not accurately portrayed in this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and Interesting
Review: This book does not read like others in the sence that the story developes as the characters do. Dan Brown writes in a style that allows the reader to feel accomplshment by using so many short chapters. It allows you to keep the interest of the multiple plots that are developing without loosing track of any one story while they intertwine. The story developes at a very fast pace and will keep you entertained to the end. Highly reccommended reading.
Rating: 
Summary: I would rate it lower if I could
Review: This book fails on so many different levels. Firstly, the author's specious scholarship and poor exegesis(because he claims that all "history" presented in the book is true), secondly as literature, and thirdly...well, I'll get to that. This book caters to women's reading groups. It is meant to reinforce femminism. It fails in this respect also. The lead female character, Sofia, is a dumb twit with no common sense, who spends most of the novel being tiresomely lectured by her male cohorts. Also, one of them purports to being a professor of "symbology". There is no such field of study. What the author refers to is properly called "semiotics". If he makes such ridiculous errors in such basic areas, how can the rest of his scholarship be trusted? Also, Mr. Brown has based the majority of his "research" on a book called 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' by Elaine Pagels. This book is a severe case of revisionist history with a sinister agenda. It is based, mostly on Gnostic gospels, many of which were not written until at least a hundred years after Jesus' death and for some reason are given more credibility by Ms. Pagels than the four canonical Gospels, of which the earliest was written about 30 years after Jesus' death and the latest about 90 years. Does this make any sense at all? In addition I agree with the reader from Evergreen, CO about the mistaken theory of Mary Magdalen being in Leonardo's 'The Last Supper' painting. Also,this painting is not a fresco as Mr. Brown claims. That is precisely the reason that it continues to deteriorate. Another case of poor scholarship is Mr. Brown's presentation of the witch trials in medieval Europe. Firstly, only about 50,000 "witches" were killed. Secondly, not all of them were executed by burning. Thirdly, only half of them were killed by the Roman Catholic Church. The rest of them were killed by the local governments and protestants. The inquisition is also given a very skewed presentation. To top it all off, Mr. Brown's plot is ridiculous. None of the characters ever sleep (over the course of several days)and yet none of them are ever tired. They all think just as clearly as if they were getting 8 hours a night(except for Sofia, who has no common sense). Also, Sofia pulls a painting off the wall in the Louvre and threatens to run her knee through it. This painting is actually 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. She must have taken alot of steriods the previous day. There are many other errors of this nature. In conclusion, this book is nothing but poorly written, poorly researched, anti-Catholic (or even more broadly anti-Christian)garbage. It says something about people today that this book is a best-seller. It shows that anything presented in an attractive format with a good dose of scandal purpoting to be truth can sell and even change lives(for the worse)because we're all too lazy to do a little background reading and are all too willing to take scandal at face value. Why? Because we're bored. If you want to know the truth, read 'Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way'
by Philip Jenkins. God help us.
Rating:
Summary: fresh and innovating recommend to anyone
Review: This book fell into my radar when I saw this book on the bestsellers list. I became curious about the book realizing that the book had topped the chart for many weeks. I knew nothing about the book at the time but bought it anyway on a whim. Once I started reading the book I was hooked and read the book practically nonstop and finished the book in a mere 3 days! It seemed to me that Brown found the formula to write a bestselling novel. The book has pace and the characters always are on the move which adds to the tension that is always maintained in the book. But the real formula of this book's success was the mixing of known historical facts and making grandiose implications of conspiracy and adding believability to the story. Conspiricies regarding DaVinci and his works of art, the conspiracy of the writing of the gospels, and the relations of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. All of these conspiracies have real elements backed by evidence and yet are not complete to tell the whole picture. If you are on the way towards buying this book don't forget to visit danbrown.com he's got a couple of webquests that help you kill time as well as promote other books he's published. It worked on me because I've already purchased a second book written by him.
Rating: 
Summary: Great up until about midway.
Review: This book grabbed my attention from the beginning and by its midpoint, I was trying to veryify the information on the internet. A lot of what is in the book is based on fact, and a lot of it is speculation and then the rest is pure fiction. Still, it's a fun read and a good mystery. The reason for the 3 stars is that I thought Dan Brown chickened out toward the end and took the easy road out. The story is far-fetched in parts and I don't even mind that but he started with a certain premise and then abandoned it. I no longer understand why the priory is holding so dear the location of the grail. Who are they protecting it from????
Rating:
Summary: In a word - FANTASTIC!
Review: This book grips you from the first page. It keeps you in suspense, with many twists and turns, right until the end. The author's vast knowledge of religion and art history certainly lend to the suspense and makes The Da Vinci Code stand out from other books in this genre. Have an art history book on hand when you read it - and maybe a bible and the Internet, too. Have fun!
|
