The Da Vinci Code

[hipporina]

I love Dan Brown's writing style and story flow. I've read all of his books and they are all page-turners. They keep me up at night reading and I get really involved in the story.

However, Da Vinci Code was full of so much crap that it almost ruined the book for me. I disagree that the Bible is part theories. I believe that it is the inspired word of God and absolutely and totally true. I didn't enjoy reading a book that tried to insult me for my beliefs.

As much as I enjoyed the plot of he book, I don't recommend it very often. I think it is scary that a single piece of fiction can cause someone to doubt what they have believed their entire lives.

 

[Maleficent13]

Originally posted by Aimeedyan
I think the concept is absurd, and the material within in is speculation at best. It concerns me that people might believe his "theories" based on the book.

I haven't read it yet, and therefore will make no judgement calls on its contents. But I have to ask: it's a work of fiction, right? I know that it is, but some of the people I know have read it and now absolutely believe everything in it. This disturbs me a bit. I read Gone With the Wind, but I don't base my knowledge or beliefs of the Civil War on it. I admit this fanatacism is one reason why I haven't read DaVinci Code.

On my last WDW vacation, one of our party kept walking around, all week, yelling and waving his arms "Look at it! It's true! It's all Mary Magdelene. Mary Magdelene everywhere!" At random intervals he would exclaim (always with the expansive, all inclusive arm gesture) "Mary Magdelene!!".

It was quite annoying.

 

[DawnCt1]

Originally posted by Maleficent13
I haven't read it yet, and therefore will make no judgement calls on its contents. But I have to ask: it's a work of fiction, right? I know that it is, but some of the people I know have read it and now absolutely believe everything in it. This disturbs me a bit. I read Gone With the Wind, but I don't base my knowledge or beliefs of the Civil War on it. I admit this fanatacism is one reason why I haven't read DaVinci Code.

.

I don't have the book handy and its been a year since I have read it; but his preface indicated certain "facts" that the book was based on, which I felt were disputable. With regard to other fiction books, I believe that certain genres that present themselves as historical novels can be very informative. The Kenneth Roberts books, Arundel, which is one that comes to mind (although I have read them all), give a very accurate account of the pre revolutionary war days and up through the Revolutionary War. The main characters are fictional but the events and well known characters are factual. Right now I am reading Ka'a'awa by A.O Bishop. Again, a fictional book based on factual material interwoven in the book. I would think that Caribbean, Texas, and Hawaii by James Michner would fall into this category as well.

 

[CRB#33]

Maleficent, you hit the nail on the head with the biggest problem with this book.

People are believing it to be fact. It is not and one must be very careful to remember that it is a fiction novel.

 

[WeluvDisney2]

Originally posted by vettechick99

My point is to take all books with a grain of salt...bible included.

Some of us do believe that the Bible is the true word of God.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Originally posted by CRB#33
Maleficent, you hit the nail on the head with the biggest problem with this book.

People are believing it to be fact. It is not and one must be very careful to remember that it is a fiction novel.

I think this is a sign of a larger issue in society -- a lot of people are morons.

 

[Maleficent13]

Originally posted by Bob Slydell
I think this is a sign of a larger issue in society -- a lot of people are morons.

 

[Rajah]

I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through, and while I'm enjoying it, I do agree with those (so far, anyway) who said they liked Angels and Demons better.

That said, I'm still having trouble putting it down.

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by Bob Slydell
I think this is a sign of a larger issue in society -- a lot of people are morons.

 

[ripleysmom]

I agree that it is a work of fiction and that people should take it as that. That being said I don't believe that you can dismiss everything that is in it.

Just as the idea that Jesus and Mary had children cannot be proven, neither can it be disproven.

I believe in keeping an open mind and will probably read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" just to educate myself.

 

[MikeB63]

For anyone who is interested, this link addresses some of the background of the book and references. How this book is presented and the impact it seems to have (questioning one's beliefs or what one was taught) is what necessitates the need for the examination of the sources and references presented by the author. It is is fiction, but it has sparked concern.

http://www.catholic.com/library/cracking_da_vinci_code.asp[/URL]

 

[zagafi]

Well, it *is* fact that the Council of Nicea decided what would and would not be in the Bible. There are writings that were not, for whatever reason, included. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that it's possible that Jesus may have been married, given that he was fully God AND fully man. It would've been very unusual for a Jewish man of his age to have *not* been married, yet that's not addressed in the Bible as we know it.

I'm not saying I accept Dan Brown's book as "fact", but there's also no reason to overlook the fact that mortal men made decisions about the written Bible. God didn't drop the Bible from heaven in a bound leather KJV, yet some people act as though He did.

 

[septbride2002]

Zagafi - Thank you for saying exactly what I was thinking!

~Amanda

 

[dg39]

This might be alittle off topic, but, I was born and raised catholic. My parents and grandparents were soooo religious. My grandmother who lived with us, went to church every morning. She was the type that had to sit up front in the first pew. God rest her soul, she was a saint. My parents were also religious but not to that extent. I remember going to catholice elementary school and was taught, not to chew or bite the host at communion because it will bleed. Ya, got to think what the heck were these nuns and priests teaching us back then. I think these books and others like it, just want to open up our minds to the thoughts that maybe somethings that we were taught aren't necessarily so.

 

[Lisa96]

If you liked DaVinci Code you might want to look for "The Prophetess" by Barbara Wood. It's also an adventure story with a religious & feminist background. I like most of Barbara Wood's books; she's very good at giving you a lot of cultural & historical information woven into a good story.

I love the book "The Eight" by Katherine Neville and recommend it if you enjoy historical figures intertwined with new characters. This is an older book (10-15 yrs?) so you might have to search a bit for it, but it's well worth it. The story involves a young woman, Cat, in 1970's NYC who goes on an international quest to find a chess-set that supposedly has mystical powers. There are flashbacks to another young woman in 18th c. France who is entrusted with part of the chess-set, and that gives you the background. So it moves all over the world in different centuries and has all kinds of famous people popping up. It's a combination history/mystery/adventure story; very interesting reading IMHO.

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by zagafi
Well, it *is* fact that the Council of Nicea decided what would and would not be in the Bible. There are writings that were not, for whatever reason, included. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that it's possible that Jesus may have been married, given that he was fully God AND fully man. It would've been very unusual for a Jewish man of his age to have *not* been married, yet that's not addressed in the Bible as we know it.

I'm not saying I accept Dan Brown's book as "fact", but there's also no reason to overlook the fact that mortal men made decisions about the written Bible. God didn't drop the Bible from heaven in a bound leather KJV, yet some people act as though He did.

Bravo! Standing ovation for you!

Yes, and small other things like the paintings referenced were actual art works (besides the Mona Lisa--no DUH! on that one!)

If I remember correctly Da Vinci Code mentions the Apocrypha. I actually took a course in the Apocrypha.. and one portion sounded very familiar.

 

[CRB#33]

Originally posted by Bob Slydell
I think this is a sign of a larger issue in society -- a lot of people are morons.

Hmmm. Interesting.

 

[Crankyshank]

Lisa96, I also enjoyed the Prophetess and The Eight. Fabulous books Neville's The Magic Circle was also good.

 

[Dancind]

I thought Da Vinci Code was a fascinating read, and I did a little more reading on the same subject afterwards, out of curiosity. The thing that peaked my interest, one of the family names mentioned in the book as part of the "lineage" is my family name. I have no idea if the family names are part of the "facts", or if Dan Brown picked them out of the air, but it made it fun to read.

At any rate, it's not a subject you want to go around discussing, as it is very emotional for many people. I loaned the book to my SIL, and she more or less considered it blasphemous, though she thought it was interesting fiction. I don't have a problem thinking that Jesus may have had a fuller life than what was shared in the Bible, since that was limited to his ministry and a small amount of information about his childhood.

 

[JimB.]

It's an OK book.

Fun to read, but remember...........................

it's f-i-c-t-i-o-n !!!!!!!!