The Da Vinci Code

Rating:
Summary: Wolf in sheep's clothing
Review: The Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, and many masons have kept alive among their secret beliefs that the Merovingian line of Frankish kings from the early Middle Ages were descended directly from Jesus. To justify this outlandish claim, they must profess that Jesus did not die on the cross but survived it, and went on to live a much longer life, married Mary Magdalene and had children with her, from whom the Merovingians supposedly descend. There isn't any historic evidence for this. (The Merovingians were replaced on the Frankish throne in the 8th century AD by the Carolingians, chief among them Charlemagne.)

In this novel a proponent of that nonsense has created a popular vehicle with which to attempt to deceive the public into thinking that this thesis is true. Yet it flies in the face of all historic context. From the report about Jesus contained in the writings of Flavius Josephus to the bald fact of hundreds of people who knew Jesus and witnessed his death, resurrection or ascension, and who gave their lives for Him, the contemporaries of Jesus who were familiar with the facts bear tacit testament contrary to this slander of Him. Nor does it square with early Frankish history.

There are quite a few writings about Jesus that never made it into the canon of Scripture. When you have read enough of them, then you realize that they are mostly a lot of fantasies about Jesus or those connected to Him. There are reasons they are not in the Bible. They have more in common with second party spinoffs of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, for example, written by people who loved the original so much that they wrote their own fantasy continuations of the story.

This scurrilous novel defames Jesus in every possible fashion. In a back handed way, it contends that He lied when He said that He would be killed and then would rise from the dead. It purports that all of His disciples lied in their representations of Him. It says that the crucifixion was a lie, that Easter was a lie, that His ascension was a lie, and thus that His promise to return is a lie. Either everything essential to His coming into the world was a lie or what this book proposes is a lie, couched in novel form.

Something else Jesus said is that Satan is the Father of Lies (John 8). Open your eyes and don't be duped by this well crafted lie.

Rating:
Summary: You'll need to read sitting at your computer for this one!
Review: The last book that was intellectually challenging enough to keep me running to my computer or dictionary was Dennis Miller's "The Rants." That was nearly 5 years ago. "The DaVinci Code" aroused such curiosity in me, that I had to stop reading many times, to log on to the Internet for more fact finding. One of the first pages of the book states that all architecture, religious rituals, and art referred to in this novel are factual. This hooks me every time.

Dan Brown is a master of the intelligent novel. I didn't feel as if I was wasting my time reading a mere murder mystery; I was learning something new with the turn of each page. Yes, sometimes there were too many coincidences, and some of the dialogue was trite; these sins pale in light of his obvious knowledge of the subject at hand. I can forgive most slights of plot and/or dialogue when the book's details are scathingly accurate, and well written.

I am not a radical feminist, yet I rather enjoyed the intimations in this book that the Catholic Church has been responsible for the opression of women. Since men were "in charge," in the name of "God," the Catholic Church has condoned, initiated, and funded the systematic elimination of women from many historical documents. Some documents have placed Mary Magdalene at the side of Jesus, during the last supper. More secret documents charged that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were "married" and had children.

Oh, GASP! This discovery could discredit the very foundation upon which the Catholic Church has carefully built its wealthy empire! Its devout, fearful, tithing and obeisant legion of followers may have a change of heart!

Whatever you may infer from the research and facts given in "The DaVinci Code," it stands alone as a stunningly well written novel, guaranteed to keep you up long past your bed time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and bought two other Dan Brown books, based only on the quality of "The DaVinci Code."

Rating:
Summary: Lest you be confused by the facts...
Review: The less you actually know about anything, the more you will enjoy this book. I managed to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the story but would never bother to read it again. I was not dazzled by the author's wit because I figured out too many of the riddles ahead of time (including, without even putting down the book to use paper or pencil, one of the initial cipher-clues that apparently the Parisian cryptoanalysts never did solve, as well as the solution to the ultimate puzzle). Yet this riddle solving process sorta kept me reading - like working a crossword puzzle. However, I was constantly annoyed and distracted by the author's misrepresentation of all sorts of "historical facts." (These included, among others, how, why, when, and by whom the gnostic gospels were "suppressed." They're so suppressed, I read them years ago even before I ever heard of Elaine Pagels. The RC Church is portrayed as a bunch of paternalistic male misogynists determined to keep women pregnant and powerless and the fruit of Jesus' sexuality concealed from all those to whom they pretend to preach the Truth. Ironically, of course, the Church was one of the few places women could actually live a truly productive, dignified, alternate lifestyle to that of mother.) The Church, having endured centuries of scandals that were actually true, is not likely to suffer unduly for the various slanders in this book and should be able to take care of itself. It is History and Intelligence that are most abused by Brown. The gnostic gospels were not accepted into the canon for the same reason this book should not be considered a source for much more than entertainment. That is: both are patently unreliable as sources of genuine information. Ironically, most of the gnostic gospels were "suppressed" in part because their attitude was absurdly hostile to human sexuality contrary to what Brown would have you think. But this was but one of many absurd distortions. Imagine a story of a trip in and through the jungles of South America, to the source of the Congo River wherein, along the way, tigers, elephants, and tribes of Aztec, Ibo, and Aleuts are encountered. It could be entertaining for those who don't know their geography, but for the rest of us, no matter how well the plot were developed, it would be exasperating. Nevertheless, if the book actually gets people interested enough to find out for themselves what is true, it will have done even the Church a great service.

For yet another example of how actually knowing anything can spoil your pleasure from this book: At the end, I had to wonder why both trivia-meister Brown and Harvard-professor-genius symbologist Langdon missed mention - even in passing - of the fact that the "Rose Line" is the name of one of Paris Metro lines (eg. it serves the Louvre). (Harvard may indeed be slandered worse than the Church.)

Rating:
Summary: I'd give this no Stars if I could...
Review: The level of my disapointment in this book has it tied as one of the worst novels I've ever (tried to!) read.

Now I never, ever stop reading a book. I've spent precious time and money, and feel I owe my investment to the author as well as myself to finish their story. I read every genre of fiction: mystery, romance, western and sci-fi so my tastes are broad and sometimes quirky, so I expected to enjoy this book. Instead, I had to put it down before I threw it out the window. The story was infamatory towards religious groups and oddly lacking in truly interesting characters. The synopsis was the most entertaining part of this book. The author (or his publisher) obviously has an exceptional P.R. machine, because that seems to be the strongest point of this endevor.

This reader's review is save your money on this over-hyped, boring, bizarre book.

Rating:
Summary: What the . . . . ?
Review: The main character is described as looking like "Harrison Ford." The villian is an albino. Subliminal images are said to be hidden in Disney cartoons.

To quote Marge in Fargo when she tells the killer she can't fathom his motivations: "well, I just don't understand it...that's all there is to it."

Rating:
Summary: Annoying
Review: The minute I knew who the knight was, the "orb" was obvious, but I had to spend the next 50 pages reading about a "Harvard professor" and a police cryptolgist who were not readily able to figure it out. While that ought to be enough, I would also mention that the alleged right/left masculine/feminine equation is factually inaccurate. This book has pretenses of being intellectual and clever, but the characters are shallow, the plot not unpredictable and the pretense somewhat outrageous. I am not catholic so that aspect of it did not offend me. One might read Umberto Eco, Phillip Kerr or others instead.

Rating:
Summary: Good Story Poorly Handled
Review: The mix of reviews here is an accurate index of what this book offers. If all you want is a fun mystery and conspiracy story based on intriguing and alleged secrets in the history of Christianity, you'll get it. Discerning readers will be disappointed. The book reads like a Marvel Comic stirred up with soap opera and B movie scripts. Believable characters, action and dialogue - in short, good writing - would make it far more worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Inventive and exhilarating
Review: The most clever novel I've read in years! Brown has created a labyrinthine plot full of suspense, style, and damned good writing. If you read only one book this week, make it The Da Vinci Code.

Rating:
Summary: Inventive and exhilarating
Review: The most clever novel I've read in yesrs! Brown has created a labyrinthine plot full of suspense, style, and damned good writing. If you read only one book this week, make it The Da Vinci Code.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: the most entertaining,educating and exciting book i have ever read. thanks to the book now i know about Opus Dei, secrets of the works of Da Vinci. ohhhh, and the number PHI!
bravo Dan. thanks.