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2006-07-16 08:47
From: melancolia
(Vienna, Manila)
a review of The Da Vinci Code
 
I really don't understand the buzz surrounding "The Da Vinci Code."
A longtime fan of the occult knowledge and the wish to find out why this book has become a best-seller, I chose the "The Da Vinci Code" over "Memoirs of a Geisha" to bring with me to the lake.
I mean, why the hell some people burnt this book, for Pete's sake!
Most of the "revelations" Dan Brown told us are known to many already. For example, that the Roman Catholic Church is modified to be accepted by the pagans is a known fact. Just like the concept of a "dying god." Historians and Egyptologists have tackled this phenomenon among the many cultures.
And then there are the sources the author used to base his story on are all branded "pseudo-historical" in which a careful reader could discern.
So the Mary Magdalene and Jesus' progeny-Merongivian-Priory of Sion connection is an imaginative premise.
Refusing to listen to my friends' advice, I took this one from the shelf and began to ponder its popularity.
True. I give credit to "Da Vinci" for its "the world is such a small place" twists and turns and its main theme: the Roman Catholic Church, and other delectables.
What could be the most shocking theme to entice readers but to talk about the root and the bloody history of Christianity.
Also, its affinity to women empowerment is hard to resist. Mr. Brown is a feminist.
Set in France, UK and Scotland, what we have here are the main characters erudite Harvard professor Robert Langdon and smart yet naive French cryptologist Sophie Neveu. Save for Langdon's erudition and Neveu's "amazing" family tree we also encounter the albino monk and murderer Silas, the historian knight Teabing, the hard French police captain Bezu Fache, among the many characters that make the novel such a suspense.
While I devoured the pages I couldn't help chuckling Mr. Brown's interesting, sometimes outrageous, suggestions of the artworks and historical anecdotes he mentioned.
Just like beauty, art is open for interpretation.
Like this novel is.
This review is helpful to 2 person.
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By Dan Brown
Doubleday
ISBN: 0385504209
Release Date: 2003-03-18
Hardcover
List Price: USD 24.95
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