Rating: 
Summary: Educated People Like This Book?
Review: If one regards this as fiction, I would rate this over-long book as "fair." I cannot believe that so many people are intrigued by it. Yes, I read the whole thing and I followed through with some research. There is nothing new in this book; it's all been covered before without any proof that this is authentic. I belong to a very high level book club with a lot of liberal, educated women (like myself) and most of them thought it was a fascinating read. I think it was a very well crafted (but poorly written) book, and can't believe that so many people regard it as a true book that reveals this dastardly deed that the "church" has hidden for centuries. You mean none of the reformers from Henry VIII to Luther to Calvin wouldn't have known about this secret and would have revealed itif it were true. Not exactly trash, but not worth this hype. The author did create a commercial success and I know very few people who haven't read it. My name was 45th on the waiting list at the local library, so I bought it. What a waste of money. I am trading it in at the local Book Swap Shop, where I am sure it will be welcomed and sell rapidly. At least I will be able to receive another (hopefully better) book in its stead.
Rating: 
Summary: P T Barnum was right
Review: If only I had 1000 acres of Florida swamp land; I would solicit all of the folks giving this hardbound nonsense a 4 star review. This book reads like it was written by a National Enquirer staffer. Truly a side show that would have made Barnum
drool.
Rating:
Summary: It could have been a contender
Review: If only it didn't go to seed at the end. And if only the prose were better. And if only the sooper-dooper smart characters were actually sooper-dooper smart (at times they acted as if they were characters in a Teen Movie). Yes, thank goodness for Eco.
Rating:
Summary: good luck Mr. Howard
Review: If Ron Howard (a director with an excellent reputation) attempts to make this pop culture novel into a movie, he is going to need a lot of luck. In order to make it appeal to the masses, it will be necessary to tone down the obvious anti-Catholic and anti-Christian agenda which drives the silly plot. Dan Brown's "research" which has been exposed as little more than of the urban legend variety, will be quickly dismissed by legitimate scholars. I suppose that could create the desired buzz, but I predict that the movie will be received much like Martin Scorcese's "Last Temptation of Christ," a movie that had a much more compelling story-line, but was not exactly a blockbuster. May I suggest a few options as a title for the movie: "Raider's of Intelligence," "Ron Howard and the Movie of Doom," or "Dan Brown and His Disceptive Crusade."
Rating: 
Summary: Religious thriller (?!) cleverly interlaces fact and fiction
Review: If someone commissioned James Patterson to write (invent) a religious thriller, we just might get a book like this. The furious pace of the short chapters and murderous action galore were entertaining until the last few chapters when everybody including the author just seemed to run out of steam. Actually, the principal characters were just a little unbelievable on several occasions, and some of their riddle solving was really not all that impressive. Obviously what created all the buzz about this book is its alleged revelation of facts about Christ and the Catholic religion (infamous for its dogma). The claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, the latter who supposedly makes a surprise appearance at the right of Christ in the Last Supper by Da Vinci, along with other stuff which generated the book's title, did hook us for a while. We even surfed the net to read the "Gospel of Philip" and other writings from the Nag Hammadi Library, some 13 texts from the early Christian era (~300-400 AD) discovered in Egypt in 1945. We see other reviewers similarly researched the secret societies and other "facts" proposed within the novel. Indeed, the author's clever interlacing of fiction and non-fiction does add to the book's appeal. In the end though, it is equally clear that much of what is passed along as fact is little better than supposition. We are personally constantly amazed and confounded that while thousands of relics and possessions of famous Egyptians from 5000 years ago are extant and well preserved, that not one shard of the personal property of Jesus survives to this day. One would think that anything remotely connected to him would have been considered so sacred and so valuable that hundreds of artifacts would have been salvaged and serve as "proof" of the many facts circulated about his life and deeds. Alas, such is not the case. We think most readers will enjoy this novel. Its subject matter is just unusual enough to give us more than a few pauses about what we "believe" or thought we knew about Christianity. The mystery storyline and race/chase after the Holy Grail were probably not that well crafted, and left us feeling a little less satisfied with the book when we had finished than when we were reading. Maybe the inconclusive ending is what shortchanged our senses. In sum, "Code" is a good book, worth our while, even if one not destined for ultimate greatness.
Rating:
Summary: ridiculous and dangerous
Review: If the kind of utter falsehoods put forth as "fact" in this piece of nonsense were included in a novel where the religion in question was Judaism, most thinking people would be condemning it as anti-semitic and they would do so justifiably. Yet for some reason it is politically correct to accuse the Catholic church of just about anything. I am not a Catholic, I am a Mormon, and I am very disheartened by the favor this junk seems to be enjoying with the public. It is accepted that authors can use creative liscense in works of fiction, but Mr. Brown should be ashamed of himself for his assertion that the information he bases this silly premise on is factual. Yes, I have read it. It was a choice for my book club and I am very sorry that it was.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: If the purpose of reading fiction is to be entertained, then this book does this superbly. Like most of the other readers, I couldn't put this book down and found myself staying up way past my bedtime to finish it. I also agree with the comparisons to Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum." Although, I think "The DaVinci Code" is infinitely more readable. Eco writes Fiction like it is non-fiction and the reader can get bogged down in the all the details, distracting from the enjoyment. I hate to say Brown is a dumbed down version of Eco, but I think that is the case. And I applaud him for it. I actually found the lack of character developement refreshing as I didn't want how they looked or whether they fell in love or not to get in the way of the story. Admittedly, there are some big theoretical leaps in the way the history and facts are presented, but hey, it's fiction. Try not to overanalyze it.
Rating:
Summary: Hegemony of Our Times
Review: If there is a theme in The Da Vinci Code, it is that history is written by the winners. The book explores this theme in its great search for a secret that will change the world, a secret that has been covered up by the most powerful people of the last 2000 years. What wonderful irony then that the book is a blatant piece of propaganda for the most powerful intellectuals of our time, the gender feminists in American Academia. Based mainly on the wacky, ridiculous theories presented by the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", Dan Brown has constructed a suspense thriller that conveniently passes off blatant fiction as truth. He makes some devastatingly inaccurate assertions about some of the most thoroughly researched figures in Western History and wraps it all up in a nice plot in which the heroes are out to rescue the truth and anyone who doesn't already know the truth or believe it when they hear it are buffoons. Oddly, the "truth" presented in this book would quickly be blown off as ridiculous if it didn't support the gender feminist views that currently dominate Western thinking. Put plainly, The Da Vinci Code is pure fiction that will be read as truth by hundreds of thousands because it presents them with what they want to hear. It is history being re-written by the winners.
Rating:
Summary: BAAAD Fiction, worse author
Review: If there was a NO STAR selection, it would have been NO STAR. Interesting premise, incomplete research, hack author. Overuse of adjectives, especially the word SENSED, thin plot line, absurd police chases. Only humorous idea is he made the plot in France so it was the FRENCH police that are so inept.
Rating:
Summary: davinci goofiness
Review: If this is an example of a good triller or good fiction I am surprised. Although the premise could be interesting the constant chase and riddles detracted from the possible intiguing story that would change history! Don't waste your time on this one
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