The Da Vinci Code
 

Has anyone else read this? I just finished it. It was amazing. I'M THE GRAND MASTER OF THIS THREAD!!!!

Amazing book isn't it? I believe we kinda did a thread on this before but I don't mind responding to a thread that talks a great piece of fiction. I loved the book as well as his other one, Angels & Demons but I did not go out & change my beliefs or get caught up in the controversy. I just enjoyed the hell out of an amazing novel.
It's an awesome book!!!:D

It really is a great read -- I couldn't put it down -- but fiction is the operative word here. What passes for "fact" in the book (and is presented as fact in other books from which Brown clearly drew) is based on shoddy scholarship, conjecture and gullibility to conspiracy theories at best. But it's kind of like my grandmother used to say: Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. And this is a really, really good story.

The earlier thread (80 posts) can be found here:

The Da Vinci Code.

The Da Vinci Code was good, but in my opinion, its the worst of Dan Brown's books. I really loved Angels and Demons and Deception Point, and I think both were just far better than the Da Vinci Code.

Strictly for entertainment and engrossing the reader, I thought it was a great book. I didn't want to stop reading it.

From a style standpoint, though, it's not exactly the most well-written book. He makes things very simple and easy-to-read (which is good given some of the things he talks about in all his books can get very technical for the average person to understand) but overuses the heck out of foreshadowing and cheesy one-liners. That is my biggest complaint.

But I loved it and I loved all his other books.

It was a pretty good read...so was Angels and Demons.

I agree that it was a simply written book but that is exactly why I liked it so much & read it so fast. There are times when you want to sit down to an egrossing story w/out having to put much thinking power in what you're reading. I love to read heavy emotional stories & of course, my college textbooks but sometimes, a good piece of easy to read fiction is just what the doctor ordered! :)

Is Robert Langdon in those other books as well? If the books are a series, does it matter what order they're read in?

I really enjoyed the treatment of time and how the chapters jumped from place to place. My room mate said they were making a movie about it. Is this true?

It'd make a good movie. How many of your churches said not to read this book?

The Langdon books are Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code. A&D is the prequel to Code, and I recommend people read that one first. I loved Code, but A&D will forever be my favorite.

Another good Dan Brown book is Digital Fortress. Of course, I'm a big computer nut, so it was great for me. :)

I second the Angels and Demons nod.

If anything, the 2 books gave me another viewpoint... but didn't rearrange my own belief.

And I tend to be easily distracted when reading so the simple writing was good for me.

What I am convinced to do is that when I trek off to Italy next summer, I want to see the pieces of art and architecture mentioned in A & D in person. Maybe follow the "path" to see if it actually exists.

Which it is in the process of becoming, starring Harrison Ford (I believe) and being directed by Ron Howard. It's in production now and slated to be released sometime in 2005 (probably late).

as for the book i enjoyed both Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, they were good reads, regardless of their truth (who am I to say whether it is the truth or not, it's based on 2000 year old information).

Harrison Ford? I had heard they picked Russell Crowe. (Bad choice IMO)

I've also heard George Clooney, and Dan Brown has stated that he'd like to see Hugh Jackman.

And I've heard Jennifer Garner for Sophie *sighs*. No. Just...no.

True (no pun intended), but there is a great deal of historical documentation out there-- both as to church history and Da Vinci -- that patently contradicts the historical claims made in the book.

Some are obvious -- such as saying that the Tetragrammaton ("YHWH," the divine name of God that was never spoken, or of the "male" God according to the Code) is "in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah." Anybody who speaks Hebrew can tell you that Jehovah is not a Hebrew name, and any scholar who has looked into it at all can tell you that the word "Jehovah" was invented by a medieval monk as an attempt to figure out how to pronounce "YHWH."

Others errors are not as obvious, but are demonstrably false just the same.

Here's a link to a good, short historical analysis written by an Episcopal priest who can hardly be called a fundamentalist:

Cracking the Code.

(And I still loved reading the book.)

Jennifer Garner? :mad: I hope not. I like Harrison Ford as Langdon but please not Garner. I'd like to see someone else in this role. Any ideas???

How about a more experienced woman who can actually pull off the role?

Mirando Otto?
Naomi Watts? (Might be too mainstream)
Uma Thurman?

The Church I was baptized in had a stained class window relief of Mary Magdenlien (spelling is way off on that one) :) I'm glad I was part of a not crazy religion.

I've read all of Brown's books, and I read Digital Fortress last. Unfortunately, once you read all of his books and figure out his style, you can guess the "bad guy" right off the bat, so I knew exactly who it was going to be in DF. However, I still thought it was a good book. :)

I think it's Magdelene but that's not on the LSAT so don't quote me.

We learned all about her at my grade school. :)

As far as the church supressing information from being put in the Bible this is true. Ok so I have done a lot of research on various conspiracy theories, but as far as I can see there are many books that were left out of the Bible for various reasons some of which he got right in the the book. Must say it was an entertaining read and when it comes to books I am hard to please.

being left out of the Bible != suppressing

Quite close. It is Magdalene, with an "a" instead of "e"

I like Angel and Demons better than the Code. I just got one of his other books, the one about the sattelite or something. So I'll see how that one goes.

I agree on being able to pick out the bad guy. I read "The Davinci Code", then "Angels and Demons", then " Deception Point", and then "Digital Fortress", and for the last two I could totally pick out the bad guy and what was going to happen. I liked "Deception Point" 2nd best after "The DaVinci Code".

"Suppress" is probably a loaded word. Unquestionably, some books made it into the Bible while others, particularly the Gnostic writings, did not. And it is true that many books that were not accepted as canonical were ignored or even condemned as teaching false doctrine. Whether this constitutes "suppression" of the unaccapted writings or "consensus" as to what writings were authoritative and dismissal of the rest may be point of view.

But Brown takes even a "suppression" point of view way too far, because he states that Constantine, when he "upgraded" Jesus' "status," basically created a new Bible and destroyed all evidence of the "old" Bible. Unfortunately for Brown, the historical evidence doesn't support his theory at all.

How about Natalie Portman as Sophie?

Sounds Good. I'm thinking Sammuel L. Jackson as Fache.

I should play Silas. I would kick ass.

bump.

5 19 06 is when that is in theatres

I didn't play Silas, so the movie might suck.

I'm still going to see it though.

Wow, some of the posts in this thread are really off as to who would be in the movie.

Tom Hanks - Robert Langdon
Audrey Tautou - Sophie Neveu
Ian McKellen - Sir Leigh Teabing
Paul Bettany - Silas (the albino assassin)
Jean Reno - Bezu Fache
Etienne Chicot - Lt. Collet
Alfred Molina - Bishop Aringarosa
Clive Carter - Police Captain Biggin Hill
Seth Gabel - Cleric

*bump*

I just finished reading this yesterday (I finished Angels & Demons about a week ago) and I really enjoyed both of the books :)

The Expected by Kathleen McGowan
 

Very good book about Jesus being married to Mary M. and actually having children. It talks about clues given in different famous painting and sites.

BTW, I found it at the library.

Note: I recommend reading it if your bday is March 22nd (my youngest niece's is.) ;)