So I've finally started the Da Vinci code (possible spoilers)

[DaveStebbins]

I borrowed the unabridged audiobook from my county library system and listened to it while I worked out a few months ago. I enjoyed it pretty thoroughly. I do enough analysis at work, so when I read, watch TV or see a movie, I'm just looking for simple entertainment and I typically don't feel very critical while reading/listening/watching, so I'm probably either an easy mark, or the target audience. I've read things I enjoyed far less and I've read things I've enjoyed more. For my taste, it was a very good book.

-Dave

 

[Mark]

This somehow reminds of the popularity achieved by The Celestine Prophecy in the mid-nineties.

 

[evildmguy]

I liked it. I did find few things bad here and there and I did find that reading all of his books withing a few weeks made his work very guessable.

I still enjoyed the book. The more I learn, yes, he did combine a bunch of things that were questionable in terms of history and theories. However, it entertained me and that's all I am looking for in my fiction books. (I even bought the illustrated versions to see the things to which he refers, which makes it easier to read.)

Have a good one! Take care!

edg

 

[Harmon]

I was pretty impressed with the book, right up until the real villian shows up. I thought that was really lame and poor writing. The villian should have been displayed as such, instead of the pretending that it was whom it was not (I would rather not bring out the spoiler, I know those of you who read it understand).

It was rather lame by the end, and it completely turned me off of following anything more that Brown writes.

 

[David Howery]

Read the book some time ago. Not the greatest book of all time, but I can't say it was a bad one either... it was mildly entertaining. I found myself being flat out skeptical of a lot of Brown's claims in the book, based as they were on not-so-well researched books. However, the book did inspire me to do one thing... find a book with a painting of "The Last Supper" and check out all the things Brown said about it...

 

[Rackhir]

I've not read the DaVinci Code, but it didn't seem to have anything in it that I hadn't see previously in various Discovery/History Channel shows.

I have read some of his military novels and have to agree with him being a hack. He pimps the Air Force shamelessly in them and big bombers are the solutions to all problems and can do anything.

 

[Mark Chance]

I've not read the DaVinci Code, but it didn't seem to have anything in it that I hadn't see previously in various Discovery/History Channel shows.

That's not much of a recommendation for either the Discovery or the History Channel.

 

[Fast Learner]

That's not much of a recommendation for either the Discovery or the History Channel.

It's no mark on them, either. They cover speculation and historical research all the time. Not only is there nothing wrong with that (assuming it's couched as speculation/research), it's an extremely important and positive thing, and is one of the few ways to get "normal" people to consider history.

 

[Kesh]

takyris hit all the relevant points. It's poorly written, and not very original. The only good side is that it's a simple introduction to various controversies about the Christian faith.

I'd say it took off because most folks who follow some version of Christianity never really questioned what they were taught in church. This book actually throws out some of the controversies that the average layman never heard about, but scholars have debated (or debunked) for years. A lot of Brown's plot points are pure bunk, but a few are legitimate academic arguments about the early days of Christianity and the decisions made in the formation of the early church.

 

[Enforcer]

I thought it was a fun, fast-paced read. The printed version of a decent action/thriller movie. The controversy can be best summed up by Jon Stewart of the Daily Show: "IT'S IN THE FICTION SECTION!!!"