the Da Vinci Code

[metallicafanrik]

has anyone read this? i just read it, and i could not put it down. made me think some deep thoughts. and since its suppposedly based in fact, how have the church not tried to ban it yet?!?!
excellent book though
xxxx

[Lord Spooky]

It is a good book but I think there's one or two things in there that aren't factual
i.e. The database that Langdon uses to find "A knight A. Pope interred" doesn't exist.

[Kwajman]

There were a few other liberties taken with the facts there I think....But it was an interesting book.

[Lord Spooky]

Angels and Demons is a good one too.

[kano junior]

I loved this book!! :D

It was so enthralling I recommend it to anyone. Lots of twists and turns in the plot but I thought it had a sligtly lack-lustre ending.

[Kinjiro Tsukasa]

There were lots of liberties taken with the truth in this book. Best to take it for what it is -- strictly a work of fiction.

It wasn't a bad suspense story, until the last several chapters, where the author got too bogged down in his own agenda, and the story suffered, as a result. The book started out OK, but finishing it was painful.

[thepunisher]

has anyone read this? i just read it, and i could not put it down. made me think some deep thoughts. and since its suppposedly based in fact, how have the church not tried to ban it yet?!?!
excellent book though
xxxx

..and they are both really good books, very intriguing and well written. Actually some parts of it are based on fact, the locations are definitley real but I don't think the church would try to ban something that they know they don't need to prove if its right or wrong. The Vatican is still powerful today so they can cover up whatever might be true from the facts. And one thing I do know, the Vatican has some hidden secrets that rival the facts in the book.

Christian

[Kinjiro Tsukasa]

I don't think the church would try to ban something that they know they don't need to prove if its right or wrong.
I don't think the Church would even bother trying to ban this book (aside from the fact that they don't ban books anymore, and haven't done so for years) -- there's little enough fact in it that it wouldn't be worth the bother.

[JTiedes]

i thought this book was very dissapointing, a few family members read it and kept discussing how intruiging it was and how fascinating. yet when i got to it i found it was just an episode of histories mysteries( a history channel show) about the holy grail, worked to give it a story. i think people went over board with their obbsesion of this book, i thought it was mediocre at best. then again im not the biggest mystery book fan.

[KenpoDavid]

the Merovingian-Christ connection conspiracy theory is centuries old, but most people can't be bothered to read any sort of history, so a 2nd rate re-hash of these tall tales is titillating and new. A much better work on the same theme is Foucalt's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

I've read another of the same guy's books, "Digital Fortress", which revolves around cryptography and national security and computer software. I was so distracted by the inaccuracies and just plain crap on all 3 topics that I had to force myself to finish it. I do not recommend the book to anyone that knows anything about any of those 3 subjects.

I don't know enough about Church history to claim the DaVinci code suffers from the same lack of rigour, but my suspicion is that it does.

[Kinjiro Tsukasa]

I don't know enough about Church history to claim the DaVinci code suffers from the same lack of rigour, but my suspicion is that it does.
Considering that a number of books have been written to debunk the numerous fallacies in "Da Vinci Code", I would suspect you are correct. :)

[GeeniusAtWurk]

The books by Dan Brown are entertainment pieces, not education pieces. I've read all of his books, including Digital Fortress, and they all share the same theme of "look what I just found out, be afraid/confused!"

[Chimpcheng]

I'm nearly finished 'The Da Vinci Code' and it is awesome! :D

I bought the illustrated version and it's amazing looking at all the paintings, buildings and structures that are described in the text. I really recommend this version if you've not already got a copy. :love:

[sn0w8lade]

damd I never knew there was an illustrated version out !!!

I'm about 3 quarters thru and think its awsome !

[Maverick]

Yes I thought it was a good read, so suspenseful that I read it in a day or two.

Books may have been written to 'debunk' the myths in the book but the part about the virgin birth never happening is true. There is no evidence or reason to believe a woman can be fertilised by fiction.

I find it funny how people rushed to 'debunk' the book when all it is is a work of fiction designed to be controversial. Now the guy who wrote it has no doubt made millions of pounds and as laughing at all the 'bad' press he got from religious people.

BTW, the Church can't ban anything, at least not in this country they can't. What are they gonna do, send priests round to bookshops to vandalise them? lol.

[Chimpcheng]

damd I never knew there was an illustrated version out !!!

I'm about 3 quarters thru and think its awsome !

Aye man, I was going to bag me the paper back when I spied the hardback illustrated one. It adds a whole new dimension and you can actually 'see' the things that the characters are seeing.

Even though it caused controversy amongst christian groups you can doubt that Dan Brown has done his home work.

[metallicafanrik]

What are they gonna do, send priests round to bookshops to vandalise them? lol.
haha vandal priests. that should have been a python sketch a la hells grannies!

[Taliar]

There's loads of books out now discussing this subject, as well as internet sites. From what i've found out lot of the facts vary from smudges to outright fabrications, for one the pyramid in the Louvre doesn't have 666 panes of glass etc.

Doesn't stop the book being an excellent read though.

[Chimpcheng]

Even though it caused controversy amongst christian groups you can doubt that Dan Brown has done his home work.

Darn it I meant 'can't doubt...'

Anyway, is any else reading 'Angels and Demons'? I was so impressed with 'The Da Vinci Code' (even though it was essentially a chase story) that I bought the illustrated hardback of 'Angels and Demons'. I'm only a few pages in and it is brilliant. :)

[Devoken]

For the record: Many churches and religious rally groups around the world have tried to ban it, though none have been successful to my knowledge; books are one of the hardest mediums to censor after the internet. But despite the books apparent lack of basis in fact, many people have taken it as just that, which is a scary thought that a fiction author can wield that much power over people's world views. :eek:

I was a little disapointed with it because I was led to believe that it contained a lot of history, but still a pretty darn good read. As has been said it was very suspenseful, so I devoured it in one or two days. It became a little tedious towards the end though.

[justinksw]

I started this book the other day and finished it last night. It took me a little bit to get going with it; it was frustrating to me when every chapter left you hanging. Some people love that aspect, but it was annoying to me at first.

The further along in the book I got, it didn't bother me as much and I was so enthralled by the story that I couldn't put it down anyway.

I highly recommend this book of fiction to many people. I see some discussion of the 'validity' of this book going on. I have my own beliefs about the history of the bible and the many stories around it, and I thought this was a very good read. Without giving away too much, I really like what was said towards the end about what to do with the information they were trying to attain, or rather what they shouldn't do and the reasons for both.

[Roual]

hmm... I managed to get my hands on this book before all the hype about it hit, so I had very little idea about it when I read it.

I agree that it is a very good book, it's well written, and keeps you enthralled, until the end that is. I found that when I got about 3/4 of the way through, it started to slow down and I really had to force myself to finish. Saying that though, the ending was good, if a little predictable.

As for the whole based in fact / fiction thing, I doubt anyone can make a convincing argument either way, given that since the Church held such power in the past, they would be able to censore historical records to suit their own needs (this isn't ment to offend anyone religious, it's not just the church, but the phrase 'history is written by the winners' rings very true).

[seiki juku kid]

has anyone read 'the Va Dinci Cod', a parody of 'the Da Vinci Code'??? it's by the same guy who wrote 'Bored of the Rings' (lord of the rings) and 'The McAtrix Derided' (the matrix).

:Alien:

:Alien:

:Alien:

[Lennert]

Hmmz, it's just a book very roughly based on facts to make it so enthralling.. if it was pure fiction with everything including the locations made up, it wouldn't be that cool..
For instance, I believe somewhere in the book he claims that the guys at opus dei wear robes and are sent around to assasinate people..
Well, I know a whole lot of guys at opus dei, and the only robe you will ever see there is on a priest reading the mas. And they just have regular jobs like everybody else.
So that's what I mean with roughly based on facts.. opus dei exists, and it has members, and that's about all that's true of what he has written about it in his book.
It would really be a shame if you chose to work at an organisation like that, and encounter somebody who has read this book calling you a robe wearing assassin wouldn't it?

[littlebadboy]

want something more factual? try reading "The Hiram Key".