The Da Vinci Code

The duo become both suspects and detectives searching not only for Neveu's grandfather's murderer, but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England and history itself. Brown has created a page-turning thriller that also provides an amazing interpretation of Western history. Brown's hero and heroine embark on a lofty and intriguing exploration of some of Western culture's greatest mysteries--from the nature of the Mona Lisa's smile to the secret of the Holy Grail. Though some will quibble with the veracity of Brown's conjectures, therein lies the fun. The Da Vinci Code is an enthralling read that provides rich food for thought. --Jeremy Pugh, Amazon.com

Reader Reviews:

A museum piece (1/4 people found this helpful)

I'm very surprised to see this book get low ratings lately - perhaps people have been influenced by the very poor film (Tom Hanks hold your head in shame!) or it's just literary snobbery.
At the end of the day, it's a great read. A good range of characters, lots of tension and well researched locations (you will want to go to Le Louvre and hunt down the Rosslyn Chapel after reading this) and the mother of all conspiracies kept me entertained and guessing for a week or two.
It's not Dickens. It's not Shakespeare. It is however page-turning fun.
So if it's claptrap, it is claptrap that has opened up millions of eyes and minds to the genius of da Vinci, the ideology of religion, the history of art. Is that a bad thing ? Definitely not. You will want to believe the Priory of Sion were real and that the Holy Grail was protected by the Knights Templar. That da Vinci was in that elite sect that protected the bloodline of Christ.
If you haven't read it yet, forget the film and approach the DVC with an open mind - you won't regret it.

It is Dan Brown's best book. Next I preferred Deception Point, very different. Angels and Demons I enjoyed up until the point Langdon used his jacket as a parachute ! Digital Fortress is very dated and very poor.

Nice story, shame about the writing (0/1 people found this helpful)

This is a cracking page-turner, and provided the basis for an excellent film adaptation. However, the fast pace, complex plot and plausible scholarship conceal some elementary shortfalls in writing quality. To quote two of these:
-The plural of "millennium" is not "millennium" (it should be "millennia" or "millenniums").
-At the end of chapter 33, Langdon and Sophie arrive by car at Gare St Lazare. When we meet them again at the start of Chapter 35, the station has magically transformed into Gare du Nord.

According to Wikipedia, the book has sold over 60 million copies, and is in the top 20 all-time best seller list. Even if this is an exaggeration, there must have been several million copies sold, and then one has to add on the other readers - via libraries, second-hand sale, etc. If I was the author, I would be cringing to think so many people had witnessed such basic errors on my part. Alternatively, I would be doing what Mr Brown is doing - laughing all the way to the bank.

I could say a lot more about the general literary deficiencies, but other reviewers have amply covered them. One reviewer rates this as the best book they have ever read. I have to say that it fails, by a considerable margin, Oscar Wilde's litmus test "books are well written or badly written". I hope the reviewer comes to discover some of the many books which are better written than this.

On this basis, five stars for entertainment, one for research and literacy - so I'll compromise at three overall.

EHHH... Its Alright!! (1/1 people found this helpful)

an average book... which i marked down because it was overhyped! probably deserves 2.5 stars but life just aint fair!!

Nonstop Scavenger Hunt, Chase Scene (0/3 people found this helpful)

Museum curator Jacques Saunière is running for his life. In the Grand Gallery of the Louvre he rips a painting from the wall, an alarm goes off, bars clang down, sealing him in and away from his attacker, an albino named Silas, but the attacker shoots him through the bars, wounding him. Silas is after a centuries old secret and he offers to spare Saunière if he talks, Saunière lies, but the lie is a good one and the Albino believes him, then leaves him to die with a belly wound.

Jacques is desperate to pass his secret on, but only to his granddaughter, Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer with the DCPJ (Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire) the Judicial Police, the French equivalent of the FBI. So he uses his remaining few minutes to strip naked, then he draws a circle around himself with an ultraviolet pen and positions himself like DaVinci's most famous drawing, "The Vitruvian Man," knowing Sophie will see his body and figure out his first of many clues.

The Judicial Police summon Robert Langdon, a Harvard Professor of Religious Symbology, who is lecturing in Paris, to interpret the crime scene, but unknown to Langdon, they suspect him as he was supposed to meet with Saunière later that evening. Sophie gets Langdon away from the cops and thus begins a book long scavenger hunt, chase scene that you'll be telling your friends about for months to come.

I'm sitting here at my iBook trying to think of how best to describe Dan Brown's writing. It's fast, sure. Historically accurate, yes. Descriptive, without a doubt. But none of that really gets across what I'm trying to say. Maybe I can make a comparison, Dan Brown writes like a cross between a young Robert Ludlum on speed and a young Frederick Forsyth on steroids. There is a reason why this book is the worldwide, number one bestseller, and if you haven't read it yet, you should.

Reviewed by Captain Katie Osborne

where to begin? (1/3 people found this helpful)

I could write so much about this book but I'll just keep it short as usual. The plot is a page-turner but gets silly. The characters are one dimensional. But I expect that Dan Brown had more on his mind than developing characters. It seems to me a clever mix of fact and fiction which some readers might confuse. I know a lot about this subject and Dan Brown does expose truths but they are also mixed up with fiction whioh he presents as fact. I think this is a cunning way to undermine Christianity and Jesus Christ. There is far more written evidence to suggest He is the Son of God, who was crucifed and rose again than there is to suggest He was just a good married man with a mission.

Dan Brown

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