For cheap supermarket fiction, this sure was cheap supermarket fiction. It would have helped if this was the first book I had ever read. Unfortunately, having read Curious George as a child (a towering work of literary genius by comparison), The DaVinci Code suffered perhaps unjustly.

I read that it sold over 80 million copies ! Looks like it's an alternative history of christianity and the Catholic church didn't like it.

The subject matter was was certainly not to my interest.

I couldn't muster any enthusiasm and was bored quickly. I have stayed away from Dan Brown books eversince then.

Abandoned.

Fellow Goodreaders, I have a confession to make. (Strikes Abe Lincoln pose). No, I haven't actually read it, if that's what you're thinking. But, in a way, it's worse. The fact is, I... er... I... I'm sorry, this is rather difficult for me... I once, ah, I once wrote a letter to a national newspaper supporting Dan Brown's book. And had it published.

OK, I've said it, and now I feel better. (Wipes sweat from forehead). I tried to find the offending item just now on Google, but it looks as though well-meaning people have done their best to hide the evidence. I'd really like to thank them for that. Anyway, if you search on my name and "Da Vinci Code" or "Dan Brown", you'll find pointers to it, though I've so far been unable to retrieve the actual text.

As far as I can recall, the background was roughly as follows. A columnist in the Independent, Christina Patterson, had written an article in which she dismissively attacked The Da Vinci Code, and cited a recent interview with the author. Mr Brown had been asked why he thought his book was a success, and had said something about how he believed that what people liked was books with "puzzles and treasure hunts". Patterson remarked with evident contempt that there were no puzzles and treasure hunts in, if I'm remembering correctly, Shakespeare, Dickens or Tolstoy.

Well... I'm a big fan of due process. I thought Saddam Hussein was a monster who deserved death fifty times over; but I opposed the Iraq War on the grounds that virtually the only bad thing he hadn't done was to harbor secret weapons of mass destruction, which was the ostensible reason for invading his country. My feelings about Dan Brown were similar. So the letter pointed out that Ms. Patterson was just cherry-picking her authors. As far as I was aware, she was quite correct in saying that Shakespeare, Dickens and Tolstoy didn't do puzzles and treasure-hunts; but if she'd wanted to argue the contrary position, she could just as easily have cited Lewis Carroll, James Joyce and Vladimir Nabokov. The real problem with Dan Brown was not the subject matter, but the quality of the writing.

Sigh. I thought I'd better come clean. I'd rather that you hear it from me directly than, you know, just stumble over it by accident when you're following a random link. Maybe, some day, you'll be able to forgive me. And while we're talking about Dan Brown and random links, check this out. It's much funnier than my so-called review.

The literati: "The Da Vinci Code is simply a poorly written thriller with a controversial hypothesis about the life of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church."
Millions of readers: "I am obsessed with The Da Vinci Code".

Literati: "now go and get a very well written thriller with key themescentred around the human existence".
Millions of readers: "cheers, but no thanks...we've just ordered the first book in the Robert Langdon series".

For all those that lambast The Da Vinci Code's writing, grammar, depth etc. maybe they finally realised what many readers could have told them (if they'd ask), that maybe the key component of a story, is the story? And that's Dan Brown's winning play in this convoluted secret (faux) history uncovered adventure with over-the-top antagonists, he gives us a story that could touch all our lives, and to a degree that we care about. Hey, and it got millions of people interested in Fibonacci Numbers; and in reading in general :) On first reading it's pretty gripping but by my third (this) read the bending of so many facts and or inclusion of so many conspiracy theories takes the gleam of the story for me, to be honest, so a Two Star, 5 out of 12 from me.

2004 read; 2005 read; 2022 read

most of us have heard of this controverisal book. it takes an open minded person to read this and to remember it is just fiction. but it brings up a lot of important questions about the Christian church, and the loss of paganism and the respect of the Goddess or the Woman.

I don't care if I am the only one who likes this book. it is my own truth, and i will think what i want to think. Dan Brown didn't LEAD me or anyone else. he OPENED our minds. simply and importantly...he was just a catalyst for different thinking. that is a good thing...poorly written or not.

if you finish the book you will notice that Dan Brown even makes it clear to readers through his characters words, that he doesn't want to destroy christianity because it has done so much good for so many people, and if it works for them, let's let them continue to do what works for them. but find your own path.

if you were or are a Christian ask yourself about the topics in this book. They are so eye opening. Jesus having a baby? totally possible...never thought of it before. never thought of it. is it true? who knows. Things like this are happening all the time today...Weapons of Mass destruction in Iraq? sound familiar? Maybe the church repressed information LIKE this because it was a threat to the church. totally possible. The catholic church creating the biblical canon with a political agenda to wipe out paganism? actually this seems to be a fact. women being oppressed due to the fear of religous zealot men in power losing their power...never looked at it that way. but this seems to be a fact too. is it helpful in broadening my perspective of the fact that christianity is just a religion made by fallible people. it sure is. does it open my mind to other faiths like paganism, judiasm, islam, bhuddism, and want to take the truths from all of them, and then THINK FOR MYSELF and figure out my own truth. it sure does...and that is what this book has probably done for many other people. why do you think Dan Brown's book was on the bestseller list for so long...and became a movie...obviously it was doing some good.

Exciting news for the blind and partially-sighted community, as the publishers release a Braille version:

it's an action movie! it's a book! it's an action movie!

it surprises me that the movie version was so dull, having such a simple adapted screenplay to write. this book reads like a blockbuster looks. and i will admit that i totally loved it while i was reading and forgot it promptly after, but i did the same when i watched vin diesel in XXX.

it's a very fun read. it's horrendously written, the characters are rather shallow, there are enough chase scenes and things popping out of dark corners to satisfy anyone's juvenile appetite for suspense. and if you're catholic or knowledgeable at all about religion, it does provide some fodder for thought in between all the drama. but after you think, you realize that none of this information, true or not, is really that shocking and has little effect on the catholic faith. people would do well to learn about the nature and history of their belief system a little more.

i still can't figure out how this book has caused so much controversy. let me rephrase that. i still can't figure out how people can be so oblivious and closeminded as to be scandalized by drivelly fiction. i was on an airplane a while ago and i sat next to a man reading "cracking the davinci code" or one of those other pissed off books that came out soon after. i asked him what he thought of the book. he said, 'oh! i've never read the da vinci code! it goes against the catholic church! why would i read such blasphemy? i just want to be armed with information when i speak to some simple-minded person who believes that heretic dan brown!"

i wish i could make that kind of stuff up.

i was silent, smiled and nodded, and quickly opened up Kavalier and Clay. i simply had no idea how to respond to someone who was taking notes on a book to collect information on a novel that he had never read so he could disprove the opinions of those who thought it was true. what?

(4.75) es un libro completamente espectacular, pensé que iba a ser pesado de leer pero nada que ver.
me gustó mucho que mezclara el thriller con historia sobre la iglesia, las religiones, obras de arte, etc. en ningún momento se siente tedioso.
el único motivo por el cual no le doy 5 estrellas es porque estuve investigando y no se puede confirmar que los datos que tira sean 100% reales, son más que nada teorías… yo elijo creer.

Don't Make Fun of the Renowned Dan Brown....

https://onehundredpages.wordpress.com...

NYT fact check....

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/22/bo...

Dan Brown a identificat o rețetă de succes și a aplicat-o cu pricepere în acest roman. Rețeta l-a făcut faimos, i-a adus o avere. Dar nu l-a ajutat să mai scrie ceva comparabil cu volumul din 2003. Tot ceea ce a publicat, de la o vreme, sînt niște clone palide și lipsite de haz ale „Codului...”.

Să nu uit. A fost prima mea carte citită pe ecran. Cineva mi-a dăruit o dischetă (era pe vremea dischetelor, prin 2003-2004) care conținea Codul lui Da vinci în format zip. Nu pot spune că aventurile lui Robert Langdon nu m-au prins...

Dacă mă întrebați unde aș situa acest roman, voi spune că îl consider un „thriller evanghelic” :)

5 stars to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Most folks have seen the movie and probably not read the book. What a loss for them!

That said, I know a lot of people don't enjoy Brown's books, believing he is too commercialized and over-exaggerated in his style. While I can understand why someone may think that, I don't agree. I love the complexity of the story, the reality and the fiction, the test of character strength, the puzzles, the different view points. It completely absorbs me... so I fall into the category of those who love him and this style of writing, even if others think his writing isn't fantastic. Doesn't mean I don't love the more classic and richly written novels where it's the imagery and the words that win out, too.

I had never heard of Dan Brown in his early years. I heard about the movie being made of the book and how it was coming out relatively soon. I looked it up and saw it had the "treasure-hunter" thrill appeal and decided to read the book before the movie could come out and warp my interpretation. So glad I did!

It's addicting. Growing up Catholic, I knew most of the religious detail, but once it weaved it art, literature, history and philosophy, I was just enamored with the story. Could it really be true? Maybe I'm related to Adam and Eve too! Ok, let's not get too crazy...

Magnificent story-telling. Quick adventure. Beautiful scenes and images. Brown exhibit's intensely good control weaving back and forth between each of the plots, sub-plots and mini-plots. It's as realistic of a treasure hunt as one can get if you are not an adventurer, archaeologist or exhibition-junkie.

But what took it to the next level for me was the amount of detail included for every component. It's the intricate of the intricate, relying on pure puzzles to move the story forward. Each new puzzle creates its own spark of drama directing readers to challenge what they do and do not know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, languages, culture, locations, etc.

It hits so many different waves of appeal that I felt it was at the top of its game. And it probably only edged out Angels & Demons because of how tight this story was. Definitely a must-read for the genre, for Brown and before watching the movie adaption.

Although my own life is glamorous, action-packed and filled with easy money, fast boats and beautiful women (or is it fast money, beautiful boats and easy women? I can never keep that straight) -- although, as implied above, my life is filled with perfectly-fitted tuxedos, stolen jewels and mysterious aristocratic contessas who will do anything to get out of this awful party, dahling, I cannot easily imagine writing a fictional version of myself and making myself into a hero. Which is why Dan Brown is a gazillionaire and I'm still running a shoeshine stand at the airport on weekends to make ends meet.

If our footwear is any indication, society is going straight to hell. I could tell you stories. But that's not why we're here.

So anyway, if I were the landlord of a few billion dollars' worth of Italian cultural treasures, and savagely mutilated bodies were impaled on my iconostasis, stuffed into my spandrels, dripping gore onto the unsuspecting public and generally turning up at the rate of two or three per day, I might run down my list of folks who could help me bring this tragic turn of events to a close. (Flipping through my Rolodex): Let's see, how about Selim, the vaguely beige-colored fellow with a dozen passports, his own global overnight air courier company and whose rivals simply seem to disappear? Or what about Signora Fanicetti, my highly-placed source within the Italian version of the FBI? (Flip flip flip) Or even, it it came to that, Mike Tyson?

No, no and no. What this situation calls for, clearly, is a Harvard professor, ideally toiling away in a discipline that nobody's ever heard of. Bonus points if he arrived in Cambridge via Philips Exeter Academy. Perhaps he has a bitter bitch of an ex-wife from Sarah Lawrence, if all the stars are aligned.

This book is stupidity served in buckets.

I read this decades ago, and details are hazy, which is the best way for them to be.