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This book IS entertaining! Reason? Mainly it highlights doubts, questions, and possibilities that alot of people now adays have thought about. It has great suspense and curiosity throughout once you get into it, it's a little hard to stop, especially the closer you get to the end! I have to say yes it is quite lengthy and like many good books, this book still does have many boring parts. The book would have been most excellent had Mr. Brown cut out the unnecessary extra details. It does highlight and centrally focus on religion, Catholicism, and if you don't know much about this area, this book will definitely fill you in! Only thing is you must take into account it is just a story and lot of recent publicity on this book and it's writer had just went over the deep end!! The big stink over this book is how a story can raise such questionable doubt within religion. I feel all he did was make it known what alot of people had questions about for many years/ages that the religious community either failed to answer fully or will not answer truthfully. Again though, it is a book and solely for entertainment purpose! This book is very interesting and a definite must read even if it is long and takes you a month and a day! It does do a good job on descriptive details and excel in including the read in knowledgeable info on art history. COMPLAINT? The biggest complaint besides the length for most people is if your not into the book or an avid reader, you'll be lost!!!! This story jumps back and forth between the main characters and supporting characters quite a bit! Not only are you with one set of characters to another but you may be in another part of the country, and if your not careful about your reading you can easily get lost like I did! Which required me to re-read, ugh!! This will provide to be the most challenging part of this book! It took me 3 days to completely read this book, including the re-reading and having to reference to prior chapters, also having to pull out a dictionary to get proper pronunciations and definitions, his vocabulary is very large which also made it a more challenging read. This sorry is definitely worth your read, and then go watch the movie starring Tom Hanks!! As for buying, well I have the book, if your still not to sure, borrow it or just check it out at a book stand/bookstore/library. Thumb through and read the excerpts, if it intrigues you then it's wroth the read and buy, I thought so besides just the story and controversy behind it all. This story will probably be a definite historic collectible later on.Read full review
The word for "The Da Vinci Code" is a rare invertible palindrome. Rotated 180 degrees on a horizontal axis so that it is upside down, it denotes the maternal essence that is sometimes linked to the sport of soccer. Read right side up, it concisely conveys the kind of extreme enthusiasm with which this riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller can be recommended. That word is wow. The author is Dan Brown (a name you will want to remember). In this gleefully erudite suspense novel, Mr. Brown takes the format he has been developing through three earlier novels and fine-tunes it to blockbuster perfection. Not since the advent of Harry Potter has an author so flagrantly delighted in leading readers on a breathless chase and coaxing them through hoops. The first book by this onetime teacher, the 1998 "Digital Fortress," had a foxy heroine named Susan Fletcher who was the National Security Agency's head cryptographer. The second, "Deception Point," involved NASA, a scientific ruse in the Arctic and Rachel Sexton, an intelligence analyst with a hairdo "long enough to be sexy, but short enough to remind you she was probably smarter than you." With "Angels and Demons," Mr. Brown introduced Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of art history and religious symbology who is loaded with "what his female colleagues referred to as an `erudite' appeal." No wonder: the new book finds the enormously likable Langdon pondering antimatter, the big-bang theory, the cult of the Illuminati and a threat to the Vatican, among other things. Yet this is merely a warm-up for the mind-boggling trickery that "The Da Vinci Code" has in store. Consider the new book's prologue, set in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre. (This is the kind of book that notices that this one gallery's length is three times that of the Washington Monument.) It embroils a Caravaggio, an albino monk and a curator in a fight to the death. That's a scene leaving little doubt that the author knows how to pique interest, as the curator, Jacques Saunière, fights for his life. Desperately seizing the painting in order to activate the museum's alarm system, Saunière succeeds in buying some time. And he uses these stolen moments — which are his last — to take off his clothes, draw a circle and arrange himself like the figure in Leonardo's most famous drawing, "The Vitruvian Man." And to leave behind an anagram and Fibonacci's famous numerical series as clues. Whatever this is about, it is enough to summon Langdon, who by now, he blushes to recall, has been described in an adoring magazine article as "Harrison Ford in Harris tweed." Langdon's latest manuscript, which "proposed some very unconventional interpretations of established religious iconography which would certainly be controversial," is definitely germane. Also soon on the scene is the cryptologist Sophie Neveu, a chip off the author's earlier prototypes: "Unlike the waifish, cookie-cutter blondes that adorned Harvard dorm room walls, this woman was healthy with an unembellished beauty and genuineness that radiated a striking personal confidence." Even if he had not contrived this entire story as a hunt for the Lost Sacred Feminine essence, women in particular would love Mr. Brown. With Leonardo as co-conspirator, since his life and work were so fraught with symbols and secrets, Mr. Brown is off to the races. Google away: you may want to investigate the same matters that Langdon and Agent Neveu pursuRead full review
Very entertaining read. Great page turner with a great historical plot. It is a book that makes you think because it is an action packed suspenseful mystery. It gives the reader continous movement with side plots that all come together. It ends with a great question which the reader cannot answer. But one must remember that it is Fiction. Too many non-readers have the wrong conception about the content of the book from to much TV evaluation and speculation. If one is to believe Dan Brown - one has to change history with religion's greatest hero - Jesus. Many readers can get caught up in a transfer of re-writing history and to believe Brown's book as the truth. But is is still Fiction. However, it does make one read Angels and Demons if not read before the Da Vinci Code. Still a great buy for the Holiday Season! I do not believe that the Movie will approach the full content of the book. It will likely be a disappontment to the book reader. However, it will be a Box Office Hit because of the great interest in the book.Read full review
While reading "THE DA VINCI CODE" Dan's short-of-awful writing style kept getting in the way of enjoyment. However, after I started it I couldn't put it down. Because Dan repeated a falsity in his book I was familiar with I wrote a critical article for rense.com in 2004 and included photos. The article ("DaVinci, The Dagger & Bullcookies") is still at the rense.com archives but not the photos. Below is my article, edited for this review, and includes the rense.com webmaster's opening comments which I've also edited. Webmaster's comment: But this is not a review of The DaVinci Code, but rather an opportunity to lay to rest yet another absurdity which has arisen from the controversy generated by the book; that of the "dagger" in DaVinci's famous painting of the last supper. The following material from Edward Lopez is an excellent autopsy of this latest controversy regarding the dagger in DaVinci's painting... From Edward Lopez - May 3, 2004 I love a controversy as much as the next person. When it deals with historical facts, so much the better. Everyone is talking about Dan Brown's best seller "THE DA VINCI CODE." Certain historical facts are mis-represented in the book and the web is buzzing with these historical errors creating a mini-flood of books dedicated to pointing out Mr. Brown's erroneous ways. In his book one finds dialogue between the main character, Langdon, and his co-character, Sophie, where Langdon points to a certain detail in a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "THE LAST SUPPER" and claims that one can see a disembodied, anonymous hand holding a dagger in a threatening manner. This is the latest mention of this so-called anomaly with another famous author making the same claim. In the 1994 book "TURIN SHROUD", by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, one finds on page 104 the claim of the disembodied hand holding a dagger in a threatening manner. Additionally, the authors add that a person would have to be "... a contortionist - in order to make the gesture anatomically possible. As it stands, the hand belongs to nobody at the table." The authors of these books have come to their conclusions because Leonardo's painting has deteriorated through the years, plus the over-painting that has also occurred in trying to save the painting. The last cleaning, in the '90s, revealed the true beauty of Leonardo's work but it also shows that the deterioration removed valuable details which the authors seem to have ignored in coming up with their ridiculous claims. There are a few websites where the above claims are rebutted by lay persons and religious scholars but they do not include photos or graphics to support their rebuttals. Leonardo knew what he was doing when he painted St. Peter holding a knife (used to cut the bread at the table). Peter's pose and position of arm and hand holding the knife is quite natural. I published a page (at WebTV) with photos showing the hand with knife from Leonardo's painting and also his sketch for that particular part of the painting, and photos of myself in a similar pose as St. Peter holding a knife to show that there is nothing mysterious about the hand holding a knife (NOT a dagger) as seen in the painting and to show you that the pose is quite natural. Enjoy my contribution to help end any further attempts at discrediting the genius of Leonardo da Vinci. (When I moved from WebTV to Cable the photos were lost.) (eBay ID: hunkadinka)Read full review
If you wish to be fastened to your easy chair anxiously turning pages, yet thinking - what you are reading is beyond whatever could be tenuously credible, yet unable to put the book down, then this might be the book for you. The Da Vinci Code is filled with plots and subplots. The exhilaration begins within the first few pages of the book and continues almost until the end at which time it became predictable. What a shame to write such a novel that stirs up millions of peoples’ emotions and beliefs, but lets you down at the very end. There are other writers who preceded Mr. Brown on the same subject, who are scholarly writers, by 20 years, one need only watch the History Channel to learn a little about those who wrote about Mr. Browns’ main plot in the manner in which Mr. Brown did, but they wrote about it as being a theory -possible and in a scholarly way. What makes the difference is that Dan Brown wrote it as a work of fiction and wove plots and subplots, meshing his novel into something that people might possibly believe and most definitely either titillated or disturbing by readers. Dan Browns’ ability to illustrate concepts, weave plots and subplots in a manner in which the reader is drawn in without regard to reason makes him a master but of what is up to the individual reader to deduce. It offers up interesting points of view. He wrote The DaVinci Code as fiction, not nonfiction and as it is a work of fiction, may I ask, what has been the all the fuss? It is only one man’s stroke of the pen- which has ruffled many feathers and we have paid him well to do it.Read full review
Wow. I feel like writing a review on this book is pointless because of the attention it has already achieved. But... that's like saying my vote doesn't count so on goes the review. Overall, this book was incredibly good. I couldn't put it down, even after I read more than 300 pages in one sitting. The chapters were very short (average of about 6 pages) and each produced a suspense unlike any other. The language was not too descriptive and not lacking description so it was easy to get into. The plot, except for the hasty conclusion, was geniously written. This book is more than just an exciting plot though; it has an interesting -and perhaps controversial- point. The points can be seen in the dialogues between characters and it is rather intriguing. It's like taking a thelogy or archaology class without actually feeling like you're learning. The amount of historical and scientific/mathematical basis this book has will blow you away. Every time I learned something new, like the meaning of the name "Mona Lisa", I was shocked and couldn't help but go, "OMG, really?!" The beginning of the book may be a bit hard to get into, but this is an incredible book nonetheless. Not only is this book fun and exciting, but it will make you feel that much smarter. If you get the chance, forget the Christian controversy (it's a fiction for goodness sake), and read this book.Read full review
I have to admit, I finally broke down and read it! Dan Brown does an excellent job, condensing, twisting, embellishing and dumbing down information that has been out there for years. Add an evil nemesis or two, some sexual tension, a brutal freaky psychologically challenged albino and a murder plot......wow....you have a pretty darn good book on your hands. I throughly enjoyed this book. Very well written, enough twists and turns to keep me page flipping for hours. O.K., so Brown acknowledges he did'nt discover and decipher the rosetta stone, but his readers treat him as such! If Da Vinci Code tickled your interest on such religious topics, you might want to read up on the real stuff. Check out Michael Baigent. Michael Baigent is the author of a number of important books that challenge the way we perceive the past, including (with Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln) THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL, (with Richard Leigh) THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS DECEPTION, THE ELIXIR AND THE STONE and the recently published ANCIENT TRACES. His new book, THE JESUS PAPERS, is currently a New York Times best seller.Read full review
Fabulous book .... very well researched and though touted as a "novel" ... the bottom line of the telling is the truth hidden from humanity since the marriage of Jesus with Mary Magdalene ... the poor Magadale so maligned by the Catholic Church to cover up all the misinformation we have been fed with since time immemorial. Kudos to Dan Brown. Highly recommended reading for those with an open mind. Book arrived in perfect condition -- brand-new, I would say. Perfectly packed and right on time. Happy reading to all of you who are interested in this kind of book.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I grabbed this book just to know what everyone was so hyped about and got my answer. I won't consider it one of the best novels I've read, but it was highly entertaining and a real page turner - a great mystery novel, if you like that sort of stuff. I could understand why it was a best seller though - from the premise and plot - it deals with a highly controversial and intriguing mystery that has boggled people throughout history - the Holy Grail. Though I've ran across the 'twist' about what was supposedly the Holy Grail before (which didn't surprise me) - Dan Brown ingeniously ties the works of the Master - Leonardo da Vinci to the search for the holy grail , which was quite interesting. Though it was a fun read, as a Catholic, some parts of the novel, didn't quite settle with me. It is in fact a work of fiction and I consider it as that. As a book, it's absolute entertainment. I really can imagine that it would be a great movie to watch - if they adapt it right.Read full review
I loved this book. It's not literature. Dan Brown's presentation of a so-called Vatican conspiracy is believable in the context of the book. Certainly millions of readers bought the conspiracy theory of Jesus and Mary's marriage being covered up by the Catholic Church. I loved the pace and plot. The book moves quickly and the author uses actual facts in his story. I particularly loved the descriptions of the famous artwork. I didn't like the main character as much. I thought he was one-dimensional but in an action book, it really doesn't matter, does it? The female character Sophie is a fun character but also kind of one-dimensional. Leonardo Da Vinci is not a character per se but the way the story incorporates his genius adds a fun, intelligent dimension. After I read the book, I read up on Leonoardo Da Vinci and watched the various History Channel documentaries. I received the book as a gift. After reading it, I bought "Angels and Demons" and "Deception Point." The former book has the same protagonist as "Da Vinci Code" but I think "Angels and Demons" is more interesting and better written. "Deception Point" is an escapist thriller without the legend and lore of Da Vinci. I would Dan Brown's books again and I'm excited to see how "Da Vinci Code" translates to film.Read full review
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