Davinci Code

[potterfan3]

Is this a good book or is it just popular because of all the hype, publicity and the fact it is about a controversal subect?

[LeMarchand]

It's not a very well-written book, but it is very exciting (until you stop to think about how far-fetched parts of it are).

[jno]

the actual writing is terrible, but the plot rattles along very fast. The conspiracy stuff is mostly rubbish, but then that's fiction for you.

[alijangra]

A bit rubbish IMO

[vehelpfulguy]

Funny, I have just finished reading it about 5 minutes ago.

I went to see the film last Sunday but gave up after 30 minutes as I got the impression it was leaving a lot out so wanted to read the book first.

It is a reasonable thriller, if somewhat far fetched.

If you took out the mythology, symbols, templars and other strange ideas it would just be a fairly average book.

I must admit when he talked about the ancient symbols, perfect number, knights templars, Da Vinci secrets etc I kept wondering which bits were true and which not.

I now want to do some research on the web to find out more.

Here is one site for example that talks about the perfect number he mentions in the book, 1.618.

http://goldennumber.net/

[Narolines]

God knows why it's popular - it's poorly written, badly constructed and about as unoriginal as boy-meets-girl. Controversial? On what planet?

[jno]

It's controversial about the history of Christianity Narolines, a subject in which many people have a strong interest. Agree about the writing, which makes Jeffrey Archer look good, but I thought the construction was tightly done - it almost all takes place on a single night, so it makes for some quite breathless reading.

This is said to be a good historical appraisal of what is true in the book and what isn't.

[SaxyJag]

It's one of those books you either love or hate (I loved it) and you're going to get as many of one as another. I can only suggest you get hold of a copy and read it, and then make your own decision.

[marwel7]

The history is interesting,and it is a page-turner.I think the conspiracy would be more controversial the more devout you are.But the theory and all the grail stuff has been out there for a long time."Holy Blood,Holy Grail" was controversial when it came out and that covers,I believe,much of the same ground.

[Narolines]

I'm not sure it is controversial, jno - to my mind, controversy would involve putting forward some new ideas or a new slant on things, and everything in DVC has been in the public domain for quite some time.

[jump79]

I didn't like Dan Brown as an author and will probably never read another book by him again. This conspiracy is nothing new when you think about it, and many books have already covered this subject way before Brown wrote his bestseller.

The reason why its been so popular is because certain people (from religious groups and Churches) have been taking this work of fiction too seriously and wanted it banned,censored etc etc which then caught people /media's attention and tripled sales, in turn.

[mosesg]

I found Angels & Demons by the same author a better book.

[Holbeckian]

Despite what the Court said, it's basically a rip-off of "Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" published in 1982 and written by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln. (cf 'Leigh Teabing' in the film).

I'd recommend a C4 documentary made by Tony Robinson of "Time Team" and "Blackadder" fame which overwhelmingly demolishes all of the precepts in both books showing them to be a combination of lies, poor research and plain old practical jokes.