Rating: 
Summary: Warning about this book.
Review: Those christian readers that take the bible literally, believe everything they are told by their church, and are not used to critical thinking should stay away from this book. You will waste money on a book that is going to cause you anger and frustration (see some of the reviews here...).
To all others I really recomend this book. It is both enlighting and entertaining. Remember that it is fiction, but you will read about a lot of facts that you probably didn't know.
Rating: 
Summary: People! Beware of "fiction" books full of half-truths...
Review: Those other one-star reviewers are right! This book is full of untruths. It occured to me that I've read other so-called "fiction" books full of untruths (and the even scarier half-truths), too. It's a conspiracy, for sure, being carried out by the liberal, leftist, academic elite.For example, I was reading this other "fiction" book called "The Lord of the Rings", and it occured to me that this Tolkien guy was just full of it. I mean, there's no such thing as Elves or Goblins, or, geez, Hobbits! Magic rings? Give me a break. He even goes so far as to include a map of this so-called "Middle Earth". Middle of what? I only know of one Earth, and it's the whole thing. I'm tellin' ya, that book was just full of out-and-out falsehoods. And *oy*, with the singing all the time, I mean give me a break! The nerve this guy has to fill a "fiction" book with untruths. I give it one star, and from now on I'm only reading true fiction!
Rating:
Summary: Pure Fiction
Review: Those who like to solve puzzles will like aspects of this book; however, the puzzles do wear on the reader after a while. Disappointingly, the trail of cryptograms, puzzles, and the like ultimately leads back to the origin. The search for the Holy Grail is never definitively concluded, but hints abound as to what constitutes this religious symbol. It is this suggestion that is most troubling. The "Code" is a fictional tale built upon what is purported to be a factual underpinning. It is that foundation which cries out be challenged. The central theme of the book is that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife and that the Catholic Church, through the agency of Constantine and the early popes, conspired to suppress this information to suit their own purposes. The truth, we are told, is to be revealed in the Holy Grail, a series of documents that will uncover the reality of the situation. This "truth" has been kept by a secret society called the Priory of Sion, one of whose members was Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo, painting in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, was aware of secrets dating from the first century, that virtually no one outside of the Priory knew. The manifestation of this knowledge is included in Leonardo's painting of the Last Supper where, we are told, the apostle on Jesus' immediate right is Mary Magdalene. No matter that the New Testament names the twelve, with Mary's name being conspicuously absent. The names of the apostles listed in the canon were presumably altered by the early Church. Not only that, but it is suggested that the chalice which contained the blood of Christ is not, as so many believe, the Holy Grail since Leonardo paints cups before all of the apostles (i.e., there was not just one cup at the last supper). Again Leonardo becomes the ultimate arbiter; however, those readers who are perceptive might realize that it is possible that, as Leonardo suggests, each apostle had his own cup, but only in Jesus' cup was wine transformed. The latter cup could then have been passed to the apostles. Then again, the logic in this book is used up in solving puzzles. Where is the evidence for all of this? From whence does it come? This so-called evidence has been part of a feminist attack on the underpinning of the Catholic Church for some time. It is an assault that the Jesus Seminar would love and is based on the questionable gospels of Mary (i.e., Mary Magdalene) and of Philip. These texts were almost certainly written well over a century after the synoptic Gospels and are part of the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt. There are no know Christian origins to these texts. It seems likely that they represent a mixture of Christian belief and local religious ideology. For example, these texts, in accord with their Gnostic origins, may have been written partly to justify the use of ... orgies in certain of the Gnostic rituals, a circumstance which is lauded in "Code." The sword of conspiracy, you see, can cut both ways. Much of this is treated in a scolarly fashion in "Hidden Gospels, How the Search For Jesus Lost Its Way" by Philip Jenkins. The latter states, "Feminist interpretations of the hidden gospels represent a triumph of hope over judgment." For me, the real problem with this novel is its willingness to attack the beliefs of a major religion with precious little credible supporting evidence. In our society, have we reached the point where there is nothing sacred? We attack the most respected of our heros and institutions (Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?). The author, Dan Brown has been quoted as saying, "I think there will be people for whom the book will be---well, 'offensive' may be be too strong a word." No, Mr. Brown, it is not too strong a word.
Rating:
Summary: Punches our culture's cheap hot buttons
Review: Those who think that witches and worshipers of the mother goddess are well-meaning, harmless, put-upon folks whose aim is to do good to people will no doubt love this book. Those who think that witches are often in league with demons and that demons are very real, and mean to bring harm to us humans, will very likely not like CODE at all. I am in the latter group, and for that reason I found the book annoying. Because it is also written in a terribly amateurish style, I also found it tedious. It's a little well paced and suspenseful, but once the author's agenda became clear it lost most of its tenuous hold on me. How the author came by his apparent reputation for careful research is a mystery. His research appears neither careful nor truthful. It could be that he is merely mistaken about some things, but in other cases it looks very much that he is intentionally distorting or falsifying what he must know to be true for the sake of his agenda, which is extraordinarily pro-goddess and anti-Catholic. Much of what he asserts about the Church is not merely false, but ridiculously so. Other reviewers have mentioned several instances that I won't repeat here, but for one point. Brown mentions a fifteenth century book called THE WITCHES HAMMER, calling it perhaps the most blood-soaked book in history, being responsible for perhaps as many as 9,000,000 deaths of alleged witches. Such an extraordinarily improbable statement demanded some research of my own. I found, first, that in 1500 - near the publication of the HAMMER - the entire population of Europe including Russia and the Ottoman Empire was a little under 62 million. That would have meant burning at the stake 1 of evey 7 people in Europe, a calamitous rate that would have rivaled the Black Death. It simply did not happen. The second thing I found was an English translation of the HAMMER itself. I read it, too, which perhaps the author did not. It is a late-medieval manual to aid Churchmen in dealing with witches of the time. The translator's introduction, which amounts to a 40-page historical essay neatly summarizing the issues is well worth reading even if you don't delve into the HAMMER itself. On the whole it is an extraordinarily interesting work. It makes a good companion piece to CS Lewis' masterpiece THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, or Malachi Martin's HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL, or the two recent volumes by Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome. For that matter THE EXORCIST by William Peter Blatty, which served as the basis for the famous movie of the same name, would be well worth reading. It was novelized, but it was nevertheless based on a real case. For those who believe in neither demons nor the pernicious effects of witches, I suggest that they merely open their everyday eyes and look around. Now that witches have become a popular item in our culture, consider the Zantops' Dartmouth murders; the sniper murders in Maryland; the Columbine High School murders; the Manson murders. Remember when the Manson events burst on the scene? How it was unheard of before? That was only 30 years ago! Worship of the mother goddess and the witchcraft that seems to go pretty much hand in hand with it are by no means harmless. They are malignant influences, and this book seems intent on preaching them to its readers. No thanks; not for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Robert Langdon & the Search for the Holy Grail
Review: Though I enjoyed this fine book, at moments it felt like I was reading something already being prepared for the screen. It concerns me when a character (Robert Langdon) is compared to an actor (Harrison Ford). Still, the story was compelling, active, and sometimes thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: I'll give em this
Review: Though the plot is completely in error when it comes to the bible, the man is a creative writer who weaves a wonderfully enganging story. Nice piece of fiction. But make no mistake, this is fiction. Also, if you like non-fiction books I suggest, The Little Guide To Happiness.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read deserving of its bestseller status
Review: Though this novel won't go down as a classic of modern literature, this bestseller is a surprisingly good read. The pacing reminded me of "The Firm", one of those rare books that draws you in from the start and keeps up the suspense (and the reader into the late hours of the night). The beauty of The DaVinci Code is that not only does it provide suspense, but it also causes readers to analyze theology, art, architecture, history and organized religion. Even though the book is obviously fiction and undoubtedly takes liberties with its subject matter, this book will get your mind going. I would bet that online images of DaVinci's "The Last Supper" have gotten quite a few looks over the last year. I know that I took a second look at several of his works and did some online research while reading this book. Please note that Brown puts forth many ideas in The DaVinci Code that are contrary to established religious doctrine. If you are leery of any writing that introduces mythology, secret societies and pagan belief systems, then this is not a book for you. I am sure that this book receives many negative reviews solely based on a reader's disagreement with the subject matter. Remember that this is just an intriguing work of fiction, approach it with an open mind and I think you will enjoy it. There are several negatives to point out. The protagonists are Robert Langdon, an American symbologist and Sophie Neveu, a French cryptologist. That is about all you need to know about them because character development was sacrificed in the interests of maintaining the action and suspense. Unfortunately, the characters are used only to drive the plot and introduce the ideas/puzzles that make this book so unique. A bizarre murder forces them to race across Paris and England to unlock the clues to a mystery that has existed for centuries. Along the way, they must withstand vigorous pursuit from the French police, rogue members of an ultra-conservative Catholic sect and other mysterious antagonists. I must say that there were a few times during their adventure that I had to "willingly suspend my disbelief" a little more than I might for most novels. Also, I found that there were several predictable moments in the story. But for me, the biggest disappointment was chapter 105, when Robert invites Sophie to Florence. Gag... Brown did nothing with the characters along the way to make this relationship believable but story-telling convention required him to have the male and female protagonists romantically attached. Despite its weaknesses, The DaVinci Code is an entertaining read deserving of its continued bestseller status. This book goes beyond the traditional thriller and gets readers to think about the world around them, though definitely not in a way that the Vatican would approve!
Rating: 
Summary: Entertainment value only
Review: Three people recommended this book to me so with anticipation I read it over the course of a few days. It is an acceptable mystery that moves along although some of the dialog is amateurish or maybe just aimed at the poorly educated reader. There is quite a bit of repetition so that at points in the novel where I would normally have read very carefully I was able to quickly breeze through because I knew the same idea would be repeated several times in the next few pages. The symbolism uses such loose associations that it is difficult to believe if not downright scary that people buy into it so thoroughly. Finally as only a wedding, funeral, and holiday churchgoer the ideas about the early days of Christianity were of little interest. When the movie is released, I will be sitting at home reading something more thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning, Well Researched, Beautiful Book !!
Review: Through a very ingenious mystery plot, Dan Brown tries to present the complex roots of modern Christianity. The book makes one wonder why women were cast out of most modern religions, so it is not the "normal" dogma that we are used to, and may explain some of the more negative & emotional reviews. Contrary to those reviews, this book is NOT an anti-religion tome. It celebrates and is very respectful of human spirituality, in all its forms. It tries to explain, in a historical context, how religions came to be what they are today. The end is particularly wonderful, with a final analysis that should leave everyone feeling good about their beliefs, whatever they are. BUT, let me emphasize, The Da Vinci Code it isn't *just* about religion -- it is also a thrilling detective story. Despite a great opening page, I do agree that the beginning is just a tiny bit slow, but is more than compensated for, later on. It is so well written, that I could not figure out who the "bad guy" was even at the very end! Dan Brown weaves a twisting and turning plot that finishes elegantly, without lowering itself to explaining a bunch of loose ends, in the final chapter! I can't wait for the movie to come out!
Rating:
Summary: I have to review the triller and the basis separately....
Review: To be fair, I cannot review this book as one cohesive work. Rather, it is two works. One is an adventure thriller, and the other is a persuasive essay on historical conspiracy. So here goes: THE THRILLER is fairly written. The plot (in terms of character movements) is extremely paint-by-numbers, and the characters are a tad one-dimensional in the sense that they tend to be melodramatic extremes, almost comic-booky at times. In that sense, the Da Vinci Code is to it's genre what LEFT BEHIND was to another, or any TOM CLANCY book to yet another. It's selling point is the background, and divorced of that, the actual story is very mundane. Few people would enjoy this book without being interested in the conspiracy theories, in the same way you have to believe and accept the Rapture to "get" Left Behind or you have to believe Tom Clancy's military expertise to totally accept his stories. It is the conspiracy that sells an otherwise uninteresting and unexceptional thriller. THE CONSPIRACY aspect is hard to review. I mean, what good does it do even attempt to review it? The kinds of people who believe this sort of thing, be it this sort of anti-Christian bigotry, or similar agenda-driven theories such as holocaust denying, believe what they do because of issues in their own lives. Facts don't matter to them. So I won't touch on it. I'll simply dismiss it.
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