[Cincinatus]

I actually disagree with Miller that "The Da Vinci Code" is a "rollicking good read" ... I found it rather disappointing. Better to read the original schlock classic Holy Blood, Holy Grail; at least there, you'll learn some interesting history. It's better written, too.

[rhema]

BUMP

[martin_fierro]

Yeah, I found it a clunky, blatant attempt at a screenplay for the inevitable movie.

[goldstategop]

Michael Baigent and Henry Lincoln's books are riveting reading. The existence of the Priory Of Sion is a documented fact.

[Oztrich Boy]

Anyone got an opinion on how The Da Vinci Code compares to Foucault's Pendulum?

[NHResident]

I tried to read it based on my brother's recommendation - I found it obvious, trite, juvenile and boring. I was amazed at the apparent number of readers who are hypnotized by the book - but then thought of the millions of copies of "Who moved my cheese?" - another extremely juvenile statement of the glaringly obvious that have been and continue to be purchased. Clearly 'common sense' is no longer very common.

[Stentor]

It's better written, too.

I'm very interested in the subject but Holy Blood Holy Grail made me believe I had become a narcoleptic.

[Snowy]

Am I the only one who enjoyed the book?

[InvisibleChurch]

the davinci code is over/rated ... this guy's books all contain the supersmart and superhandsome professor who runs into the even supersmarter and superbeautifuler woman, they have some hubba-hubba, while outsmarting international do-badders to boot... when his plots run thin, he tosses in a 'miracle' to get it back on track ... trust me, if you've read one of dan's books, well, you know the rest

[Alouette]

After reading the Da Vinci Code I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I was surprised at all the same codes I found in it.

[Drawsing]

A co-worker lent me the book. I found myself interested in finding out what happens next, but I was so offended by much of the content that it was difficult to finish. Subsequently, I wrote an essay to give to my friend who lent me the book:

The Da Vinci Code, a few observations.

The book is fiction, however the author presents the historical background as facts. Thus a refutation is called for.

1. Leonardo was a homosexual.
Maybe. The only recorded reference to this I have found is that he was accused of this by an anonymous accuser. He was arrested and later acquitted due to lack of evidence.


2. The painting "The Last Supper" portrays Mary Magdalene next to Jesus.
Leonardo was commissioned to paint Jesus and the twelve disciples and he did just that. Preliminary sketches label all of the figures by name. The "Mary" figure is the apostle John. Leonardo traditionally painted John as clean shaven and somewhat effeminate. Leonardo painted a painting of John the Baptist with the same effeminate look. The Last Supper painting depicts the moment that Jesus reveals he will be betrayed by one of them. This explains the dramatic poses and expressions of the disciples. Peter is pointing, he is not making a knife cutting gesture.


3. The council of Nicaea determined Jesus should be divine due to pressure from Emperor Constantine and political motivations. The gnostic gospels were excluded for the same reasons.

Historical documents of the time indicate the canon was already accepted and in wide use. The council put an official stamp on it. Also the notion of Jesus' divinity was universally accepted before Nicaea and had been proclaimed by Jesus himself in the Gospels. The gnostic gospels such as the gospel of Phillip...gnostic means "knowledge from within"...proclaim that we are all divine and we must learn to love ourselves so that we can realize that Christ is within all of us. This is the same as "new age" philosophy and the eastern religion craze and modern psychobabble that continues to befuddle the ignorant today. Our present canon..the 66 books of the Bible were accepted due to their obvious unity. The same God is proclaimed from Genesis to Revelation. God's nature and message does not change from book to book. Also the historical facts of persons, kings, nations, wars and other historical events were known to be accurate and consistent in these books. Furthermore, present day archaeological and historical study continues to bear out the facts contained in the canon. The gnostic gospels, on the other hand, contain bizarre tails with no precedent or substantiating facts. Their message directly contradicts the message of the old and new testaments and is very reminiscent of prevailing pagan mysticism. The earliest partial canon of Scripture dates from the late second century and already rejected Gnostic writings. In fact, studies by biblical scholars and other historians have securely dated the earliest copies of the gospels as much older than the gnostic writings.

4. The Mona Lisa was an androgynous self-portrait or feminine goddess.

History records this portrait as Madonna Lisa, wife of Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo.

5. Gothic cathedrals are monuments to feminine anatomy!
I have taken over 20 credit hours of art history. I studied and memorized hundreds of examples of Gothic architecture including cathedrals, doorways, windows etc... They sure didn't look like feminine anatomy to me. Even my liberal feminist professors would have laughed at the ideas presented in this book.

6. Pagan good...Christians bad.
The author labors to present pre-Christian rituals of nature-worship, temple prostitution, and goddess worship as the true religion. He fails to mention other unpleasant aspects of pagan religions such as tossing infants into the fire, female circumcision, tossing virgins into the fire, and cutting out the hearts of living slaves and other ritual human sacrifices. Also the "goddess" religions only elevated women as far as being a sex object. It was the teachings of Christ that raised women up from the level of slave. As Paul said, "In Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free." The disciples were astonished that Jesus would engage in conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well. In the early church the Bible speaks of women deacons and elders. The apostle Paul referred to women as his loyal yokefellow in the ministry. These and many other examples undercut the absurd points of Dan Brown that somehow pagan religions are superior.

7. The early church executed 5 million "witches".
Where Dan Brown got this 5 million figure is a mystery. Latest figures indicate between 30-50,000 deaths over two centuries 1300-1500 during the European witch craze. Not all of these were women and not all of them were ordered by the church. The organized church is not guiltless in this. However it is always a mistake to judge Christianity and Christ by the actions and decisions of a man-made institution.
Contrast these deaths with the rise of socialism/communism and the resultant 80-150 million deaths in one century (the 20th).

Here is another essay:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/0413davinci.asp

[blowfish]

Agreed. I read an earlier book of his 'Angels and Demons' and though it was little more than an airport time-killer. I expected DaVinci Code to be better, but it wasn't.

[valkyrieanne]

DVC is an execrably written book. Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum or Theodore Roczak's Flicker are far better, in the genre of "secret gnostic cult" thrillers.

The 1996-1997 Fox TV show Millenium was far more creative with the "descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene" story arc.

That DVC should have become the best seller, when Millenium went off the air and Flicker is out of print, is really sad.

[theFIRMbss]

>

'Da Vinci Code' best seller gets first challenge CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — "The Da Vinci Code," a thriller by a relatively unknown author, is a best seller. It has boosted the profile of New Hampshire author Dan Brown -- and it's brought him his first literary challenge. Author Lewis Perdue says that Brown's story, which explores codes hidden in Leonardo Da Vinci's artwork and a closely guarded secret involving the Roman Catholic Church, has similarities to Perdue's "Daughter of God," published in 2000. Last week, Perdue sent a letter to Doubleday, Brown's publisher. While religious themes, secrets and conspiracies aren't newcomers to popular fiction, Perdue said he was seeing too many of his own ideas in "The Da Vinci Code," Brown's fourth novel. "There are far too many parallels between the two books for it to be an accident," Perdue said Monday in an interview from north Lake Tahoe, where he is on vacation. "We've decided to take legal action." Brown said that until last week, he had never heard of Perdue, who has written about a dozen books, including "The Da Vinci Legacy," which deals with a church secret involving the illegitimate offspring of St. Peter. Brown said he has not read any of Perdue's books. Brown's protagonist, who made his debut in a previous novel, is a professor who studies religious symbols. Perdue's hero is a professor of religion. Brown's heroine is a cryptologist; Perdue's is an expert specializing in art forgery. Both deal with curator deaths. Both books also deal with a secret that the church wants to keep under wraps. "To me, the biggest smoking gun is there is a painting which contains, physically, a gold key, which leads to a safe deposit box in a Zurich bank, which contains the ultimate clue leading to the treasure," said Perdue. "And the two people retrieve this from the safe deposit box as the bad guys are closing in and they escape by the skin of their teeth." Brown's book includes a scene where the cryptologist finds a gold key behind a painting, which leads her and the professor on a harrowing journey to a safe deposit box in a Paris Swiss bank. "Swiss bank accounts are so often in thrillers they are cliche," said Brown, who added that there are limited places to hide a key in an art museum. Brown said his first book about his professor, "Angels and Demons," came out before "Daughter of God." Perdue said "Daughter of God" is a re-edit of his 1985 book, "The Linz Testament," with the same hero but with a different name.

[MEGoody]

"you'll learn some interesting history"

And in both cases, you will also learn myths that some have tried to redefine as history (e.g. that Jesus was married).

[Xenalyte]

I'm re-reading HBHG now. I know it's total fiction, but it's still intriguing to ponder.