The DaVinci Code - Did you read it? Share your thoughts! **spoilers**

[Aimeedyan]

Was anyone else disappointed in this? I was so excited when it was finally my turn to check it out at the library, and I read it while vacationing, but ended up disappointed. I thought the writing itself was poor, and I could NOT buy into the theory once he revealed where he was taking things.

MOST, if not all, of that is because of my own religious background, but I found the whole concept absurd, and literally laughed outloud when he got into it. The rest of the book was a joke for me at that point... It lost all credibility, you know?

What did you think? Could you buy into his theory? Why do you think the book was so popular?

Anxious to hear what others think! And I honestly DON'T want to debate his theories, just wanted to see if others could buy into them, or if it ruined the book for them...

 

[caitycaity]

i really liked it a lot. i thought most of the theories were plausible. there has been a lot of research done on this topic. check out amazon.com and do a search for it and you can read the scholarly work that has been done on the knights templar and mary magdalene.

 

[frustrated]

I felt the book was a big letdown. There were huge leaps of faith taken as fact. I don't care what you print, as long as you don't try to make out that is indeed factual, so this book irked me! I was sorry I wasted the time reading it.

 

[ripleysmom]

I really enjoyed the theories put forward by the book but I thought the ending stunk.

 

[wheezie]

I've just read the book. I found it a bit hard to believe and didnt think it was anything special. I wont bother with any other books by the author.

Wheezie

 

[Lanshark]

I also read Angels and Demons by the same author. It was pretty much just like the Da Vinci code. All I can say is this guy must have something against the Catholic church. It was more apparent in Angels and Demons but definitely there in the Da Vinci Code also.

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by Lanshark
I also read Angels and Demons by the same author. It was pretty much just like the Da Vinci code. All I can say is this guy must have something against the Catholic church. It was more apparent in Angels and Demons but definitely there in the Da Vinci Code also.

wow i didn't get that from angels and demons at all. there were both good and bad catholic characters.

 

[eeyore74]

It was a disappointment for Dh and I, too. I do agree his writing is poor. However, I sold it on ebay for almost what I paid for it. lol

I did like how he pointed out that Pagan things/beliefs/customs aren't evil.

 

[leahannpen]

Originally posted by ripleysmom
I really enjoyed the theories put forward by the book but I thought the ending stunk.

I also read Angels & Demons...I didn't like that one nearly as much. When I first tried reading it, I just couldn't get into it at all and it sat there for literally months. I tried re-reading it again AFTER The Da Vinci Code, and muddled through it, but it just didn't thrill me.

 

[jipsy]

I loved the book.

 

[Cindy B]

Those thoeries have been circulating for a long time.

I remember reading about the hidden symbolism in many other books, and well as Di Vinci himself.

I thought his writing showed an immense amount of research, intelligence and thought provoking ideas. It takes a lot of guts to print something fairly "unpopular", and to have it published by a major printing house.

Dan Brown is immensely intelligent. I could tell all the extra research he had done regarding the painting, the painting styles, the French architecture, and the hidden meanings. Opus Di is in existence, same as the math concept of 1.7. (not PI, but the other math concept.. I'm forgetting the name of it at the moment. ) Even the thoughts on the HolY Grail were consistent with other well known thoerists.

I can't stand formulaic mysteries. This was not formulaic in the least. So many mystery thriller writers have a insert character A, into plot twist B perspective, it just BORES me! I hate when I can figure out a book by page 35! I also cant stand when a book talks down to its readers.

This was not fluff. In any book that I truly enjoy, I check out the validity in extra research. I can't tell you how exciting it was to find the details of the French archetecture online, and to "trace the steps" with the book. I loved the mention of other artworks, and was able to search those, and find the true meaning of what they meant.

I was talking to other teachers about this book. She loved it. She was told not to read it as it was "anti Catholic". She is an avid Catholic (I am not). She did not find it anti catholic, but a great new perspective on a subject that makes the reader think and ponder. This book made me reflect wonder, and want more.

Not many books do that for me.

 

[Disney Ella]

I pretty much agree with everything Cindy B. says. I found the book to be very thought provoking, but then I am interested in the history of religion, although I am not particularly religious. (I must say that I find it amusing that all of the very religious people I know have absolutely no interest in doing any reading on religious history at all.) Much of the information presented in the book is not anything new, although it may not have made it to the mainstream since this book. I find it very interesting how religion has changed over the years and enjoyed this book.

 

[mrsv98]

I liked it, the writing was fine, not Tolstoy, but fine. What kills me is the number of people who are all worked up over the book and the theories. It is a work of FICTION! Dan Brown does state at the beginning that somethings like the Knights Templar and Opus Dei are real orginizations, he never claims that the book is factual. I thought it was fun and it got me doing more research and looking up some elements, but I think the people, like those who have written the "debunking" books, need to relax!

 

[frustrated]

You know, it is fiction but you would be amazed at the people I've talked to who believe it all! Just wanted to say I do not believe he is the anti-Christ, but just as some of you are "amused" with those who have problems with the book, some feel the same about those who believe everything they read.

Still felt like it was a big letdown, although in retrospect part of that had to do with the ending.

 

[Cindy B]

The ending did leave a bit to be desired. I thought the way that she met up with her family, was a bit cliched.

I did like the fact that she and the American did not get totally romantically involved. If it had turned that way, I would have gotten very disappointed! (I can't stand when main "meaty" characters that just happen to be of a different sex/or even same sex.. get together in a book when it isn't really necessary. I don't need sensationalized reading!)

 

[Wagamama]

I read somewhere that he is working on the sequel to The DaVinci Code.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Cindy - I will agree that it's obvious he did a bunch of research, and I appreciate and respect that. He didn't just sit at his computer and plunk out a work of fiction. He really spent alot of time and effort in his research... that was nice for a change.

I really enjoy religious studies, and in school doing just that, just THIS particular theory I can't even begin to buy into, so it was hard for me to take his lead and run on some things in my own research... make sense?

And I agree, the ending was a let down. I was waiting for something more, and kept reading... thinking, no, it's not going to end that way... but then it did. I also found it hard to believe that ALL of that happened in the span of what, 24 hours?

=)

 

[Duchie]

Cindy B has stated very well what I was thinking. I went into it knowing it was fiction, so I never got the impression that all of it was presented as factual. I have a friend who teaches at a Catholic middle school, and she and her fellow teachers read it as part of their book club. You should have seen them all in the school library peering at the painting of The Last Supper in a book!

I was impressed with how he was able to take real places, some facts, some theories, and some totally made up stuff and blend a story around them. I'd heard all of the theories before so they weren't shocking to me. As with "Angels and Demons", the ending was a bit much (especially in the first book) but overall a good read. No, it's not a classic, but it kept me amused.

 

[goofy4tink]

Read them both...preferred DaVinci Code. I got into a discussion about Brown's theories with the priest (Episcopalian) at my church. All he said was...."You know, the Catholic church must have done something really bad to him in his youth." I, on the other hand, found it to be interesting reading. Actually, all of religion is a giant leap of faith. I did like the details Dan Brown used...arch.,art, religious symbology etc. I actually learned something reading that one.

 

[Trinity721]

I enjoyed the book and got through it pretty fast. I would have to say that the storyline was interesting, I loved the connection of ideas, symbology, history, art, etc. I just thought some things were too convenient... SPOILER here: How typical for the butler to be involved. Another complaint, I have read a lot of good books by good writers... I thought the quality of writing by Dan Brown was not so great. I studied a bit of theology, and thought these ideas were quite interesting. Being a Catholic, I wouldn't see a problem with them. But I guess it would be difficult to think of Jesus another way other than what has been known to us for so long.