Rating: 
Summary: Absorbing and Provocative Thriller
Review: This is one of the most original fiction titles I have read in months -- not only is it spellbinding in terms of plot, but it also raises several important theological questions. Dan Brown creates believable characters stuck in extraordinary situations that strain credibility at times, but like 17th C French neoclassic playwrights, he keeps the 'unities' of time, action, and place realistic enough to sustain our interest. The action starts right from the prologue, when Sauniere, a curator at the Louvre, is murdered by a mysterious albino 'monk'. Realizing that an important secret will die with him, Sauniere stages his own death scene full of clues to the reason behind his murder. This brings Robert Langdon, a symbologist, into the picture: first a suspect in the murder, then the only man who can truly solve it, Langdon finds himself fleeing through Paris and beyond to solve the clues and exonerate himself. Langdon is joined by Sophie Neveu, who is revealed to be the granddaughter of Sauniere, and is herself a cryptologist. The fun of the novel is watching the characters figure out the clues left by Sauniere, a master puzzler in more ways than one. The big 'secret' everyone -- good and bad -- wishes to find is based in current theological debates on the nature of Christianity and the role of women in the church. Although the end seems a bit rushed and almost too neat (intellectually, not emotionally), this is truly a "I can't put it down" novel. Definitely worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost as bad as The Celestine Prophecy
Review: This is one of the worst books I've ever read. It's not that I'm offended by the anti-Christian sentiments--I agree with that for the most part.
The problem for me is the lazy, lazy writing. Basically Brown has found out about this Holy Grail/Feminine Mystery conspiracy theory, and has decided to write what can barely be called a "novel" to tell everyone about it.
The characters are hardly even people, just convenient names and bodies that alternately spew exposition and are baffled by laughably obvious puzzles. Not to mention the tacked-on romance at the end.
He also uses the classic technique of the author who can't be bothered to conceal information through plot, e.g. "Then the bishop told the albino something that was so shocking he nearly fell over" or "Langdon wanted to tell Sophie what the Holy Grail really was, but he thought he would wait for a few more chapters to heighten the suspense."
On top of this, the so-called evidence for the theory is ridiculous in the extreme, relying on coincidences such as the appearance of a V-shape in Da Vinci's Last Supper. I'm sure that all the thousands and thousands of paintings containing a V-shape somewhere in them are just further proof that the supressed Goddess Myth is just lurking there under the surface...
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes a book shouldn't be written or published...
Review: This is one of those times...I'd like to believe that the author was just writing a gripping mystery....but I think his intent was much more serious..and wrong.
Rating:
Summary: What's the shouting all about?
Review: This is only a beach read summer best-seller at best. Brown takes on the Catholic Church's right-wing Opus Dei movement, and a second group that is a little known pseudo-descendent of the Knights Templar movement and tosses in some art history and symbol analysis for good measure.But it's all lightweight, just on the top. He touches lightly on the subject of the Opus Dei, and hints that I.M. Pei's puramid designs for the Louvre are tied into ancient goddess symbols. But he pulls his punches each time. and we're left what seems like a shooting script for a not-very-cerebral car-crash movie. Yes, the Opus Dei is real, and yes, ``The Work,'' as the group is known, probably has sinister intentions. But Brown failed to give us enough. It's "exposé lite", fit for not much more than a lazy August day at the beach.
Rating:
Summary: POOR WRITING
Review: This is patheically poorly written. I am not a Christian. But I find the insipid and ignorant prose simply insulting to the intelligence of anyone capable of digesting more than a tasteless Hollywood B-Movie plot. The fact that most of America is raving about this book says a lot about the masses in that country! The examples of Brown's inaccuracies are countless. It is, however, the brazenly crass contradictions that make one wonder about Mr. Brown's own intelligence. Is he trying to snow us with passages like this one? :
"Sadly, Christian philosophy decided to embezzle the female's creative power by ignoring biological truth and making man the Creator. Genesis tells us that Eve was created from Adam's rib....".
While I agree with his point about the sexes in Christianity, Genesis is, as we all well know, a book of the OLD Testament, stemming from Judaism, not Christianity. The story of Adam and Eve goes a lot further back than Christianity. Of course, Mr. Brown knows this. Had he written this book without the forward "FACT:", one could dismiss everything as poetic liscence. This would of course assume some poetic and literary value, of which there is absolutely zero in this book. Its really like watching bad tv.
Rating:
Summary: Brain dead thriller
Review: This is perhaps one of the most embarrassingly stupid books ever conceived. Not only is information concerning da Vinci's art inaccurate from an art historical standpoint, as confirmed by the Times, but the book's vicious attacks on Opus Dei are so far removed from reality as to make the book libelous. The author can't get simple unrelated facts straight either-- Robert Hanson never had a "much publicized trial," there was in fact no trial at all, he simply plead guilty. There is no space here for the countless egregious errors in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Populist Drivel
Review: This is pure drivel, made for the masses, much like a second rate Hollywood blockbuster film with tons of special effects but no substance. My intelligence was completely insulted by the hyperbolic plot disguised as genuine historical fiction. If you really want to learn about history while also reading a great work of literature, check out "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves. The Da Vinci Code is only one step above a corny James Patterson novel.
Rating:
Summary: Recycled trash
Review: This is pure pulp, recycled trash and soft-headed conspiration theories. Take a spoonful of a guide to the Louvre, half a cup from of table book about Da Vinci's work, and add six chapters from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" by H Lincoln, M Baigent and R Leigh from 1982. A Harvard scholar who, even for a second, believes in this conspiracy - Jesus never died on the cross, instead he married and had children with Mary of Magdalene; the Merovingian dynasty (cloaked in the dark ages) could trace its origin back to this union; guarding this SECRET was the true mission of the Knight's Templars and the ficticious secret society Priory of Zion - belongs in a loony bin. This hoax is recycled trash, and the author is laughing all the way to the bank. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Ever Read.
Review: This is quite simply- the best book I have ever read. Each time I got toward the end of a chapter, I just had to read the next. The entire book has a "film quality" feel about it..meaning that I could picture the movie in my mind as I was reading it. Excellent book and I highly recommend that you pick it up. I was so surprised with the ending of this book that it reminded me of the movie "The Usual Suspects", which didn't reveal the "secret" until the very end. I can't wait to see who portays the characters in this book when it hits the movie screens...!!!
Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining
Review: This is really a great book. The plot explores some controversial but intriguing theories (originally published in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail") about Jesus and various secret societies. It's a fun thriller made compulsively readable by Dan Brown's particular style. I'm not surprised that it is such a huge bestseller because there's so much that will appeal to such a wide variety of people (mystery lovers, people who like to read about alternative religious theories, conspiracy theorists). My advice is to read this book - I've recommended it to several people and every one of them has loved it. You might also be interested to know that there is another book with the same protagonist (Robert Langdon) that Brown wrote prior to this one called "Angels and Demons". It too is a great read - just as good as this one.
|
