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Harry Vest

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Da Vinci Code - What's up???

O.K. I'll admit it - I have NOT read the Da Vinci Code. I have a slight idea of the concept but I cannot understand all the hype surrounding it??? What's up????? Why all the fuss? Who is making the fuss? Is this all "hype" or is there more to it all?
Just wondering.
 
It's a novel and people are treating it like it's fact. The media is making a big deal out of it and is trying to make it sound like the stuff in the book is true. :rolleyes: It's rediculous. It's a NOVEL!
 
It's historical fiction. Brown was clever enough to put in a fictional subplot based on historical legends. So he gets to ride the fence and be accurate on both grounds: he can say it's fiction to its detractors, while letting those who want to see more into it have a historical basis.

He basically made a novel around some Gnostic concepts and legendary medieval secret societies, then basically attributing the behaviors of those societies to Opus Dei.

Umberto Eco did a much better job with "Foucault's Pendulum" back in 1988.

Melon
 
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It's a thought provoking book, and Dan Brown put a message at the beginning that says something like "All descriptions of artwork, documents, and locations in this novel are accurate". To me this means that the conclusions he reaches about Christianity are what he believes, he just puts the "fact" in a fictional story. This is a really exiting book, I don't read much except political books, and I could not put it down. Probably one of the best books I have ever read and I intend to see the movie on opening day.
 
Isn't it really a book of fiction based around the novel 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail'? Wasn't he even sued for a kind of plagarism in the UK?
 
The only thing I know about it is that Tom Hank's new hairdo looks like Bono's now old hairdo.

I'll probably see the movie just because I like Tom Hanks. Maybe I'll read the book if I have time before then.
 
Art critics have been wondering for years about Da Vinci. It's awfully sad it took a rather poorly written work of fiction to make people take notice.

:woe:
 
I never read the book, I guess it seemed like so much hype to me. I am interested in seeing the movie even though that's hype too. I see it for what it is and I don't get people getting all worked up over it. It sure has made Dan Brown a rich man.

Opus Dei is fascinating, I read a couple of articles about it recently. It's not something they teach you about in CCD or Catholic college.
 
I was a big sceptic of the book and only read it two weeks ago. I had actually thought it was like a text book and didn't want to read it. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was a novel!!
I thought the book was wonderful. It was exciting, well written and just a really good fast read. That being said it never slipped my mind it was a novel. I did think Brown brought up some good facts and points that do make you think. I admit when he analyzes Da Vinci's works I ahd to go look them up on the internet to see if I could see that in a painting. This is the brilliance of the book. Brown got people to think outside the box (I resemble him to Crichton)-I liked it....but it IS a novel-the hysteria I understand.

Oh and his plagerism claims have been laughed out of court
 
Angela Harlem said:
Art critics have been wondering for years about Da Vinci. It's awfully sad it took a rather poorly written work of fiction to make people take notice.

:woe:

Poorly written? It's a thriller! You expected Faulkner?

My degree's in literature. I've read everything from Chaucer to Kesey, but I'm a sucker for a good thriller, and I have to say that I thought it was some pretty captivating storytelling. And the ingredients! Murder, art, history, religion, secrets, conspiracies, codes. Irresistable. A perfect fit for the History Channel crowd.

To answer the original question, the reason there's so much hype about the upcoming movie is simply because so damn many people read the book. 'Course, never hurts that the Catholic Church is telling people to stay away.
 
melon said:
...He basically made a novel around some Gnostic concepts and legendary medieval secret societies, then basically attributing the behaviors of those societies to Opus Dei.

Umberto Eco did a much better job with "Foucault's Pendulum" back in 1988.

Melon

Actually, some of those secret societies aren't even real. 60 Minutes did a story about the Priory of Sion [link here, which is mentioned in the book. Turns out there is significant evidence that some Frenchman in the '40s made the whole thing up and deposited authentic looking documents about the history of the organization in the French national library to make it look more authentic.

Overall, the theory proposed in the book is an interesting one. After all, the Virgin Mary was 13 when Jesus was born. If that was the normal age to have kids and Jesus didn't start preaching until he was 30 and we have no substantial record of his life before he started preaching, couldn't we assume a traditional carpenter had kids at some point? But I digress. Perhaps that's for another thread. That being said, the book itself is ok. It's definitely a page-turning thriller but it gets a little stale as it goes on. By the halfway point, you're thinking "Let me guess: at the end of this chapter, there will be another puzzle to solve." Ugh! If I wanted to think about this many puzzles, I would have spent the money for the DaVinci Code on a book of NY Times Crosswords instead.

PS -- Yeah on Umberto! I'll have to read Pendulum but I would highly recommend The Name of the Rose if you're looking for a religious-based thriller with codes and such. Much better than DaVinci Code.
 
LPU2 said:


Poorly written? It's a thriller! You expected Faulkner?

My degree's in literature. I've read everything from Chaucer to Kesey, but I'm a sucker for a good thriller, and I have to say that I thought it was some pretty captivating storytelling. And the ingredients! Murder, art, history, religion, secrets, conspiracies, codes. Irresistable. A perfect fit for the History Channel crowd.

To answer the original question, the reason there's so much hype about the upcoming movie is simply because so damn many people read the book. 'Course, never hurts that the Catholic Church is telling people to stay away.

I think you're both right. A really good and engaging story, a real page-turner, but overall, the writing is style pretty bad.

The end. Of every chapter. Is it's own. Mini-cliffhanger! :ohmy:

:wink:

sharky said:


PS -- Yeah on Umberto! I'll have to read Pendulum but I would highly recommend The Name of the Rose if you're looking for a religious-based thriller with codes and such. Much better than DaVinci Code.

I've had The Name of the Rose sitting around here for years and have never read it. I'll have to check it out.
 
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it could be real , it could be shit, all i know is i loved it totally. best book ive read and i think all u religious nuts need to relax.
 
The book is pretty good, but highly overrated. I'd argue that Angels and Demons or Deception Point is a better book than DaVinci.
 
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a wonderful mystery/thiller and it did make you think. I remember reading chapters and then going to internet to look at DaVinci's paintings to see if what he was writing about were there or not there. It was quite fascinating. I never thought of it as the real truth of Jesus and Mary and the Holy Grail. But it does make one wonder. I also read this when if first came out in March 2003 long before the hype. Its amazing how it was out for about year before it got to this frenzied state.

I'm still waiting for his book about the Free Masons that was previewed at the end of the DaVinci Code. Its third in the series.:huh:
 
VintagePunk said:
The end. Of every chapter. Is it's own. Mini-cliffhanger! :ohmy:

Cliffhangers can hurt a story if they're gratuitous, but I don't think they are here.

I'm reading it a 2nd time with my wife. Aloud. Every time a chapter ends on a cliffhanger, she hums the dissonant notes of a typical 40's Hollywood cliffhanger ("dunt, dunt, DUUUUHHHHH"). We're 2/3 finished and I've only heard that about 2 or 3 times. :)

Honestly, I think most of the criticism comes from either the Church or lit snobs who will not, cannot, must not like anything so widely consumed by the masses. :)

Again, he's no Faulkner, but so the hell what? Enjoy it for what it is: a helluva yarn.
 
randhail said:
The book is pretty good, but highly overrated. I'd argue that Angels and Demons or Deception Point is a better book than DaVinci.

Oooohhh just finished Deception Point and would have to disagree...Angels and Demons however was alot better, I thought, than The Davinci Code. I thought it flowed better and was tighter written. Also I thought it was WAY more controversial in terms of religion.
 
nbcrusader said:
You hit on one of the reasons the book/movie bothers some people of faith - that many don't know the difference.

And what bothers the other end of the spectrum is that the "people of faith" believe that they have all the answers.

Melon
 
randhail said:
The book is pretty good, but highly overrated. I'd argue that Angels and Demons or Deception Point is a better book than DaVinci.

They're all the same book........I thought Point was the weakest of the 4
 
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