Free Republic

Controversy in the press surrounding "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown, just beginning to fade, will likely revive later this week when the July issue of Vanity Fair hits the stands. According to an advance copy, the magazine's contributing editor Seth Mnookin alleges -- in a massive article titled "DaVinci Clone?" -- two new instances of possible plagiarism in Brown's past. Two textual analysis experts also tell him they believe Brown borrowed the plot for his book from Lewis Perdue's "Daughter of God." The two libel experts say they are convinced Brown borrowed heavily from the Perdue book, despite Brown's...

The danger that Dan Brown's prose style might be contagious discouraged me from reading The Da Vinci Code, and I decline to see the film. In 1982, I read the same asinine story in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail presented as fact, and do not gladly dive twice into the same sewer. Why this rubbish became the world's best-selling work of fiction, though, paradoxically confirms the strength of America's Christian faith. Why should an American novel depicting Christianity as a hoax command such a readership while Christian faith is resurgent? Americans are migrating en masse to evangelical denominations...

When he walks on to a movie set, he usually gets star treatment.But as Tom Hanks arrived at the Lincoln Cathedral yesterday, he found himself somewhat upstaged.A handful of protesters were making their feelings known about the decision to film scenes from The Da Vinci Code in the historic building.