The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: Great entertainment, really bad theology
Review: First, the good news: this is a really enjoyable book to read. I found it to be so much fun that I read the whole thing in less than twenty hours (including breaks for sleeping and meals). If you're looking for some light, entertaining suspense, you won't be disappointed.

If, however, you're interested in questions about theology, biblical criticism, and the like -- read with caution! This novel might as well be subtitled "Literary Adventures of the Jesus Seminar." You'd do well to read Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ" as a companion volume, and you'd do even better to read "Jesus under Fire," edited by J.P. Moreland and M. Wilkins, before and after picking up this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Big build up, bigger let down
Review: First, the good points. Brown either did meticulous research or he has a vivid imagination; the fact that I can't decide which or how much of each he used is a virtue of the book, not a flaw. Architecture, art and religion get a better, more thorough (if fictional) treatment than they receive in most popular novels. Either way, the details that form the background and motivation for the story worked very well for me. The story moves quite quickly. For most of the book - save one or two transparent plot twists - the Brown's story kept me turning the pages. This is a excellent basic premise and creative creation.

Now the bad news. The hype behind this book has been excessive. This is "Indiana Jones in Paris", with a melodramatic, frustratingly weak ending, and none of Jones' panache. The characters, especially the male and female leads, are humorless, colorless (readers of the book will detect the bad pun in this comment) and unable to earn my sympathy, interest or affection. Nelson DeMille does a much better job in this genre, with colorful, funny male leads and dashing, daring damsels. Jack Higgins used to write like this before he started to become repetitive. Some of the plot turns seem to be signaled well in advance. Without revealing them, suffice it to say, anyone with a smattering of knowledge about Da Vinci will easily see through one of the clues that sees to baffle our experts.

For those who find the book to be demeaning to or libelous of Catholics, Opus Dei or other real or fictional religious sects, all I can say is "this is fiction," and leave it at that. Enjoy what you can of the artistic elements but be prepared for disappointment in the end.

Rating:
Summary: Negative Stereotyping of Christians
Review: First, the good things about this book: it's fast paced and well written. The mystery elements are engaging.

For Christian readers-- or even non-Christians who prefer an honest intellectual debate-- the enjoyment of these assets may be forestalled by strong negative stereotyping of both the Christian characters and the faith. The main Christian characters are, in order of appearance:
- A murderous thug (page 1)
- A shadowy power-broker, akin to the X-Files "Cigarette Man" (page 12)
- An honest but merciless police captain, like Javert in Les Mis (page 20)
- A wealthy and unscrupulous bishop, motivated by power (page 28)

It is the non-Christian characters (several of whom are goddess-worship afficionados) who exhibit the intelligence, resoursefulness, and daring to discover the truth despite the suppressive efforts and persecution of the aforementioned Christians.

The faith itself also comes under direct attact at times, most prominently in a lengthy section from pages 230-250. The discussion draws heavily on teachings of the Jesus Seminar. Many of the more controversial statements are presented, not as attributed theories with supporting evidence, but as prima facie historical facts. Some exerpts:
- "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God." (page 231)
- "Nothing in Christianity is original." (page 232)
- "It was all about power... the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity." (page 233)
- "Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false." (page 235)
- "Behold... the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but he was a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene was the Holy Vessel." (page 249)

For those who hold the Church as an organ primarily of power, violence and deceipt, this book with make comfortable reading, in the vein of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose". For the rest of us, the central ideas fit uncomfortably into a novel; space requires they be simply layed out as exposition, without evidence or discussion. Especially for the Christian, it makes the book a frustrating experience.

Rating:
Summary: Much Ado About Mediocrity
Review: First, this book is poor fiction and one man's perspective based on questionable and/or purely subjective sources. As a thriller it works if one does not mind a story based on pure speculation. Albeit, it is well-written, but it is hi-lighted with pure speculative history. The book may have been 'well'researched' but many of the sources used are not respected or as highly revered and/or respectd as the author and unifomred 'experts' would have us believe. There are several major of flaws with the basis of the big secret. First, the spiritual/historical Jesus was the embodiment of God (who does not need to feed any of the hungers that mortals do- no marriage, children, et al). Therefore, this whole flimsy concept of a marriage is a non sequitor. If you are going to use a real historical figure, DO NOT change his character. Second, DaVinci was a self-proclaimed enemy and critic of Christianity. So is it any wonder that his painting renditions of Christ would contain insulting messages of contempt for the Christian faith and tradition. Third, there were no female apostles. Anyone knowing Judaic and social history of the times would know that woman did hold any positions of real power in the Jewish or early Catholic faith. Finally, Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute, rather an adultress. The only thing that Dan Brown has done is to give 'wings' to hearsay and gossip based on highly unauthoriative and questionable writings that cannot be taken without serious thought to their original intent. While he is at it, why not dig up the writings of old European navigators who thought the world flat and write a book about a secret - that the world is really flat. This book is pure garbage and an insult to anyone with any knowledge of history and Christianity. I am only thankful that I did not buy this book - I borrowed it and saved myself some money. If you want to read some good historical/speculative/thrillers, read the LaHaye and Jenkins books. They are well-researched and well written.

Rating:
Summary: Never read a best seller or an Oprah book
Review: Flat, characterless, inaccurate and entirely guessable including the Isaac Newton clue, and the Da Vinci Code itself. Jeez--I'm pretty dumb and I had it figured out. Even as to the villain's true identity. Who else could it be. There was no one left!

Plus as one other reviewer noted, the whole novel somehow takes place in one action-packed 56 hour day!

In summary, the Church bites; Templars, Masons and Rosicrucians were weird and mysterious, everybody wants the Grail, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, women are cool and even if you don't know how to have a relationship with one, it's nice to have a babe to go on an adventure with, even if you only get to kiss her on the last page.

Rating:
Summary: better than the movie ;)
Review: food for thought, if you've never had this meal before.

-Is Brown a genius?-a seemingly absurd question, but given the amount of money he has made by writing this "thriller" i'm obligated to say that yes he is-a marketing genius-weaving the dominant religion and religious figure, greatest genius, and one of the greatest conspiracy theories ever, and then injecting them into your everyday mainstream thriller. If not before, he is a very rich man.

Now I will take a step up onto my soapbox and ramble for a couple minutes. I hope this benefits someone. If anyone is offended, i'm sorry. This is just my opinion up to this point in my life. If I overzealously state the obvious or if i seem a pedant, i am whatever and whoever you think i am:

-Are the "facts" in The Da Vinci Code facts? Is the Bible fact?There is much history within the last couple hundred years that we can't even verify. Although we may think otherwise, many of us aren't even sure what exactly is going on at the present moment (the reasons for the Ongoing war in Iraq, etc). Personally, 2000+ years of distortion is too much.

-Some of us have one view, some have another(the catch being-opposing one of them means eternal damnation) and there are many views of What Is Truth in between.

-Not everything is black or white. Philosophy may help one person and harm another, same goes for religion, etc. etc.

- I'm convinced that more people would be happy if religion was used more as a Guide to living as opposed to absolute fact/guide to living.

-The man known as the greatest genius to ever live was not religious. The reading and comprehension of anything is interpreted through the intellect and it's difficult to deny that Da Vinci had spirit-just look at his paintings. So why didn't he believe? Surely he was exposed to religion (no need for evidence here). Without attempting to answer this question definitively: his adamant love for rationality and disillusionment.--If romanticism is your thing, religion Does make sense, and there is nothing wrong with that so long as it doesn't do harm. After all romanticism is, for a lack of a better word, romantic. ;) --

-Was Jesus married? the formerly religious part of me doubts it but I certainly hope so; Did he live through a crucifixion? not likely; Did he rise from the dead? not likely (of course, if anything supernatural does exist, it would be possible, but as of now, we have no proof, which is why religion=faith)

The exception being those raised into a belief, people seem to be openminded until They find what They believe suits Them, or what makes sense to Them (ie: a belief which can mold itself around Their experiences, or to relieve Their guilt, etc)...or what they believe will lead to a healthy family, or simply submitting to the beliefs of their partner, on and on and on. While trying to avoid being too monotonously optimistic and didactic(any chance at not being didactic is likely lost at this point), the struggle-this twisting, furcating road to happiness and stability, is different for each individual due to a plethora of variables-Who we are as Individuals in regards to emotion, experience, intellect, spirituality, environment etc.

-to cut it short and step down from this worn out soap box, Calm down and Love what you have to love. ;)

Your truth is out there

peace folks ;)

CVC

Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm, seen it somewhere before...
Review: Food for thought, just thought I'd point out that one of the things most people point out as fascinating about this book is that it is set with the code and these secret organizations working in the background, this idea is less than original. Funny, another setting, another genre, but has anyone who read this book read Black Madonna (Shadowrun, No 20) by Carl Sargent, Marc Gascoigne? Not the same book I'll be the first to admit, but funny how you have a book that is not about Da Vinci, but is set with a backdrop about his code... A little too similar for my comfort, I would love to know if Dan Brown ever read Black Madonna? But I don't think I'd trust his answer.

Rating:
Summary: Gross lack of research
Review: For a book which purports to spout realistic theories about the Holy Grail, this singularly lacks research. I cannot in all honesty say anything about the fundamental hypothesis, but living in Paris I can certainly say something about the setting. It is obvious that the author has not made some very basic efforts.
For instance, you cannot hope to go to Lille from Gare Saint Lazare; you would have to leave from Gare du Nord. In the same vein, I would much like to know how the heroes manage to find several taxies waiting in Saint Lazare at roughly three in the morning. There are no trains at this late hour, so there would be no taxis. And it goes on and on. To go from Tuileries to the American Embassy, you would not not need to go up rue des Champs Elysees, since the embassy is exactly at the beginning of that street.
You would think that the author would at least have bothered to pick up a map when writing the book. If that is all the extent of his research on Paris, I refuse to believe he has done serious work on the other aspects of the book.
This novel is a joke.

Rating:
Summary: So Much Information, So Little Said
Review: For a novel as highly touted as The Da Vinci Code, one might expect more than an exclusively plot-driven story rife with factoids instead of compelling nuance. The characters are so boring as be unlikable after a few chapters, and the author's voice is far too intrusive - condescending rather than engaging. There is a great deal of interesting (if subjective) information here, though it reads as if it had been lifted paragraph by paragraph from non-fiction texts or commentaries instead of being woven with a skilled hand into the plot. Early on, readers may feel empowered by the little morsels of history the author spoon-feeds them, however one is more than sated and drowsy half-way through the book, longing for a real story and characters with some depth. It is easy to turn pages until the end, hoping that a novel with such possibility will redeem itself - but unfortunately, it does not. The Da Vinci Code is not worth the hours one might spend reading it; better to spend the time at your local museum, or out walking the dog.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced semi-suspense held together by mediocre writing
Review: For a simple two-day read, Dan Brown can't be beat: his writing is simple and carries the plot along at a good pace, uninterrupted by long tangents or paragraphs you must read over a few times to get the hang of.

However, The Da Vinci Code only gets away with this because the writing is mediocre, entirely lacking in description. All of the characters, including the protagonists, are not only stock, but entirely static. Langdon, the run-of-the-mill handsome genius; Sophie, the run-of-the-mill gorgeous genius with, as always, long legs. There is, of course, a secret romance going on that has its silly climax somewhere around the last page. The characters are as flat, maybe even more flat, than those in Tom Clancy novels.

The plot is very basic; it's about as linear as a sharp edge. There are no unpredictable twists in the story, as the first sentence describing any suspicious characters were drawn out of the Obviously Sinister Character Box. The plot and its characters are so trite that it's clear that the only reason they're there is as a method of dragging the reader through the superficial character development and car rides and into the only gem of the book: The Priori.

Reading any of Brown's books and you will discover that the best parts are in the brain-candy conspiracies (Illuminati in Angels & Demons, NRO in Deception Point, and NSA in Digital Fortress) and developing technologies. All of these elements are researched and described simply and without too much effort for the reader. Nothing may be as intellectually thrilling as discovering the dark and hidden conspiracies that help shape the world. The Priori is no different, and the symbolism brought forth in Da Vinci's works is stunning.

If anything, The Da Vinci Code is a quick read with good brain-candy that gets your mind thinking. In the interim, you'll find the characters are cardboard and unchanging, and the plot far too obvious.