I knew better than to take this book at anything more than what it is: A work of fiction. With that approach, I found it very fun to read. The plot is interesting, the characters are well written and believable, and there is enough back-story to help suspend disbelief.

Ignore the religious truth or whatever. This is a fantastic thriller with great writing. Angels and Demons is slightly better in my opinion, but this book is on the top of my list as must reads. Absolutely fantastic writing.

It is no secret that I am deeply charmed and swept off my feet by atheists who make the engine of my mind work and work; they make me feel alive. What Dan Brown does on the other hand is spreading around historical fallacies and lies. Even as fiction, his work at best is nothing but literary parasitism. It is now a fashionable trend in the world of literary market to see actual parasites who can't stand on their own intellectual merit but take advantage of the vast resonance associated with the name of Jesus and what he represents in order to secure profit at a very low effort. This is nothing but literary parasitism.

Regarding the book itself, I observe:


1. The writing style is torturous.

2. As far as history, it is terribly inaccurate. If you choose to read it, read Bart Ehrman's book on it to get your history info there set straighted. He was so misleading. He gave the impression that his research on history is accurate while it was full of horrible mistakes. But Americans generally like any type of book that has words such as "codes", "problems and secret hidden info about Jesus", etc. People cannot be happy except with the suspense and thriller. There is a lot of talk about the betrayal of Judas, and the people are not aware that it is happening again. Christ is being sold again, not to the leaders of the Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver but to editors and booksellers of millions of dollars. . .

I haven't read this book in a long time, but I feel obligated to write a review due to the vast amount of controversy over it.

First, let me just tell you my impressions of the book. I found it riveting to read. It is definitely a page-turner which keeps you hooked until the very end. The chapters are short and there are lots of flashbacks interspersed throughout the book. Everything is a puzzle and Brown gives you all sorts of clues, but somehow the answer is always just out of reach. The book has a great amount of suspense and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a terrific thriller / mystery.

For some reason, the book being a riveting page-turner is not enough for some people. Even though this book is clearly a work of fiction, we have all sorts of religious zealots and determined critics who must chime in with their two cents worth. The bible thumpers will say all sorts of hocus pocus related to the book and its content. Critics determined to show you how smart they are will denounce the book and say its full of historical inaccuracies.

I'm not sure why people are going so crazy over this book. Let me spell it out for everybody: This book is a work of FICTION. Period. Works of fiction are meant to entertain the masses. If you are interested in historical facts pertaining to religion, read a different book. If you want a book that will enthrall you until the very end, look no further.

Everyone on the planet has felt the need to weigh in on this book, decrying it as blasphemy, screaming about whether or not the Knights Templars and the Priory were real, or, further, whether they had anything to do with the Sange Real or the Mergovian line, whether Christ died for our sins, whether He lived at all, etc.

First, this is a work of fiction. People became so angered about the alleged premise here that they seem to have forgotten that Dan Brown wrote this book as fiction and sold it as such. Books like Michael Piaget Holy Blood Holy Grail cover whether or not any of this is real. But even accepting that Brown never made any representation and people take things like this way too seriously, this book got too much press. This is not a bad book. It's well-enough written, and relatively fast-paced. But it's not a GREAT book, and not even the best of Brown's "heretical" novels (an honour I would reserve for Angels and Demons.) If this book had been about anything in the world other than suggesting that Christ had a child, it would have been on the bargain rack in most airports behind the unsold John Grishams within a week.

Remember, kiddies: Just because it's controversial does NOT mean it's great literature. (For further lessons on the medicocre-book-propelled-to-international-stardom-by-religion, please see The Satanic Verses) [close]

As a mystery, well, there are better. In the competition for plot twists, historical fiction, art, or cryptography, there's better out there than the Da Vinci Code. But it is a page-turner, and with that excitement succeeds in dramatically raising curiosity about two major questions: (1) what is belief and how does it affect history? and (2) is the image of women in religion timeless, or was it consciously manufactured at certain key periods in history?

One need not be religious in order to care about the first question. And one need not be a radical feminist to consider the second. After all, some basic facts of male-female relations are still with us no matter how modern we get: men rule the world, and declare the wars. Only women bear children, including the boys who will be men. And women are not some obscure minority, but 50% of the human experience.

So if a thriller sprinkled with (partially accurate) historical references is what it takes to get people to examine their beliefs, research history, and apply the results to improving life for the men, women, and children around them, that will be a respectable achievement for this work of popular literature.

I have to admit: I actually enjoyed reading the book. And I'm saying this as someone who also has a taste for Kafka, Tolstoy, and a range of other authors that are generally said to have produced real "literature."

Was there a difference between those authors and Brown? Definitely. The DaVinci Code read more like a movie. But then again, I like movies too, and all the more so when I'm more involved in it by imagining the scenes and keep turning the pages. It was a fun ride. I certainly had a few entertaining hours.

I could therefore give the book four or even five stars because, well, Brown achieved what he set out to do: to deliver a page turner driven by visual descriptions and fast plot twists. One should never judge a thing by what it was never meant to do. I wouldn't write a bad review on a printer because it fails to work as a lawn mower, and likewise I wouldn't give a bad rating to an entertaining page turner for not meeting my high literary standards.

Nevertheless, I think it's generous to give the book three stars, because Brown himself presents his book as something serious, and that is just pretentious. I'm talking, of course, about that introductory page headlined with the word "FACT" and ending with the sentence, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

This sentence turns the book into a joke that - as is said of German jokes - is no laughing matter. For, as is well known by now, Brown did not only get a few minor details wrong (though he did, too), but put huge boulders of blatant misinformation in the book.

Many books have been written to set the facts straight. One with probably the least bias is Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine by historian Bart Ehrman.

Who knows? Maybe people who were previously unfamiliar with the early centuries of the Christian church are led - via the detour of Brown - to look at the topic on a more factual basis. So the book might turn out, in addition to its entertainment value, to be a blessing after all. Albeit in disguise.

Your book is a standard potboiler in which symbologist Robert Langdon becomes involved in the murder of the head of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. A series of almost comically contrived `Aha' moments, dashes down dimly lit corridors, and Of course!'s litter the narrative. I realize most laymen are dullards, but seeing as you claim John Steinbeck as a hero, is it asking too much to at least try to write competently? If so, you are in luck, because this is where a good director or actor can actually add shades of gray to the banalities your prose offers. But, let's face it, the reason the book has sold reputedly over 8 million copies in hardback is because like Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ film it is milking the idiocy of die hard Christians. If you're gonna sully literature, at least the sullier should have a good cause- what's the excuse of a Dave Eggers?

Lemme summarize your tale: Langdon is implicated in the murder of the Louvre director, who also headed an ultra-secret sect called the Priory of Sion, who have schemed away centuries trying to protect the truth of the Holy Grail- which was not the Last Supper chalice but Mary Magdalene, herself- who was Jesus Christ's wife. Apparently Leonardo Da Vinci knew this as a former head of the Priory & embedded clues in paintings like The Last Supper & the Mona Lisa. Of course, Langdon is exonerated, & the real killers revealed. But Langdon chooses to keep the secret that Jesus was really a human, not a god, and that Mary Magdalene's tomb lies under the Louvre. Why does he do this? The old canard that the truth is too shocking for most laymen to handle. That's at least the interior book's reason. You and I know that the real reason is to leave the tale open for a sequel in which Langdon will not try to reveal the secret, but guard it.

Of course, your book is predicated on the greatest fallacy of all- that there ever was a man named Jesus Christ in the 1st place. History emphatically shows a gaping absence. Could you not have mentioned that at least once within the text, or even the Foreword? But, the real stir over your book comes from the many supposedly `true' facts you muster up regarding Leonardo, the Mona Lisa, & their connections to Jesus's bloodline. Of course, you claim to have researched this all meticulously. Of course, that's all bunkum, lest you would have written a non-fiction history. That so many have gotten worked up over a piece of stated fiction is beyond me. The closest parallel I can draw is to the furor a dozen or so years back over Oliver Stone's film JFK. There, Stone clearly presented his film as an alternate version to the manifestly fallacious Warren Commission Report. Here, you are merely tweaking Right Wing Fundamentalist Christian dolts, and have made millions by it. The book sucks, but I cannot deny my admiration for your niche marketing skills.

I thought my review of this work would be pretty involved given all of the hullaballoo around it, and the story. I have been under the impression that this book is some kind of very true to life story. I believe, even if it is based on a theory, it is and was never meant to be anything but a story. It is a fantastic story. I thought it was a fantastic book, very engrossing and a nice break from the real world!

It kind of reminded me of "Atlas Shrugged" or "The carpetbaggers"..... I don't know what else to say, If you LOVE picking up a book, and then raising your head three hours later to realize you have been immersed in the story for hours, then this kind of reading is for you.

I heard all the hype, I saw all the criticism novels and I have to confess that I was intrigued. Then I was given this book as a gift and sat down to read it in one sitting and thought it was one of the best books ever. The suspense, the puzzles and the pace of it all. Two weeks later, I sat down and re-read it all and wondered what I saw in it at all. Interestingly, Tom Hanks said more or less the same thing in an interview.

I needn't outline the story, even on my first reading I found it a little far-fetched the theories surrounding Mary Magdelene. It may have been plausible, but I wasn't completely convinced. Then I found out that the whole thing about the Priory of Sion was a fabrication and that decided me. NONE of what is in this book is true, it's just a not-very-enjoyable pot-boiler that's going to be forgotten before too long and it already has, quite a number of books about the Da Vinci Code are now sitting on bargain tables.

This book may have been slightly better if Dan Brown was anything but a hack writer, but that's what he is. The Da Vinci Code is more than a blockbuster novel, it's a MOVIE disguised as a book! Brown should be a screenwriter and leave books to the more worthy, especially ones about dodgy conspiracy theories.

Read the book if you must but the movie is much better, Ron Howard's adaptation is much, much better anything that Brown could cook up.

I know that the world is still somewhat obsessed with this book, and I I guess I can understand why. It's a lot of fun, I will admit, and Dan Brown certainly did his homework, authentic or not, on some awesome bits of history and religion. This provides a super-fun mystery--hey, who doesn't appreciate a super-fun mystery with lots of fast-paced action?

However, so totally overrated! I think so much of the hype came from the supposedly controversial nature. You know what? Make up your own minds and stop letting fiction decide your beliefs for you!

It is definitely a fun read, but the characters are ridiculous, cliche, and flat, as well as the relationships.

An absolutely amazingly fascinating book. It has made even the most die-hard atheists interested in religion. No matter how much is true, it just doesn't matter. This book has made the average book reader think, discuss and question so many things in our everyday life and existence.
I spent an entire evening plus the following night reading it non-stop.
DO NOT see the movie, it sucks!!

I can't even go into detail about how amazingly compelling this book was to read, but one thing I have to stress is that nobody should watch the movie before reading the book first. If you have already watched the movie, read the book and then watch the movie again because it will make so much more sense and make so much more of an impact. Of course, the movie couldn't fit in everything that the book covered, but it did follow it fairly well.

The storyline, the characters, the dialogue, etc. in this book are all so incredible that you don't want to put the book down once you start reading it. However, most people would not be able to read this entire book in one day or even two. It took me a little over a week to finish it because most people can't read a book all day long if they work or even if they don't. I grant you, it's a lot of pages, but it is so worth the time because this is a very enlightening book in so many ways and gives insight into various aspects of not only religion, but things you never knew about famous art works. I was never very interested in art, but this book was quite eye-opening. I highly recommend this book to ANYONE.

I was given this book as a gift- read it- and immediately put it on EBAY. Funny thing is that someone bought it. This may be the biggest piece of formulaic BS I have ever read. The writting is very weak, and although I am not an historian, I doubt any of it is true. Maybe it's me but, I cannot believe all the hype this book has recieved. It frightens me that so many people speak so highly of this trash. Maybe that's also why Sarah Palin is so popular. HYPE, HYPE, and more HYPE, with an intriguing cover. USA! USA! USA!
Save your time and money and skip this book. Or better yet, if you want to see great writting read the Best American Travel Writing. They also have collections for sports, science, and short stories.

The Da Vinci Code begins with the murdering of Jacques Saunière, the Louvre's curator by Silas, a member of the Catholic cult, Opus Dei. From that point on The Da Vinci Code is a thrilling 452 pages of sheer genius. The plot is built upon the search for the holy grail and never slows its fast pace until the final page.
After Saunière's death, Robert Langdon, an expert on religious art and symbology, is called in to examine the scene; little does Langdon know, but he is also the number one suspect and is expected to give away incriminating evidence. While at the scene, gives Langdon a message to go to the lavatory and wait for her there. From there they send the police on a wild goose chase for Langdon and then escape with a safe-deposit box key from the back of a Da Vinci and from there Sophie and Robert became French fugitives on a mission. After purchasing useless train tickets they head to 24 Rue Haxo. After a car-chase through Paris, they steal amored car and head off into the night. This short introduction to the novel highlights the exhilarating pace of The Da Vinci Code.
Robert Langdon is one of two protagonists in The Da Vinci Code. He is a trustworthy Harvard professor who incorrectly becomes a fugitive with the help of Sophie. He doesn't wish to be involved with anything fast, but would rather spend time solving puzzles and studying zymology and art history.
Sophie Neveu, the other protagonist, is an attractive, intelligent French cryptologist and the granddaughter of Saunière whom raised her after the death of her family. She too enjoys solving puzzles and balances out the shyness of Langdon with her own quick-thinking and witty brain.
Silas, the main antagonist, is a member of Opus Dei and murdered several people throughout the novel. After facing rejection in his youth, he comes into contact with Bishop Aringarosa who helps Silas to find God's way. He immerses himself in self-punishment and religion, he believes that in murdering others he is helping Opus Dei and finding God.

As a fan I was confused by the history which in an interview he actually seems to take seriously. He is no historian. As a fan, I would exit ecccentric materials based on little, and do what he can do well.

This is one of the stupidist books I have ever come across. I have no idea why people raved about it. It has nothing to do with true Christianity or what Jesus is all about. I am a Christian and I consider it blasphemous--to suggest that Jesus had a wife and link his purity to such practices of cult sex is nauseating. This book has nothing to do with what true Christianity is all about--it's not about symbols and dark secrets. It's about light and hope and a love that cannot be manipulated. I don't think Dan Brown really understands Christianity. There are many better ways to spend the precious moments of your life than to waste it on this book.

I finished this book in 3 days, while working for 8+ hours each day. This book refuses to be put down.

Dan Brown's popular, best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, introduces the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon who is suspected by Parisian police to have murdered the head curator of the Louvre. The curator is shot dead inside the museum, trapped inside one of the locked down rooms, and appears to have scrawled a message in ultraviolet ink next his own body. The message points to Robert Langdon and the Paris agent, Captain Bezu Fache, is dead set on arresting Langdon.

Sophie Nevue is a Paris cryptologist with the police force who receives a copy of the coded message left by the curator, who, in actuality, is her grandfather. She sees meaning in the message and immediately shows up on the crime scene to assist, though not in the obvious manner. She helps Langdon escape from the Captain and together they travel across France and Great Britain piecing together the tiny clues that end up guiding them on an epic quest to solve the curator's murder and ultimately uncover a two thousand year old secret; a secret that has been the cause of hundreds of years of war and bloodshed, kept hidden by a secret brotherhood.

The Da Vinci Code is a gripping story that moves from one puzzle to the next with surprising depth and reality. Amazingly enough Dan Brown creates a story that is not so entirely focused on characterization but keeps the reader's interest throughout the entire book. There is character development but it is not central to the story. Purely plot driven, this story takes you on a trip through the crusades to renaissance to the modern era easily with little awareness of time.

This story is well told, contains solid description, and is rife with historic and fictional details enough to almost convince you of this book being a true historic account. Truly a fictional tale it is told with a practical cadence that is undeniably compelling. The religious subject matter an obvious bone of contention for Christian believers that justifies the publicity the book has earned over the last couple years.

Over all, this is a very fast and entertaining book to indulge in, providing a thought provoking idea based in part on some truth, as the most believable lies can be. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an action novel with a twist and likes to follow deeply meaningful puzzles throughout a book. Definitely not one to put down.

First what I admire: I couldn't stop reading this! It's fast, it's quick, it's clever, it's full of intrigue and suspense. The thing that impressed me most: I could not have written it! My book has sex, naked people in California doing things like jumping on trampolines and smoking pot, but no history, geography or visits to Swiss banks!

What I don't like: Well, the dialogue is often stiff. The writing is sometimes trite and full of cliches.

BUT, seriously, YOU try writing a novel that crosses borders, takes place in a major world museum, delves into religions and secret societies and keeps the reader turning the pages! It's hard to do and Dan Brown did it very well.

I read the Da Vinci Code because..., well, I was traveling and everyone seemed to be reading it. After I finished it, I felt as if I had had a lot of warm beer: bloated with empty calories, left with mildly unpleasant taste and a slight headache.

The fact that this book is a bestseller can make one question the value of universal literacy. It is really badly written. I didn't expect Updike or Vonnegut, but Dan Brown makes even Clive Cussler appear a decent wordsmith. To add insult to injury, the Da Vinci Code fails the genre and becomes predictable halfway through.

The story is inhabited by "comic strip" -grade characters bumping around, solving absurd puzzles placed there for reasons which make no particular sense. From time to time, a character stops what they are doing, leans against a wall, or stares into space and thinks "deep thoughts", through which the puzzles are solved and the premise of the book is laid out. These are sprinkled with what passes for historical and religious factoids, often researched poorly enough for the errors to be apparent to a layman like me.

Before I stand accused, I am not religious in the least. I don't find the book offensive (other than by being so badly written): in fact political correctness oozes from it, as does the author's apparent desire to be liked by everyone and sell to everyone (and this includes the good Catholics among book buyers:-)

If you want a well written and well researched "conspiracy theory through the ages" tale, get Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. For a nice travel crime story, pick up P.D. James.

As for the Da Vinci Code..., I have played computer games that have higher literary merit than this. Really.

Dan Brown hit a homerun here. This book has an awesome story line and really keeps you wanting more. The action is fast yet easy to keep up with. Brown has a great way of making you feel like you know what's going on in the story, but still surprises you in the end. Read the book first, saw the movie second, and the book was MUCH better.

I found myself up very very late reading this book. The ending was ok, but overall a must read.

Davinci Code had an interesting beginning. I liked how he drew the reader in with his introduction of the curator, langdon, the bishop and albino. Initially engrossing, but BEWARE, the last two thirds drag. He regurgitates a good deal of his plot twists as the novel wears on. I had his 'twists' and characters figured chapters ahead of time. I even guessed the last cryptic clue APPLE pages and pages before Langdon figured it out. These characters with their Ivy league PhD's should be able to outsmart me - but they didn't!

As far as the religious controversy. Any intelligent, practicing Christian takes it with a grain of salt. Obviously, those most vulnerable to this kind of tripe are people of little faith, minimal worship and study of Christianity. Brown is so repetitive in his love of pagan rituals, sun dieties, and feminine goddess garble that it turns the reader off completely. He seems to be writing for a less intelligent audience. Why else would an author insist on such redundancy unless he felt his audience wasn't smart enough to grasp his message the first time around? Yawn.

Overall, I'd give the first 150 pages four stars. Brown could have easily shaved off 100 of the last 200 pages and still made this a pretty good read. The last third (two stars at best) really dragged on and the ending was highly predictible (if your inferencing skills go beyond a third grade level).

Loathed by elitist literary critics, wannabe highbrows and religious conservatives, The Da Vinci Code is by any measure a work of genius. To dismiss it as pop drivel is to overlook the fact that countless writers are striving to produce catchy pulp fiction that will propel them to stardom and riches - and few succeed. The book is riveting, fascinating, thought-provoking, surprising and a masterful work of entertaining fiction. If you feel above such light fare, fine, go read Dostoyevsky or James Joyce , but spare us your condescension. As for the religious opposition to the work, any book - in our postmodern day and age in which we are exposed to so many different realities - capable of stirring up so much passionate opposition and so much sincere interest in weighty topics like religion and philosophy and history, is frankly some kind of masterpiece.

I found this book to be acomplete waste of time,money and it was wrote in such a way to let people think it was true by saying that all art work ,architect, religous acts are fact when not one is and Every thing that stated fact in the book by Dan Brown and the characters is a completely fictional.
And it was wrote mainly to attack christianity !

A fast-paced suspense (more than pure mystery) novel about the Holy Grail and the secret societies (apparently a veritable Yellow Pages worth) whose goal is either to protect or expose it.

Good fun, although its statements about the verity of the Bible, the orthodox canon, and other apocryphal works are disturbing. In fact, my distaste for this part of the book, plus its fast-food-like lack of weightiness knocks it down a peg from the "Worth my Time" level.

Ok, I have neither bought nor read this 'book', and never will, but I read the excerpt.
If English is Dan Brown's first language, then he has major problems, unless he is a 10 year old slow learner. Ok, he has made a lot of money from this piece of rubbish, but why not take a quick course in creative writing beforehand to learn the basics of style.
The Hardy Boys books are advanced literature in comparison!

Makes sense to me!! I loved this book! I know it was fiction but somehow I think he speaks a bit of truth in this book! You will love this book!

Dan Brown is an illusionist. It attracted, like all good writers successful thrillers American audiences. The ingredients are familiar: Action brutal murder in the singular and plural (serial killing), incomprehension, investigation, doubt, lack of knowledge, tenacity (alone against all), happy ending. Passion thrillers (see my listmania), I know the ropes most used to give the maximum chances of a successful sale. On the "thriller", "Da Vinci" is lourdaud.

Dan Brown is a forger doubled a liar. How can one argue that the Bible (and therefore the Old and New Testament) was a work commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century? How can you write that the "Priory of Sion is a secret society founded at the end of XI century by Godfrey de Bouillon" who knows the truth about marriage with Mary Magdalene and the descendants of Christ and therefore lies founder the Church? ... then it is a supposed French association under the 1901 law declared in 1956. And how many other pearls ... like the androgyny of Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa) ... I still laugh.

Dan Brown is a man who has faith hatred of the Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. He is a descendant - representing heresies fought with accuracy since its inception by the Church. These are called heresies the arianism, Catharism and Jansenism. They say that God is a pure spiritual being therefore could not have had a Son of a similar nature to him. But Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God. That is what the Church professes, in full transparency, everyone. The profession of faith of the Church is radically opposed to any elitist philosophy - elected on the one hand and esoteric on the other.

Dan Brown has mixed genres: the thriller, the invention sometimes committed to history, sometimes lies, and hatred skillfully distilled the Church.

I invite the reader critical read the excellent book by Jesuit Father Bernard Sesboüé which dismantles this horror: "The Da Vinci Code explained to its readers." (in French)

Dan Brown's second novel The Da Vinci Code has become a literary phenomena, spawning countless books related to the topic, a movie, a myriad of discussions, and so much more. But let's take a look inside this book shall we? The book starts with the murder of the head curator of the museum. Ah but that is just the beginning! The curator was able to leave clues for his daughter, who is a cryptographer herself, follows these clues to France and England, through the past and the present, Through cultured religion and the unorthodox searching for the Knight's Templar and the code the world's masterpieces hold. Dan Brown is a master of suspense and The Da Vinci Codes is just one more notch in this fabled author's cap. Beautifully written and without flaws this is one book I highly recommend!!

And for those who enjoy books on ancient cultures, I'd recommend: Fates

This is the second Dan Brown novel I've heard, the other being "Digital Fortress". The story line is a history teaser. It makes you want to go look at DaVinci's paintings, read up on Sir Isaac Newton, and find out about the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar. I was disappointed in one area...these so-called experts couldn't figure out the codes to open the cryptex. When they said it needed 5 letters to open it, I knew right away that it would be some name for Sophie. After all, her Grandfather made the thing. The same thing happened in Digital Fortress...the smart people took too long to figure out an obvious password and an obvious secret identity of a character.

Overall, I would recommend this book, but go in with an open mind. It is work of fiction based loosely on historical fact.

I've read a few of the reviews and I cannot understand where they are coming from. First of all the book is a fictional one, no one said it was true, secondly even if it were true ,so what? It's not like someones committed murder ,Jesus happens to marry and settle down, what could be more natural and lastly just enjoy the book for what it is ,a wonderful read!

If you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for! I am very glad I read the book prior to seeing the movie. The book goes into so much more detail than the movie did. I found myself on the edge of my seat! I just couldn't put the book down! I bought the hardcover illustrated edition which I really liked. Even though Dan Brown went into great detail about the various sites, paintings, etc, it was really nice to see exactly he was describing there on the same page. I highly recommend this book!

I liked this book very much, and I should say that the illustrated version helps the reader to better understand the story. It is very engaging from the very beginning

Dan Brown is a quintessential author. This soon to be classic is rocking the "pundits" that think there is but one theory to explore. As a former Catholic, I found it very hard to put this book down.......

Usually, when someone has to say something like "relax -- it's just a story!" it means that the work in question is trash.

Good stories normally don't require a defense; they are their own justification.

But, it seems that Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code is one of those rare instances of a good story that does require a defense beyond simply pointing to the work. Why should this be so? I think it's 1) due to the enormous popular success this book has enjoyed, and 2) the faux-seriousness of its subject matter (i.e., how it "blasphemes"). If The Da Vinci Code didn't somehow become a mainstream hit, and didn't strike some people's sacrosanct nerves, I doubt anyone would be so incensed as to try to tear it down, as people obviously do.

To begin with, The Da Vinci Code is a good book. What Dan Brown understands -- and better than most contemporary authors -- is the art of suspense. His management of information, leading cliffhanger to cliffhanger, and always making sure that the pressure is on, is superb. I grant that the book is shy in terms of classroom literary aesthetics, but what of that? It isn't every author's dream to compete with Beckett or Joyce; some simply want to construct stories. Some might say that Brown's characterization is flat, or obvious, etc., or that his situations are cliche -- one of the Spotlight Reviewers here complains at the use of an albino monk, but is that any more preposterous than Hugo's Hunchback, or Shakespeare's Caliban? The question about whether Robert Langdon is Indiana Jones Mk. II, or not, misses the point -- none of those elements would mean a thing if the work as a whole were poorly constructed. It isn't whether he uses archetypes, but whether he uses them to good effect or not.

By aiming all of the darts of their critiques at those areas where Brown isn't much concerned, they miss the genius of his work. It is as though they think the book has sold all of those copies by accident. Brown's strength is in his pacing, and in his clarity of communication, and in his clean descriptions, and in his mastery of the elements of suspense. By incorporating elements of popular culture, conspiracy, and some fascinating (if not always accurate) historical detail, Brown creates a monster of a book that doesn't *need* powerful metaphors or poetic descriptions to do what he wants it to do.

I take it that most of Brown's critics must believe that what he does is, somehow, easy. That, if literary authors left off trying to reinvent language, and tried their hardest to just hammer out a story that could grab people by the hair and pull them through a plot... well, they could do it in an instant. I'd like to suggest that there's more talent in doing something like that than they realize, and that Brown could probably write a "deep, literary" novel faster than they could construct a would-be megahit.

Brown's book isn't, perhaps, what you want it to be. But what it is, it is truly great at being, and this is the secret of its success.

I didn;t receive the item, so I cannot review it.
However, teh movie wasn't too bad.

I never used to read fiction books/novels for pleasure. I had to force myself to read required books in college. Then one day, about two years ago, my wife borrowed this book from my brother. I decided to give it a try. I read it in 3 days. I could not put it down. I then proceeded to get Dan Brown's other three books and read them immediately. I now have a personal library collection and read novels every chance I get (Steve Berry, James Rollins, etc.). The story, the puzzles, the twists.....unbelievably well thought out. I am most impatiently awaiting his next novel. Thank you Dan.

This book was given to us for Christmas or I wouldn't have read it. To satisfy any curiosity I had about something that gave the Pope such a hissy fit he encouraged Catholics to read it by banning it, I'd rather have seen the movie. Wading through all that clunky text was every bit as bad as I expected. But clunky writing wasn't enough for Dan Brown, who felt obliged to assault his readers with a lot of misinformation (such as that The Last Supper is a fresco when it's actually a painting). Rather than go into lengthy criticism of the book, I'm pointing readers to an in-depth one by linguist Geoffrey K Pullum. The URL is http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000844.html and every point Mr Pullum makes is 100% valid.

This is by far one of the best new books on my bookshelf. While i am a christian and do not agree with all that is put in this book i know it is just that, a book. Not someones ploy to convert me to another religion but just simply a wonderful read to be enjoyed but thousands of people. Thank you dan brown for this and all of your other wonderful books!!!

I'm ashamed to say that I bought this book because of the international furor. What are people thinking? The writing is no better than average and the aspersions about the Templar's, Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail etc. etc. ad nauseum, are ridiculous.

Yes, Mary is an important figure in early Christianity. At one level, she WAS a disciple and may have been an apostle. It is even conceivable that she and Jesus were married. It is also conceivable that she was married to one of Jesus' other apostles. There is no way to know. Beyond that there is only wild, pointless speculation.

This book is aimed at gullible fish and, judging from the hype, Brown hooked them all too eaily. It is unfortunate that there are so many people who so badly want to believe nonsense. I wonder who they'll be voting for this election cycle?

Ron Braithwaite, author of Mexican Conquest novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"

So many people read this book and start talking about Biblical references. I didn't read the book for that reason, I read it for entertainment. It was a very enjoyable book and the author kept me in the story line. I didn't read the story for religious purposes. It kept me company on the plane ride.

This book should NOT be in the "Christian" category. I could not be any farther away from Christianity than any other book I know. It breeds doubt in the truth of what Jesus did for us. Please remove it from this category.

I found the "thrill" to be missing from this "thriller." I don't understand why people are still raving about it. The characters are not believable, and the plot has inane twists. There are still good novels being written; this just isn't one of them.

This book is awful. No, really, awful. Just put it down and go read something else. Anything else will certainly be better. And likely less insulting to your intelligence.

I understand that the puzzles were supposed to be part of the charm. I suppose if you like the puzzles, you can be forgiven. For me, this book was made up entirely of predictable drivel that lead nowhere I haven't seen handled better elsewhere. I didn't need to spend time on the puzzles as their answers were as predictable as the rest of the plot.

Excellent book! Brown does not disappoint with this controversial thriller! Once you pick it up it's hard to put down!

If only NO stars were an option.....


Out of desperation, people want to seek the truth about Christianity because of the chaos happening throughout this world for almost the past twenty years. THIS IS A FICTION NOVEL, therefore it is NOT TRUE!!!!!! Just because this "man" created this book does not make it true, especially when there's NO PROOF of his gnostic claims.

For anybody who wants CLARITY on Christianity, stop looking for sources OUTSIDE OF the Holy Bible. Stop wasting money on books like the "Da Vinci Code" AND PRAY TO GOD FOR CLARITY! THEN PICK UP YOUR HOLY BIBLE AND SEEK A STRONG PASTOR WHO WILL GIVE YOU GUIDANCE FOR ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! Stop wasting time reading a book like this and read your Holy Bible. Books like this were created to deceive the masses, and it seems to be working, unfortunately.


Dan, your book is FALSE, SO DON'T PRINT "FACT" AS THE FIRST WORD IN YOUR BOOK AND THEN PAWN IT OFF ON MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FOR PROFIT.


By the way.....the HOLY BIBLE IS, and will ALWAYS BE the best selling book of ALL TIMES, and obviously you need to read yours more often.

I have not read the book yet and am not sure when I will get too it, but if anything like the movie. It will be worth the reading.

Perhaps reviewers/readers might like to compare and contrast this work with my A Jesus of Nazareth (Oct, 2007) - a genre-breaking work which readily encourages and lends itself to comparison and contrast with the Holy Bible, the Holy Qur'an, and the Holy Tanakh as well as with the principal philosophical Taoist texts, namely the Tao Te Ching and The Chuang-Tzu.

A necessary caveat respectfully however to the reviewer/reader: neither the Jesus of the Gospels nor the Isa (Arabic for Jesus) of the Qur'an exists within my work; no more too the Jesus of such works as Kempis' The Imitation of Christ, Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, Brown's The Da Vinci Code or His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth".

A Jesus of Nazareth an essentially a contemplative work, written as it is to be interpreted both exoterically and esoterically is an attempt to restore to the bright - the light, the memory, and the power of insight, dream, and intuition.