Rating: 
Summary: Great and challenging
Review: When I first laid my eyes on the Davinci Code I had my doubts. I wasn't interested in reading a book in the adult category. I'm only 14 after all. When I started reading it though, I literally couldn't put it down. There was adventure, mystery, riddles, interesting facts and even romance. I was stunned that an author could actually put all of that into one book and make it work. The Davinci Code most importantly, raised questions that before I didn't bother thinking about. I know that I couldn't possibly know if the questions raised were valid or correct. All I know is that the book caused people to look at new options and ideas, even when their religion compelled them not to. If a book can accomplish that, cause people to think about explanations they had just taken for granted, then that book is really something. It's up to the readers to think what that something is. So I thank Dan Brown for a new perspective, a fresh way of thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheesy Farce Fiction
Review: When I first picked up The DaVinci Code, I'll admit I was curious. Almost immediately the reader is catapulted into an intense Parisian murder scene at the Louvre. I was into it, really into it, I actually devoted up to six hours of a saturday to read this book. However, I found myself shaking my head more and more saying, "no, this is ridiculous." And then there just came a point when I said no to the whole idea of it. The distortion of facts about DaVinci and his paintings is just TOO much. Not only does the book become a complete farce, but the writing deteriorates at a rapid pace as well. The whole thriller starts unraveling with laughable coincidence that springs up from places where you would most obviously expect.
The person I really felt bad for after putting this book down was the man who had been defamed with no way to save himself, that would be Leonardo DaVinci. Readers would be wiser to pick up an actual art history book that truthfully follows this master painter.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read as fiction but disappointing credit to researchers
Review: When I first picked up this book on recommendation from various sources, I didn't know it was based on the Templar / Grail myth. The world of shadowy yet powerful secret societies and multi-layered codes created by Dan Brown is no doubt fascinating, I could scarsely put the book down. As a suspense novel, it is an exciting ride that will have you cradling the book by your bedside lamp til dawn. However, about 3/4 into the book I started having reservations about his work... since I already know of the alternative history of the Holy Grail, I was disturbed by how little he gives credit to actual researchers who paved way for his own success. Yes, the book is categorized as "fiction", but if the entire idea of Da Vinci having a coded message in his paintings is practically ripped from the first chapter of The Templar Revelation by Lynn Picknett, you'd think he would mention it more than just including it in a character's library. ...P>The grail myth serves as a great device to further the story, however, the ambigious nature of it brings up questions that Brown never resolves in the end. By only using the surface intrigues of the myth (for example, Da Vinci's hidden symbols) and ignoring deeper questions of "the truth" (would such influential men do so much to worship the heir of an extinct dynasty? What is their true motive?) Brown muddles the true puzzles of the myth by giving it a rather Indiana Jones kind of ending. Bottomline: Great exciting read for the un-initiated. Grail enthusiasts will already know the "big kaboom" and will be disappointed by "the conclusion".
Rating: 
Summary: Great!
Review: When I first started reading the book, I was quickly absorbed in its pages and couldn't put it down. I loved the plot, learning more about the Holy Grail and all these societies that really existed. I can't say that Brown is an extraordinary writer literary style-wise, but his plot is brilliantly created.I have to say though, that I predicted some of the mysteries that he created and when I found I was right, I was ironically disappointed because that meant that he wasn't that great of a writer like I thought. However, this book is an overall great triller and thoguh I don't plan on reading any other of Brown's books, I definitely recommended buying this one! I did not give the book 5 stars just because I felt that the book could have been better written, not plot wise but with richer language.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: When I first started reading this book I was eager to become immersed in what I had been assured by many was a brilliant novel. If there is brilliance within these pages, I see no evidence. The plot itself starts with an intriguing idea, but there is so little in the way of particulars to flesh it out, so it barely gets beyond that initial stage. Much of this impression of scant detail is given by the author's tight fisted grip on information he prefers to keep from the reader in order to set up big revelations later in the book. Yes, mystery is an excellent device, but in this case it was overdone. It just made it apparent that there were so few actual details to be shared that they had to be rationed-doled out one at a time. Even assuming that the reader has read Angels and Demons and knows the hero, character development is poor. Even given the rather unsurprising surprises the author does eventually reveal, it wouldn't be out of the question for the pages of introspection to be slightly more indicative of the characters' thought processes and emotional state. Granted, I can see the author was attempting to keep us from guessing too much and thereby spoiling his surprises, but part of the joy of reading a novel, even a fast-paced thriller, is getting to know the characters. Without that, we're given no reason to care what happens to them. Instead of such character development, we get page after page of exposition that seems to have no place within the plot. Disney? The Little Mermaid? These meandering notions have no purpose here. They do not further the plot. They do not shed light on some piece of the narrative. If we're supposed to be overawed by the hero's surpassing intelligence in noticing things in Disney films that imply knowledge of the Grail, perhaps the hero should be more to us than a one-dimensional character sucked into a murder investigation. The story itself was remarkably poorly written in many ways, but the most glaring was that, in the midst of what should be a moment of unbearable suspense, the action stopped as the narrative went off on a tangent. An interesting tangent perhaps, but still inserted awkwardly in a moment perhaps best left whole. By the time we resume where the action was suspended, it's hard to recapture the original emotion. The hero, Robert Langdon is a professor and unfortunately resorts to lecture mode often. I often half-expected him to pull a chalkboard out of his pocket, start scribbling on it and say, "You see, Sophie..." When he did resort to doodles on a piece of paper at Teabing's house I laughed out loud. Many of the facts he regurgitates-either in lectures to others or in the privacy of his own thoughts-seem to be included either for the purpose of proving that the author did, in fact, do research, or for the purpose of padding the novel and adding length. Both of which tactics one would expect from a student writing his/her first paper but not from a published author. I won't go into the art history here as other reviewers with better credentials in that field have discussed it except to say that Mary Magdalene is not in DaVinci's The Last Supper. It might have made the other rather far-fetched clues a bit more believable if the author had limited himself to things that are actually in the painting. Building clues around familiar pieces of the painting-like he does with the space between Jesus and John (not Mary!) being a V shape- might have given a bit of verisimilitude to the overall story. I don't truly understand the fervor this book has generated. Most of the ideas it presented have been mentioned elsewhere. There wasn't much new here. I enjoy reading controversial theories, so it isn't the apparent debunking of accepted ideas that bothers me, though a ridiculous percentage of this debunking is just that...ridiculous. If this had been a well-written book I would likely have forgiven such silliness. I believe wholeheartedly in the willing suspension of disbelief asked of us by authors, but in this case, I didn't see much worth believing. Truthfully, I had to force myself to finish it because there was little there to hold my interest. Before you ask, I finished it because I had truly expected to find something within the book that would prove it was as brilliant as I had heard. I also promised to read it all for the sake of discussion. If you really want to read this, nothing I say will stop you, but do what I did and borrow someone's copy. Save your money for something worth the $24.95.
Rating:
Summary: "The Da Vinci Code"- Unbelievable Story!
Review: When I first started to read "The Da Vinci Code", in my mind I had a feeling that I would read a cheesy crime and detection type of story. After 15 minutes of reading, I found out that I was so wrong. The story is anything but cheesy.
The story took place in France when a Harvard professor and internationally known symbologist was waken up by a phone call the French intelligence department. Later on he found out that he was the only suspect of the murder of the curator of the Louvre museum. The reason why he was the suspect was they were supposed to meet by the time the curator was murdered and before he died, the curator left clues on the wall that had professor Langdon's name.
The cryptologist, agent Neveu, who involved in the crime was the curator's granddaughter and she believed that professor Langdon was innoccent. She planned to help him escape and during the run-away, she found out that her grandfather was the Grand Master of a secret society whose previous Grand Masters were Boticelli, Da Vinci, Newton, Victor Hugo, and other famous scientis and artis Unlike other crime and suspect novels, this novel is based on facts and that secret society is one of them.
The secret society had a mission to keep the secret of the Holy Grail alive. However, as the Grand Master and three other members died, the secret was about to be lost forever. Professor Langdon and agent Neveu found out that before the curator died, he left clues on the famous painting of Da Vinci "Mona Lisa" as well as in other places. During the runaway, the unclued the secrets with the help of a friend, who by the end turned out to be the person behind the dead of the curator.
The story is intriguing and unbelievable. It fuses facts with fictions and after reading the book for the first time, I found myself doing research for the information that described in the book. To my astonishment, all of them were very true, including the description of "The Last Supper".
"The Da Vinci Code" leads to one possibility of the life of Christ and the Holy Grail. As history are stories from the past, the ultimate truth may be covered by many layers. The quest to find the truth is risky and painful and sometimes the truth is unbelievable. My advice to those who are Catholic is please keep your mind open while reading this book and it will be very hard to read the story for the first time.
"The Da Vinci Code" is such an incredible book that it can cause controversies among the readers. I praise Dan Brown for his skills of observations and descriptions. The story really opens my eyes to new possibilities of history and reminds me to be open-minded.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but has its faults
Review: When I first started to read this book, I was riveted. I could not put this book down. I loved trying to solve the riddles and all of the adventure. Now that I've said the good, it's time for the bad. This book would gather some momentum and then just stops for long periods at a time to give long "lecttures." I felt that this book,though filled with interesting information, had way too much reasearch in it, which made it seem to go on and on. If you can handle it, go on and read it in one sitting; if not, take your time.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, Please!
Review: When I got to the fourth line of the first chapter and read "hand-frescoed walls" I knew I was in trouble at the hands of a very careless writer. How else would the walls be frescoed? By feet, robots? We find totally wooden characters, ludicrous cliff-hanger plot twists, lumpen exposition, red herrings not worthy of the worst of Agatha Christie, and puzzles which could be solved by an intelligent seven year old. And just when, during this long night, did anyone get the chance to go to the bathroom? Why, you might ask, did I bother going on? Well, it was at least more interesting than the in-flight shopping catalogue in the seat pocket in front of me on my 6 hour flight yesterday. The majority of raving, enthusiastic reviews that I read here leave me deeply gloomy about the intelligence of the reading public.
Rating:
Summary: Amazed
Review: When I read the Da Vinci Code, i had no idea it would be as detailed, intricate, and accurate as people said it was. After I finished, I was amazed at the work Dan Brown had to go through to write this book.
The book starts in the Louvre, an art museum in Paris. A man is brutally murdered, and later Robert Langdon is called to the scene. Apparently, he was to meet the victim, Jaques Sauniere, over lunch. Soon he becomes the prime suspect in Jaques Sauniere's murder. Robert Langdon travels all over Europe trying to decipher the secret that Jaque Sauniere was murdered for, an age-old secret involving Christ, The Bible, The Holy Grail and th Knights of Templar.
I would recommend this for all ages, though the main plot may not be appropriate for younger children. I also recommend to mystery lovers, conspirators, and anyone who likes a good puzzle.
Rating:
Summary: Pastor who loved the book
Review: When I read the DaVinci Code, I literally couldn't put it down. I stayed up half the night so that I could finish reading it. I thought it was incredibly well written, suspenseful, and intriguing. I don't normally read much fiction, but there was such a buzz going around about this book that I decided to pick it up, and it was well worth it. Dan Brown has brought in many controversial things about Christianity in this book, and I noticed it's getting blasted for those in other reviews. Here's my deal...Dan Brown created a very interesting FICTIONAL book. It isn't truth...it is fiction. The catholic church has had throughout it's history a lot of power, and throughout it's history it has misused it's power and created cover-ups. So, I think that this makes it an obvious target to create a fictional story like this one around that concept. If you're looking for a quick read that's fast paced, and suspenseful, then pick up this book. But don't read it if you can't handle seperating fact from fiction in a fictional book.
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