The DaVinci Code

The church doesn't have enough to do. The book was really entertaining - and with tom hanks, I expect the quality of the movie to be good as well.

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While I classify myself in the Judeo Christian section, I found the book entertaining, but saw too many people take it seriously. Remember... it is in the FICTION section. The symbolism was a bit extreme, but coming from Masonic affiliated groups, I understand how symbols were used in the past for secrecy and tradition.
The point I found really interesting was that if you really think about it, the Catholic church had the sole authority over the interpretation of the Bible for over 1,000 years. Consider that for a moment... Nobody could read or write unless they were schooled in a monastery, for the most part, and then these same people were the ones who copied the Bible by hand, as the printing press was not yet invented. Notice how placing the actual Bible in the hands of the people, once the printing press was invented, caused so much controversy: the Protestant Reformation. How interesting of a concept that the Catholic Church, which is by all means a bureaucracy and a government more than a religion, could have made changes in the text of the Scriptures over time in order to effect more power and control for them. I am not a Catholic and don't for the life of me understand how anybody could follow such a historically corrupt organization. Flame on... I am waiting.

I loved the book and can't wait to see the movie.  I actually liked all of Dan Brown's books.  I guess there is another book out about the issue called holy blood, holy grail.

I had some of the same thoughts you did, after reading the DaVinci Code---about the translations by the Catholic Church and how they might have been perverted. However, next week, I will begin facilitating a Bible Study on the Old Testament at my church. The curriculum is from the "Disciple" group, which many people are familiar with the 34-week Disciple program. (this is sort of a mini-course). There is a DVD that goes along with this study in which they talk about the archeology and history behind the Old Testament. The one segment that I watched talked about how most Bibles were translated from a set of scrolls dating from around 1100 AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to around 600 BC (my dates may be slightly off here). What the Bible Scholars were excited about were that the Dead Sea Scrolls were very very close to the 1100 AD scrolls, but better. They "filled in the blanks" of some verses---where a word or two may have been off. The scholar said that most newer Bible translations, like the NIV, incorporate the Dead Sea Scrolls. So while there were some subtle differences, for the most part, the translations had stayed true over that 1700 year period and on to today.

And BTW, I enjoyed "The DaVinci Code." By putting aside any religious prejudices, it made for an entertaining and fast paced read.

I finished Angels and Demons on the weekend. I haven't read the DaVinci Code. I can't figure out if Dan Brown thinks his readers are stupid. There is a part in the book where a Swiss Guard asks a priest "how can God be all powerful if he lets bad things happen?". Uh, I can accept a 12 year old posing the question, but not a Swiss Guard.

Dan Brown is a formulaic bestseller writer, like Grisham and that hack Crighton. His gimmick is religion like Grisham's is law and Chrighton's is science, and he's lucky to have it, because without it, he'd have nothing to differentiate himself with.

But hey, he's got 36 million copies of the DaVinci Code in print, so he must be doing something right that writers with real talent are not. Maybe it's that his style is weak enough to appeal to the Harlequin crowd, while his subject appeals to others.

Dan Brown has found his "voice", it's just too bad that the voice belongs to a 16 year old boy.

Some of you take fiction and writing styles waaaaaayyyyyyyy too seriously. 

Hey! I resemble that remark!

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I haven't read the DaVinci Code, but I just finished Digital Fortress.

I thought it was incredibly simple and was amazed at how stupid these supposedly intelligent characters were at the ending. I agree with Opus, it's like Dan Brown thinks the reader is stupid.

Maybe the DaVinci Code & Angels and Demons are better?

Jen

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I also agree. But I did enjoy them all.

I read DaVinci Code in one day. Found it to be quite entertanining. By the time I got my hands on Angels and Demons, I have forgotten what DaVinci Code was about. I found Angels and Demons to be quite entertaining as well. I started Angels and Demons right around the time when the Conclave after the death of JP II was underway.

I read DaVinci Code, and now we are listening to it during my carpool. I liked it, and enjoyed his other books as well. Hey, as long as they entertain me, and take my mind off other things, that's what I like. Looking forward to the movie as well, Comet.

I found Angels and Demons to be much better with the exception of the scene where jumps out of the helicopter....that pretty much ruined it for me. I listened to Davinci and found it too similar to A&D. I have read some of his other stuff, but didnt care for most them.

Yeah, I was wondering how he attached the windshield cover to his ankles to make the parachute! And of course the book has to end with sex. Unrealistic, contrived sex, but sex nonetheless.

The whole book would have been more engaging if the hero had been the woman from Murder, She Wrote.