Customer Reviews

The Da Vinci Code

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The great thing about this book - and this applies to all Dan Brown's books which I've read - is that it presents art, science, religion and symbolism in a very easy-to-read and enjoyable adventure. You don't need to believe that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene to read this book, because there is much more to it than just that! Enjoy it and you'll not regret it!

..Why call a Yugo a Mercedes ?

My biggest question is why the massive praise for Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" ? (or Angels and Demons ?) I read them both, and they are nothing more or less than a typical, mediocre "summer beach novel" that contains extensive lessons (can you say boring ?) on Catholicism...from the actual religious functions to the museums, art and the architectures that hold the art, and how the architectures that hold the art came about, and the architecs who built them, when they built them and what drew them to architecture in the first place, and how the art wound up in that particular architecture. etc. WHEW ! I don't even consider this man a good writer, but he's one heck of a teacher who's obsessed with Catholicism and it's culture. Sure, he throws in a few bad guys...a little science.....a few gruesome murders...a secret society here and there, but his his paper-thin, cliched and utterly ridiculous stories are nothing but padding so he can write about his vast knowledge of all things Catholic (and expensive Catholic art). He never "puts you there" with his many long winded descriptions of his settings, he simply comes across as a teacher who's telling you what he learned or saw, and this becomes extremely boring and irritating to me. Before you deny this, think ! Consider the shallow and cliched stories of these two books, which possess one of the most monumentally cliched lead characters I've ever encountered .....now, consider the major lessons on Catholicism you were dealt....and how they make up the bulk of the book. Am I wrong ? If the reader finds this type of novel fun, thrilling, intelligent or informative, then that's great. But, I don't like all the media exclaiming "masterpiece," "absolutely stunning," "the best of the best" "genius," etc., when this author is basically on par with James Patterson. Yep, that's right. I would much rather read a non-fictional book from Brown on his knowledge of art and architecture, than to ever suffer through another of his fictional, supposed thrillers, which he LOVES to saturate with facts in order to sucker the reader into believing they are reading something "special".

The Da Vinci Code is a masterpiece of Dan Brown. The plot is really good and I can't stop reading it. The book is well-written and well-researched. You would know that this book does not aim to be the best seller but it has every quality of what good writing is all about. I love the way he conceptualized the book as fiction but mixed with elements of facts. It's been a long time that something like this has come out. Buy this book, and you won't regret it!

Since Mel Gibson's movie is being released today, I'm sure more people than ever will be reading The Da Vinci Code. I thought this book was a good one - thought provoking, entertaining, providing a good mystery filled with historical data. It seems to evoke either a very positive response from readers or a very negative one. Me? I loved it. It's been discussed at family dinners more than once, and each time, it's a thrilling discussion.

My usual book shopping route is a large looping, nose pinched shut, around any book that is being swallowed whole by the masses. Not out of arrogance, but simply because on those rare occasions when I have bent this rule, it has usually resulted in reading time wasted on literary fast food--quickly digested but of little nutritional value. I made an exception with Brown's "Da Vinci Code" because the premise fascinated me. Ever on the spiritual quest for enlightenment, the idea of a deeper relationship between Christ and Mary Magdalene was interesting, and appeared to have some merit, too, among respected theologians. I give.

The first page of the first chapter nearly convinced me to dump the book after all. Mistake, I thought, should have kept to my usual rule. The opening was, well, ghastly. I was being manipulated into a formula page turner, dead bodies falling, mystery unravelling, clues spattering the pages. The book was a gift, however, and I had wanted it, so I wincingly read on. The manipulations worked. I began turning pages, and I turned them fast, even as I was aware every super short cliffhanger chapter of the book was holding me by the usual ploys of mystery writers of the day. The writing improved. But it was the premise that nailed me to the page. Brown had done his research, and he had enough truth in his fiction that my curiosity was peaked.

A museum curator is murdered, leaving elaborate clues, leading down trail after trail, through twist after twist, speeding along the plot. A cryptographer, granddaughter of the murdered curator, chases down the clues with her partner (later, predictably, her love interest) who is a historian-symbologist summoned by the curator himself, literally in blood. Authorities on their heels, they race from clue to clue, putting together the puzzle pieces that eventually lead to a secret society working to preserve the idea of a Holy Grail that is not a chalice, but indeed the sacred feminine, a church built on Mary Magdalene as the rock of the church rather than Peter. Christ's partner and wife? Intriguing. The established Church is furious and bristly at the idea, and that is easy enough to imagine.

Brown creates a plausible mystery. Whether based on conjecture or elements of truth, that is what has drawn so many readers to so breathlessly turn these pages, and to question traditional beliefs and reexamine them, whatever the conclusion, is never a bad thing. If for this reason alone, I recommend the book.

As a Holy Grail adventure, this book is every bit as entertaining as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," though maybe not quite as good as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." As scholarship, though --- weeeeeell, put it this way: Da Vinci is not Leonardo's name. It's the description of where he came from. Calling him "Da Vinci" is rather like those scenes in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in which the time-traveling heroes address Billy the Kid as "Mr. The Kid."

Still, if you can accept the existence of an alternative universe in which serious art historians refer to "Da Vinci" and Harvard pays people good money to teach new-age "Symbology" and French scholars leave elaborate paper-chase clues in doggerell English verse, then this is an enjoyable if totally improbable thriller. (A sedentary, bookish man can go without sleep for 48 hours and still outwit the most sophisticated law-enforcement agencies in Europe?????) But I do hope that people who read this book won't believe that Mary Magdalene was "the Holy Grail," generally regarded as a crackpot theory, or that the tomb of Mary Magdalene can be found where the book claims it can, which will be a major headache for the poor custodians who supervise that actual location. I won't give away any more of the plot, except to say that if you know Roger Ebert's "law of character economy" you will be able to figure out who the mysterious master-mind is well before the end.

But if you want to read a REALLY scholarly (albeit deadly dull) novel on themes like the Holy Grail, the Goddess, and the Knights Templar, read "Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco.

Read a real history book if you want to know the truth. Anyone who knows history would think this book is trash.

I read 'The Da Vinci Code' from cover to cover in two days - it was absolutely riveting! Beside being an exciting story, I also loved the details on ancient symbolisms, religious overtones, mathematical tidbits (e.g. phi) and settings in one of my favourite cities, Paris.

Kudos to Dan Brown!

I had trouble staying with this book at first, but when I got into it, I could not put it down. I love the information presented about Leonardo Da Vinci - I now see him in a different light - and reading about the "secret" behind Mona Lisa's smile and some of his other religious paintings.

This book presents some pretty startling answers to questions I have held for awhile about Christianity and the Catholic faith. It helped open my mind to some things while making others more clear to me. Although it is a work of fiction, there is much factual historical information contained in the book, which I found fascinating.

Absolutely one of the best books I've read in a very good while!

What really stands out about this book is how believable much of it can be. There's enough basis in fact to make me look up much of what is mentioned within its pages, and often leaving me pleasantly surprised as I search. An incredible twist ending brings the story full circle, and leaves me wanting more.This is a book that everyone should have in their collection.Another book that I highly recommend is "HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN."