Book review: The Da Vinci Code

[druid]

I just got a parcel from Amazon and inside was this book. The cover is pretty and the size of the book is perhaps larger than average, well at least larger than the softcovers I'm used to. The jacket is an elegant red, a hue slightly brighter than the ominous Burgundy, with gold text and a picture of Mona Lisa's eyes that have some undecipherable text on them, a combination that oozes an eerie but goodwilling elegance. The actual covers are matte black with a minimalistic title and author name in the back, perhaps a hint of the upcoming malice that has been veiled under the seductive jacket?

The pages smell and taste of premium grade book paper as expected and the volume handles pretty well. The secret behind of the good usability is probably the quality of the paper. It's somewhat porous with a certain finesse. Both these preferred paper features commit to a lesser-than-you-might-expect overall weight for the 454 odd pages.

At a cursory glance the typeface used seems to be Book Antiqua, an apt choice for a novel like this. Judging from the overall printing quality and typefaces used this piece should be easily readable while sustaining the excitement needed for a novel of this length. I can't possibly enough emphasize the editor's excellent decision to choose Book Antiqua as the font. Many underestimate the role of the typeface as the carrier of plot and excitement when actually they play a role almost as important as the color theme of the jacket itself! In this regard, Book Antiqua is an easy but effective choice. This classic font fits perfectly with the renaissance brilliance theme, clearly expressing that something exciting is about to happen but not quite revealing the surprise.

After my vacation next week I will return to report how the book performed in more detailed tests in my lab. I'm particularly expecting the excessive open/close test which tells a lot about a book and its quality. Perhaps I will also be able to tell something about the plot and literary value contained on the fine pages.

[druid]

So, time for an update. After starting the book for real I devoured it in a few days as it was so captivating. Very well written fiction that reveals some interesting facts about this world. I would give examples but it'd ruin it for you. Read it!

[sub-kamikaze]

Pure inordinately affluent genius.

*bows in Druid's erudite resplendent aurora*

[MisterBishi]

While I agree that the story is excellent and well researched, I found the author's written style to be lazy and uninspiring.

On at least two occassions when Langdon was speaking to Sophie about something she was clearly not familiar with, the author said something like..

" Langdon explained to Sophie all about 'x' "

..and the conversation continued.

Throughout the book the story was told like an identikit thriller, with little bar his undeniably impeccable research to make the author stand out.

Fortunately the story was strong enough to deter me from this in the most part, and I'd recommend any tinfoils or religious nutters out there to read this book.

I think the picture of the author on the inside back cover put me off a bit too :\

[druid]

Originally posted by MisterBishi
I found the author's written style to be lazy and uninspiring.


The advantage of reading in a foreign language is that you don't always notice glitches like this. Maybe it was so quick to read due to the straightforward style.

[druid]

Originally posted by sub-kamikaze
Pure inordinately affluent genius.

*bows in Druid's erudite resplendent aurora*

:confused: Umm....thanks? :confused: Maybe you should be an author. :D

[tomsyman]

I just finished this as well and really enjoyed it. I also read his earlier book "Angels and Demons" which is referred to occasionally in "The Davinci Code" which I actually thought was a better read.

Either way well worth it for both of them

[sagit]

I have this book. I shall read it at some point in the future (after all the dale brown, tom clancy, caiseal mor, john grisham, stephen coonts and clive cussler books I have plus all the single ones [such as Sun Tzu's Art of War])

[Bostonmess]

Select here--->One of Britain’s most senior Anglican clergymen today described the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code as a “great thriller, lousy history”.

The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Dr Tom Wright, said the basis for the massive publishing hit was “laughable”.

Despite enjoying Dan Brown’s conspiracy theory, the Bishop said there was a lack of evidence to back up its claims.

The Da Vinci Code has sold more than seven million copies worldwide and will be made into a film starring Tom Hanks.

It claims Jesus was not crucified, but married Mary Magdalene and eventually died a normal death. The novel claims this was then covered up by the Church.

Writing his Christmas message in the Northern Echo, the Bishop said: “Conspiracy theories are always fun.

“Fun to invent, fun to read, fun to fantasise about.

“Dan Brown is the best writer I’ve come across in the genre, but anyone who knows anything about 1st century history will see that this underlying material is laughable.”

There was a great deal of credible evidence which proves the Biblical version of Jesus’s life was true, the Bishop went on.

“The evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity is astonishingly good,” he said.

“We have literally a hundred times more early manuscripts for the gospels and letters in the New Testament than we have for the main classical authors like Cicero, Virgil and Tacitus.

“Historical research shows that they present a coherent and thoroughly credible picture of Jesus, with all sorts of incidental details that fit the time when he lived, and don’t fit the world of later legend.”

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3924312

[jae_hyung]

i liked angels and demons more than da vinci code it had more action and more suspense...
apparently his other books, deception point and somrthin cant rmb the other one is good as well

[hazza]

i flipped through said book today and like 4 times it goes "langdon gave a quizicale stare"

"langdon continued to explain"

"langdon jump on his head"

"langdon is a fag"


doesnt seem like a well written book as well, its one of those trend books like that fucking ice station shit

[Bostonmess]

Heh, my girlfriend got the book for xmas off my Mum, I got some game based on it.

[Chocoholic]

I own two copies of this book and lend them to people who don't read a lot. I think it's a good book that will start people reading

[gunsella]

dont get me started on da vince code. read 'foucalt's pendulum' by umberto eco (he of 'name of the rose' fame) instead. its much longer, much harder to read, and far more rewarding in the long run.

[Buffy]

I would agree with you on that, Foucault's Pendulum is an awesome read, if a little hard.
Also Dan Brown is a genius at stealing other peoples ideas apparently, and he's being sued, not that that makes much difference to his sales to date.

Source (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/03/wvinci03.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/03/ixnewstop.html)

[Afta Image]

Personally, its not overly complicated but a damn good and easy read, I clocked it in 4 days so I would recommend it as an interesting thriller that basis a fictional story on actual events and real world truths.

[ShinymetalASS]

I'd agree with Afta. They were mostly ideas and theories that I had come across before so the plot felt mildly contrived, but it was particularly easy to read. It's not that the writing style is simplistic (on the contrary, he has an extensive and intersting vocab) but more that its rumbles along smoothly and isnt hard to follow.

For people who are more interested in the grail and the 'pagan' ideas on which patriarchal christianity was based (amongst other things) read Laurence Gardner. My particular favourite is Realm of the Ring Lords.

Oh, and for another 'outside the box' read Maurice Cotterell's "Terracotta Warriors".

[SOC]

I finished it yesterday, having received it for Christmas (but only starting it last week). Not too bad a read. Brown is not the best writer I've come across, but certainly not the worst. The main characters were a little 2-dimensional for my liking (particularly Sophie) but the plot managed to sustain my interest. Have heard all the Jesus/Mary marriage conspiracy theories before, but I thought Brown explained them rather well. Will definitely give his other novels a try (from the library - don't think they're really worth owning).

[Ins0mniac]

Yeah. The Characters weren't well developed. But I don't think they were meant to be.

I mean, character development in Indiana Jones is very limited too but nobody complains about that. lol.

Characters are just there because they need to be to. The Graal legend and the suspense is the main aspect.

I think it serve's it's purpose. I really thought it was a very entertaining book to read. And I hadn't heard much abou the grail legends before. So it was quite interesting.

[Foxfire]

My main beef with the book is that I have no respect for the author at all...

I first read Digital Fortress and was like hey that was a pretty cool book, sure it's got more holes than a moth eaten jacket but it was readable. Then I read Angels and Demons and I'm like... this is pretty cool too... then I started reading Da Vinci Code and I'm like hang on a tic... I've already read this story twice before....

It's the same with Deception Point which in my opinion was the most interesting of the four. He's basically used the same story and just changed character and place names. He didn't even bother changing a character or two from Angels to Da Vinci...

Sooo yeah... it's not a bad book but the author is a toss and doesn't deserve his place on all the 'bestseller' list.

[Serpent_Girl]

Bah, I disliked that book to the extreme.

[gertie]

the main aspect of the da vinci code that pissed me off was that all the male characters in the book were referred to by their surnames, where the females were all referred by their first names...? ploise explayne?

[gooey]

my impression is that its a book written like all those crichton books

they are long-haul flight books.

- businessperson rock up to the airport, goes to the newsagent/bookstore, wants something interesting but easy to read - voila - dan browns, da vinci code

- now multiply that by the number of businessidiots travelling on planes reading stupid books and you get great sales figures