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Summary: More than just a page-turner
Review: Yes, this is a fun, fast pager-turner murder mystery, but much more. The elements of the Holy Blood mystery are all laid out here in easily digestable form. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the author is making this up, he's not. You could even look at this book as simply a vehicle for bringing the Holy Blood, Holy Grail mystery to a wider audience. I am surprised no one else mentioned this. Read also Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Baigent et al for a more "non-fiction" treatment of this subject.P.S. - The author cleverly uses the names "Sauniere," "Sophie/Sofia" and "Bezu" for main characters in this novel; names that figure into the real mystery.
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Summary: truth or just controversial?
Review: Yes, this is a very controversial book. But it did open up some people's eyes (such as myself) and began asking questions about the church and Christ's personal life. This book plays with your mind as it keeps throwing facts and evidence. A good read.
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Summary: Exploiting Christ, and Christianity
Review: Yet another attempt to defile the person of Christ.I threw it out.
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Summary: Some interesting knowledge within...
Review: You can learn a few things about the illuminati within these pages. Bottom line: This book is just another round being fired at the Catholic Church in order to subvert it and to weaken it's power against the new world order.
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Summary: Worth Reading for Two Reasons
Review: You can read lots of reviews on the details of the book, so to just net it out simply -- there are two levels of reasons to read this book: 1. It's a great story. It reads as well as any good Tom Clancy type book. 2. Fascinating learning about Church and religion. As I read more on the background research, some are questioning some of the details of Brown's research. But nonetheless, the overall topic of the history of the Church and competing viewpoints is revealed in a fascinating way, without the heavy reading of a history book. I felt like I was learning something while reading fun fiction. Enjoy!
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Summary: Reader's Paradox....
Review: You can't put it down, but you hate to see it end. At least, that's how it was for me. My first exposure to Dan Brown...I loved this book. It taught me things as it entertained me... yes, the ending came on a bit quick, but it still "got me"...
I have since purchased a couple of his other books and can't wait to jump back into this gentleman's mindset. Entertains & makes ya think. My kinda book!
Rating:
Summary: A good page-turner
Review: You know, kids (and I'm speaking here to the many reviewers who found the book unbelievable), you could use the same arguments to insist that James Bond stories are unbelievable, the Hobbits are just "little people," and that amateur detectives can't solve mysteries better than the police because they don't have the latest hi-tech gear. And if Mr. Brown takes any of it to heart, I'm sure he cries all the way to the bank. If you're going to read *anything!* having to do with Knights Templar, the Grail, the early history of the Church, secret societies, or France in general, you need to just sit back and enjoy the nutty ride. CONS: The "quick-cut, planning for the movie" style does gets old if not done really well (it's done mostly well). The flashback transitions are kind of crude, especially at the beginning. Some of the plot twists (especially at the end) arise from the author's selective portrayal of events in *our* POV (read "misdirection"), rather than the character POV. This left me feeling a bit manipulated (I prefer the author to have the decency to hide his/her manipulations of me and leave it to my wife to point it out later). Those familiar with the core backstory elements will find Brown's portrayal of them simplistic, and the novel's experts' acceptance of a sole track of grail lore a bit bothersome. Those who are unfamiliar with same will find it all very alarming and whacky, especially Christians who've grown up with the "based on historical events" belief set. PROS: It's fun. I stayed up until 4am the other night reading it, and finished it the next night, and I don't usually do that. A page-turner is a page-turner and that gets points. Excellent descriptions of place. People are pretty well-drawn (except Teabing, who comes off as dialog and crutches); but even when you lose track of who is saying or thinking what, they are drawn well enough that you can almost always work it out without back-tracking. Despite my problems with Brown's interpretations of research (and "Hello!" this is a novel), there's been a lot of new research since Holy Grail, Holy Blood was published in the early 80's. It's probably all bunk, but it's bunk that surrounds the very human creation of the Catholic Church in the 3rd century, which is not well-documented, the events of which very much were shrouded in secrecy, and which goes to the heart of the faith that dominates Western thinking. I find this fascinating. VERDICT: A great airplane or beach book. Whether you want to read it as part of your daily dose of novels will probably depend on personal preferences. I'm a one novel every month or so kind of guy, and I sucked it down in four days.
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Summary: Best Book of the Year
Review: You may not agree with the premise of this book, but it is fascinating! Besides being a fast=paced mystery, it is a short course in art history as well as the various legends of the Holy Grail. It was absolutely the best book I've read this year.
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Summary: Great!
Review: You must read this!! Dan's best work yet! PS. Has anyone gotten Jonas' password in the webquest? For the life of me I cannot figure it out. Any hints???? Thanks!
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Summary: Dan Brown is simply a genius new age novelist.
Review: You should "enjoy" reading this novel but again you should read it only as a fiction. As a successful new age writer, Brown tries to mix his new age ideas with facts and in the end, he hopes people will buy his arguments as facts. Unfortunately, there are too many people who can't think critically and thus they just "swallow" whatever they read even if it's only a fiction. You can believe whatever you want to believe but facts will remain facts.
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