The Other Famous Guy Called Leonardo (The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown)

Member Name: Hunting_Bears

Product:	The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Date:	21/06/05 (205 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: C, well paced

Disadvantages: silly

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" poses some interesting questions concerning history, religion and how a writer can get away with writing formulaic rubbish that some how manages to be bloody entertaining. I had avoided Dan Brown's literature for has long as possible. Everybody in the world seemed to be singing the praises of "The Da Vinci Code" and I was highly suspicious, and perhaps even a little snobbish. After the furore had died down, I decided to take the plunge much to the annoyance of several friends whom labelled me a sell out.

"The Da Vinci Code" is a mystery and there for I will only talk about its beginning and later its themes and ideas. It opens with a murder in the Louvre - a famous curator is murdered by an albino and then the story cuts to a man sleeping in bed at the Ritz in Paris, France. The man who is rudely awakened in the middle of the night is our hero Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of Semiotics. He is brought in to help a French detective with the murder of the curator named Jacques Sauniere who has been found with symbols scrawled all over his body and lay out in a curious position. Bezu Fache is the arrogant and stereotypical French police officer whom suspects that Robert Langdon knows more about the murder than he his letting on. Enter Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer assigned to the case and then the narratives rushes through mystery upon mystery, triple cross upon triple cross, revelation upon revelation etc etc.

"The Da Vinci Code" is a bloody entertaining read, it flows fast, the characterisations are brief and the mystery is as elaborate as it is silly. I am rather dumbfounded that everybody thinks that this book is well written because quite frankly it borders on the dreadful on several occasions. It is written as if Dan Brown knew he was going to sell the story to the Hollywood film studios and yet it maintains the interest of the reader.

The old adage that; "Everyone loves a conspiracy" is what makes "The Da Vinci Code" so riveting. It is full of secret societes, amazing historical theories and some crackpot ideas and leaps in logic. The novel is about the search for the Holy Grail and yet what the Holy Grail actually is makes the novel intriguing and yet the idea that Dan Brown espouses has been around for centuries and kudos to him for making it into popular entertainment.

"The Da Vinci Code" is perfect material for a daft Hollywood film. Tom Hanks will be playing Robert Langdon, Ian McKellen will be Sir Leigh Teabing, Alfred Molina is Bishop Aringarossa and Audrey "Amelie" Tautou is the sexy and dangerous to know Sophie Neveu. The film will probably tone down some of the more outrageous accusations levelled at that avaricious entity known as the Catholic Church and I'm not sure it will go down well in some religious circles.

It is a global phenomenon and I'm sure Dan Brown's bank balance will not be complaining. The symbols and clues that make up "The Da Vinci Code" are really cool and it makes the novel from being complete rubbish. The more learned and intelligent readers will have fun trying to decipher the symbols and codes. And just when the ending descends into utter trite nonsense, the final page is haunting and a wonderful revelation.

If a book that incorporates secret societies, extreme factions of the Roman Catholic faith, art history, the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ a.k.a The Knights Templars, the life of Jesus Christ and semiotics then "The Da Vinci Code" will keep you enthralled and captivated. For the more educated reader it will be a guilty pleasure.

Summary: