The Da Vinci Code
 | The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown Date: 18 March, 2003 — $16.47 — Book Rating: |
The other month I got a surprise in the post when my Mum sent me a copy of The Davinci Code. She knows I enjoy reading, knows the kind of books I like and thought this may interest me, if I hadn't already read it ( she also enclosed a book exchange card in case - always a good idea I find...)
Anyway - after finnishing the books I was currently reading I started this on Sunday night, and in a shocking turn around from my normal reading habits, finnished it 5 days later - ok, so some people will say "I started reading this and just couldn't put it down, finnishing it in one sitting..." but I say to them - GO TO WORK ;p It wasn't a difficult read; with a compelling fast paced story line with nicely interwoven plot points to keep you guessing at each turn - I can see the movie will be equally entertaining to watch...
As for the religious content - I can certainly see why "the church" is so against the book, but I can't help but think that for each and every "the truth about the davinci code" style book published, their just a) furthering the public focus on the book, and b) reaffirming the books notion that "the church" originated, and continues its smear campaign against the sacred feminine.
It's been said the book has been the cause of many Christians to doubt their faith, but the story line is hardly anything new, King Diamond's House of God album opens directly with a similar:
Upon the cross he did not die, they tortured him, but he survived
Smuggled across the open sea, to Southern France, tranquillity
There he married Magdalene, and founded another dynasty
A church was built upon a hill, to serve all of the gods at will.
(Excerpts from a non confirmed theory by an unknown)
Even Kevin Smiths Dogma center around the blood line of Christ, and whilst both pieces received their own fair share of religious dissaproval, I love them just as much as I loved this book.
Whether any of the thoughts or "facts" in The Davinci Code are real, or Dan Browns fiction, they've not altered my thoughts on God, or my faith, only one book so far has done anything to do that to me so far - John A. Devito's The Devil's Apocrypha, a truely bizarre yet enjoyable book that disturbed me more in its telling, than its content, and left me with a strange after taste that few books have managed...
But anyway, back to Dan Brown - loved the book, looking forward to the movie, but I can't say I have any interesting in reading anything else by him, great story telling aside (and this is more to do with what I've heard of Digital Fortresses, but partially The Davinci Code), if Brown had gotten any crypto geeks to read it, and edit some of his geekfappery language out I would have enjoyed various passages much much more.
You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't read Dan Brown's "Angels
and Demons". It's the previous Robert Langdon book to The Da Vinci Code and
in my opinion is better. I have only read Da Vinci Code and Angels and
Demons from Dan Brown, arguably his best two novels. My impression of the
other ones from friends are much like your feelings about Digital Fortress,
they just aren't that good.
I liked the book too, but I'm afraid most of the theories presented are far
from the truth.