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The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

List Price: $26.95
Your Price: $17.79
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: An action movie without the special effects
Review: This book reads like an action movie but without the benefit of any special effects to keep your attention. The concept of the plot is novel but the writing is poor and descriptions are lacking. Be sure to read this as long as you have nothing better to do.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not the real thing...
Review: This book reads more like a bodice-ripper than a tightly crafted novel. If you are interested in history, mystery and religion, read An Instance of the Fingerpost instead. That is a magnificent piece of literature. Da Vinci Code is a poorly written TV miniseries by comparison.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Damn good, considering it wasn't hardcore sci-fi
Review: This book really lived up to everything I'd heard about it and I can now see why it is Number One. Even though it was a little long, it was fairly fast-paced and there were enough twists and turns to definitely keep me interested. I would definitely tell others to purchase and read "The Da Vinci Code". Even though most of my friends are like me and usually stick with hardcore science-fiction or cyberpunk books like "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", or "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter", among many others. I still believe, now, that "The Da Vinci Code" definitely deserves a spot on my bookshelf along with my other favorites.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: ¿a pop sclockmeister looking for a quick buck.
Review: This book represents such flagrant ignorance of the elements of suspense and mystery writing that it is deplorable. The main characters are so capable of easing themselves out of predicaments that there is no tension whatsoever. They could walk into the Oval Office and use a phone while discussing medieval symbology, apparently. Throw a bar of soap out the window and all of the security forces in the district will chase it. There are such an endless series of these episodes that it reads like a Monty Python plot. The keystone evidently refers to the French and English cops. Only Jim Carey could enact the exorbitant character expressions and reactions the author ties to revelations, events, and dialog. Forget the themes, a new meaning to the Holy Grail and the subjugation of feminism by the founders of Christianity. It is so pedantic in its portrayal that it is, at best, marginal. Maintaining the status quo through secret societies is portrayed as, apparently, appropriate, if shrouded by enough symbolic ritual and riddle to keep a mystic swimming. References to real questions of religious reform, feminism, the priesthood, right to life versus abortion, and so on are ignored, so as not to offend any element of the book-buying public. But there is a deep level of conspiracy and cover up evident herein! How do Doubleday and the NY Times manage to cook the books and keep this appalling pulp number one on the best seller's list week after week?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What A Great Read!
Review: This book rips the mask off the church and the blinders off the congregation. It's the adult version of telling the children there is no Santa. It's provocative, it makes the reader think beyond the book for a change, as evidenced in some of the reviews here. It motivates them to question and conduct their own research, whether to prove or disprove. It is entertaining, it evokes excitment and holds the attention. Yes, it's fiction but, the sources it pulls much of its information from are not. If it moved you to active research, you may want to consider, "The Jesus Mysteries" and "Jesus & the Lost Goddess" both by Frenke & Gandy.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not a good book.
Review: This book set my teeth on edge. The anti-Christian types will love it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Treasure Hunt for the Grail
Review: This book should be included on the top one hundred books ever written. I feel as if I've just completed a thrilling college course, and wouldn't be at all surprised if the study of this book wasn't eventually offered as one. It covers a little bit of everything from history, math, logic, science, religion, astronomy, art, and architecture. Back when I was in High School, I had heard about the universal code of Nature (1.618 PHI.) in a science class , but it was never presented in such a way before that made it interesting enough for me to really sit down and think about it. After reading this book I was doing little experiments to verify that it was true. Oh, by the way in addition to being a very good college text, this book was also a very good murder mystery involving a treasure hunt in search of the Holy Grail. The questions remain however, "What is the Holy Grail or San Greal?" "Is it a chalice, a women, a royal blood line, or a bunch of hidden documents?"

The book quotes the following from Leonardo Da Vinci that it says is in reference to the Bible, "Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" The line refers to people blindly reading the Bible without questioning the truth in the message. I would like to caution people not to make the same mistake here by blindly reading this book and accepting everything said here without looking things up for themselves to see how much of it is based on facts, and how much on innuendo. Some of course is just based on innuendo for the story line, but I was amazed by how much is actually based on real facts (especially the art work, and symbols). Leonardo obviously had a hidden agenda with some of his paintings, but what that message was is still open to interpretation. (It does look like there really was a women sitting at the table in his "Last Supper" painting to the right of Jesus. Whether this person is supposed to be Mary Magdalene however is open to discussion. This painting of course is Da Vinci's interpretation of that scene rather than based on anything that actually happened.)

I love a book that makes you think and go out and learn something new and this book by Dan Brown does that. It reminded me a little of Michael Crichton's books like Jurassic Park or Congo, that take some real facts then ask what if, and lay out a believable story that leaves you scratching your head at the end wondering what is real.

Is the Catholic Church built on lies, and if so does it matter, or do we even care? As a Catholic I remember being concerned years ago when I found out that Jesus might not have actually been born on December 25th, but that the Church choose this day to celebrate it since it coincided with other Pagan god's birthdays. I wondered how many other things were done while setting themselves up to try to eliminate the competition, and this book just opened up a whole bunch of additional questions that I will now have to research and decide for myself on what is real.

The basic teachings of the church are still the same and have a good message. That hasn't changed. Even before reading this book however I have felt like something was missing from the church or needs to be changed. Maybe by reading this book it will help point me in the right direction as to what I am looking for.

On a side note I saw that Nicholas Flamel the alchemist was listed as one of the previous Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion. Nicholas is mentioned in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but I hadn't noticed until this book that he was a real person when I looked him up on line. ...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Highly overrated
Review: This book should have been a screen play. It would (or will) be a blockbuster movie, but the book lags, the characters are cardboard, and the plot development is uninteresting. However, the ideas and history behind the book are exciting. I had neither considered many of the symbols in art history before nor have I thought that the holy grail might be a person and not the cup of Christ.

This is a quick read, but the writing quality isn't good enough to make this a classic.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Catholic Slander
Review: This book slander's the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is known for respecting other religions yet still remains the target for evil propagation such as this. I will never buy a book written by Dan Brown again.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Give me a break
Review: This book started out with a bang: a thriller of a first chapter. I had such high hopes. But the further I read, the more disgusted I became. The plot and the theology became more and more sensational and outrageous. Dan Brown certainly has a right to express his views on church history and theology, but as a conservative Christian, I personally found it offensive. I would imagine most Catholics would take offense at the corrupt and negative characterization of the Church. I went away from the book with a sick feeling.


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