The Da Vinci Code

Hey, I dont know much about this book, besides that it was really popular and successful, but I just saw the preview to the movie, and it looks pretty good.

I wondered if anyone had read this, and what they thought. What kind of book is it? And should i read it before the movie....or after?

[quoteda882699c5="hilaryfanatic09"]Hey, I dont know much about this book, besides that it was really popular and successful, but I just saw the preview to the movie, and it looks pretty good.

I wondered if anyone had read this, and what they thought. What kind of book is it? And should i read it before the movie....or after?[/quoteda882699c5]
I always like to read the book before. Its a grat book. Its like a thriller and a history lesson. I liked it a lot and I like his earlier book Angels and Demons as much. You should check them out, they are an easy read...

Outstanding book. I liked it so much I went out and bought a couple more of Dan Brown's novels. Definitely read it before the movie. While the movie may be good, I've yet to see a good movie that wasn't made from a better book, and a helluva lot of crap movies that were made from great books. )

Also the movie may be delayed or even quashed (though doubtful) due to the legal case against Dan Brown, claiming he used uncredited info straight from an earlier non-fiction work.

I am actually reading this book right now and I am well through it, i am on chapter 60 of about 100 i think...

so far it has had many twists but it is great. i am not very religious but the book has a lot to do with christianity and actually proving that it has been all a lie and tells you about the 'real' truth... it is all about the consipiracy and it is great. the characters are very well rounded and nice.


i am loving the book so far, as a matter of fact, i picked up Deception Point, another novel by dan brown

Alright sounds great....I didnt think anyone would say it was bad but I thought I'd see. Its not a really religous book, is it?

And another one, what about that one that is supossedly fake or whatever, A Million Little Pieces i think? Yeah, thats it, i just looked it up on blingo (I was 3 seconds from winning ( ) My mom read it and said it was good, but I dont much trust her book judgement

that is about drugs and jail and i think it is lame... besides..... oprah liked that book, roflmao

if you like listening to books on tape, like if you drive a lot then get one of those on tape, if you dont want to spend the time to read it.

I have like 4 copies of it that I got from doing the Zooba Offer last year.

[quote6af4051840="Vector"]that is about drugs and jail and i think it is lame... besides..... oprah liked that book, roflmao

if you like listening to books on tape, like if you drive a lot then get one of those on tape, if you dont want to spend the time to read it.[/quote6af4051840]

Yeah i know, Oprah is the reason i made fun of it when i heard about it. Shes also probably the reason my mom read it, but she doesnt read a WHOLE lot and when she started reading that she never stopped. And other people said it was good.

pick it up then, especially if you mom has it and you dont have to buy it D

[quoted682e5e0f2="Vector"]pick it up then, especially if you mom has it and you dont have to buy it D[/quoted682e5e0f2]

I guess, I'm lazy and busy and usually only read books if I know I'll like it. If I start it and dont like it, I'll still feel like I have to finish it.

The DaVinci Code is a good, easy read. I'm not too much a bookworm, but I just couldn't put down the book. Definitely read the book before watching the movie. Watching the movie 1st will just screw up your reading experience. You'll be thinking of Tom Hanks instead of using your imagination to create the characters ) Try it...you'll like it wink

I loved the book and i think that Ian Mckellen is the perfect Leigh Teabing and the same for Jean Reno as Bezu Fache

I just finished this book after picking it up a week ago. It was so great I didn't want to put it down. You do not have to be religious to like the book (I'm proof of that), in fact you'll probably only like it if you're [i8c87cb6ab6]not[/i8c87cb6ab6] a bible thumping Christian. It does offer a nice alternative to the bible, and is infinitely more believable (to me). Put both stories side by side and I don't see how the Da Vinci Code can be labeled the "outlandish conspiracy theory," aside from the long history the bible has, but I digress. I'll definately be seeing the movie when it comes out, but I don't expect it to be as good as the book, so I'd suggest reading it right away. I just got Angels and Demons for my birthday, so that's my next read (was I finish with America The Book which I also received).

I have read the DaVinci Code. It is a very easy read, full of suspense and plot twists.

Its definitely fun and it would be better to read it before the movie comes out.

Although, one caveat, don't read Angels & Demons too soon after the DaVinci Code. They are very similar and if you read them consecutively, they will seem like the same book. I made the mistake of doing so and came to that conclusion.

Still a fun read. It's not literature but it is a good time.

I loved the book. One of my favorites, Go read it

Hmm sounds like my kind of book. Im on Spring Break so I might pick it up today...

[quote72e5f09dd1="Jake"]I have read the DaVinci Code. It is a very easy read, full of suspense and plot twists.

Its definitely fun and it would be better to read it before the movie comes out.

Although, one caveat, don't read Angels & Demons too soon after the DaVinci Code. They are very similar and if you read them consecutively, they will seem like the same book. I made the mistake of doing so and came to that conclusion.

Still a fun read. It's not literature but it is a good time.[/quote72e5f09dd1]
Yeah they are very similar and Angels & Demons is in fact the first in the series dealing with Robert Langdon...

Wow, I might earn myself some negative karma tonight.

I thought The Da Vinci Code (and other Dan Brown novels) we actually very over-hyped and what I like to call "cheap writing". Yes, they are fast paced good stories, but the writing itself takes the easy way out to please the reader. I'll try not to give anything away, but in The Da Vinci Code there is a code printed in the book which some cryptographers are trying to solve. These people are supposed to be world experts on code-breaking. The code itself was pretty much apparent right away (especially if you know anything about Da Vinci) yet it took ages for the characters to figure it out. This strikes me as similar to when movies hint at something and then have it happen - it pleases the viewers because they think they are "smart" for figuring it out.

It seems that lately, clever, sciency-type books have become "trendy". An author takes an unoriginal idea (see second to last paragraph) makes it accessible to the average reader by throwing random factoids into a simple, formulaic, and exciting plot that is easy to read, markets it well, and makes a bundle. Although I much prefer Michael Crichton's fiction to that of Brown, Crichton also takes "advanced topics" and places them in a novel that almost anyone can read. The result? People think they are being educated while in actual fact they are getting a mere glimpse of the true facts, wrapped up in a fanciful tale.

These types of books lend themselves naturally to film adaptations. Why? Because basically they are your blockbuster action/thriller flicks, yet they have the "serious" and "educational" appeal to draw those who don't just want to see the latest Tom Cruise Mission Impossible type movie. Are you likely to learn anything from these books/movies? Not really. Lots of people now think they know "facts" about the bloodline of Christ, but in fact they are basing their newfound knowledge on a controversial hypothesis.

Back in 1982 a book called "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln was published. This book outlined the hypothesis of the bloodline of Christ, and although I have heard (I have yet to read it) that it presented a strong argument for the theories used as the basis of The Da Vinci Code, Richard Leigh himself has since stated that he did not believe the theory to be true.

So where does this leave us? Well, suddenly everyone who has read "The Da Vinci Code" is an expert on a huge cover-up in Christian history. Yes, it was a fun read. Yes, it was a good story. And yes, it was fiction, based on an unproven (albeit kinda cool) idea. I like a good read, but I don't like authors that try to win me over with pseudoscience. Go ahead, enjoy your Dan Brown. But if I find you at a dinner party in the middle of an intense discussion about the true conspiracy of Christ's descendants, I'll claw your eyes out and make you read Hemingway.

[quote7c973eb426="syriandoode"]I loved the book and i think that Ian Mckellen is the perfect Leigh Teabing and the same for Jean Reno as Bezu Fache[/quote7c973eb426]

they cast every person in the book perfectly, except for langdon. i always envisioned maybe a cross between russel crowe and pierce brosnan

Angels and Demons is a much better book in my opinion, but The Da Vinci Code is definitely great

Jenny, I don't think anyone takes his theory as fact, because that's as dumb as taking the bible as fact. It was just a good [i59741231e2]novel[/i59741231e2], that's all. I've always personally believed that Jesus Christ was based on a normal old human being who was probably a pretty good guy, but a normal human nonetheless. I can't prove it, but in my mind it makes a whole lot more sense than the fairy tale version. The Da Vinci Code was just an interesting story and fun to read - that's all I'd expect from a fiction novel.

I could take your post and put the bible in place of The Da Vinci Code and it would be a similar argument. The difference is the Da Vinci Code isn't going to start a massive, corrupt, world-wide religion which causes wars and death and stupidity, because people realize it's just a book.

The DaVinci Code is a fictional novel based on some speculation about the history of the characters depicted in the bible.

It appeals to people because everyone loves a good conspiracy story.

I wouldn't take its claims too seriously though.

I just finished the book last night and I thought it was great. For some reason I thought there would be more about the Mona Lisa though..

I think that brown went into a lot of detail describing his story although i dont take the stuff to seriously, and so what if it was true?