Catching up…

I thought I had already posted my review of this book, but as it turns out, I posted the review for his book “Origin” accidentally under this one. So, whatever happened to my original review is a mystery. Which is why I am here today, catching up and posting a review now.

I actually read this book before I saw the movie. And, I am so glad I did. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the movie, but the book definitely provided more details and background than what could be captured in a 2-l/2-hour screen version of it. Although there is no denying the brilliance of Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in their roles.

If you have already read this, or have seen the movie, which did you like best – the book or the movie?

I realize that this book has been around since 2003, but it still captivates in its storytelling. By referencing historical events and locations, and the art of Leonardo Da Vinci into his plot, Brown helped make his story feel plausible.

Robert Langdon is our protagonist. As a Harvard professor and symbologist he has been asked to help solve some of the symbols that have been laid out next to the murder victim in the Louvre Museum in Paris. We have the opportunity as readers to race through the streets of Paris and London, along with him, to solve a series of intricate codes and puzzles.

What are the hidden truths behind the religious symbolism? Is there such a thing as a secret society? What will Langdon discover? And, why are there so many people trying to stop him?

The mystery was thrilling, thought-provoking and intense. And, the conspiracies involving the Holy Grail, the Vatican, and a secret society known as the Priory of Sion were compelling.

There will be high speed car chases, escapes from the police, and real villains that will keep readers entranced until the last page.

It's considered an unfair advantage using a cryptex box to solve this.

I downloaded the book and put it on my ipod and began to listen to it on a long road trip. I found it engaging and the plot twisted and turned, jumping from scene to scene, back and forth in time. Really kept the reader on her toes. I'm not sure if I liked it, the writing style was pretty crude, but it kept me thinking.

About an hour into listening I realized that the ipod was on shuffle mode and in fact all the chapters were being shuffled. I groaned and started over. When played in a linear fashion I found it to be one of the mindless things ever.

اسم این کتاب رو بارها شنیده بودم و بارها اون رو بین کتاب فروش بساطی های کنار خیابون دیده بودم تا اینکه بالاخره تصمیم گرفتم کتاب رو بخرم
قبل از اینکه شروع کنم به خوندن کتاب تصمیم گرفتم مختصر تحقیقی درباره کتاب و نویسنده داشته باشم
اطلاعات خوبی نصیبم شد مثلا اینکه کتاب فروش فوق العاده بالایی داشته و چاپ مجدد کتاب در ایران به خاطر اعتراض روحانیون مسیحی ممنوع شده
ولی مهم‌ تر از همه این بود که کتاب جلد اولی هم داره :( حالا من مونده بودم و کتابی که جلد اولش رو نداشتم، هرچی با خودم کلنجار رفتم نتونستم خودم رو قانع کنم که قبل از جلد اولش اون رو بخونم در نتیجه راز داوینچی مجبور شد چند ماهی تو قفسه کتاب های خوانده نشده ام خاک بخوره
ماهه پیش کتاب شیاطین و فرشتگان رو خریدم و شروع کردم به خوندن ،دو روزه تموش کردم ،کتاب جالبی بود با داستانی هیجان انگیز
در حقیقت کتاب شیاطین و فرشتگان باعث شد انتظار بیشتری از این کتاب داشته باشم که متاسفانه برآورده نشد
راز داوینچی هیجان خیلی کمتری نسبت به کتاب قبلی داشت و خود داستان هم من رو جذب خودش نکرد
نقطه قوت کتاب رو ترجمه ی قوی اون میدونم که باعث شد یه ستاره اضافه تر به کتاب بدم
کتاب پره از پاورقی هایی که اطلاعات بسیار مفید و ارزنده ای رو به خواننده منتقل میکنن اگه شیاطین و فرشتگان حتی یک چهارم این کتاب پاورقی می داشت قطعا بهش 5 ستاره رو می دادم
(متاسفانه نسخه ی شیاطین و فرشتگانی که خوندم فاقد حتی یدونه پاورقی بود، مجبور بودم گوشی بدست باشم و چیزایی که نمیدونستم چی هستن یا کسانی که نمیدونستم کی هستن رو تو گوگل سرچ کنم )


پ.ن : گویا کتاب جدید این مجموعه هم به تازگی منتشر شده
پ.ن ۲: دیشب نشستم اقباس سینمایی هر دو کتاب رو تماشا کردم
فیلم راز داوینچی رو میتونم یه اقتباس خوبی بدونم ولی شیاطین و فرشتگان رو نه،دیدنش رو به کسی پیشنهاد نمیکنم، کتابش خیلی بهتر از فیلمشه

پ.ن 3 :
دیشب یکی از این کانالای یوتویوب به نکته جالبی اشاره کرد
اونم اینکه لنگدان و سوفی به جای این همه دردسر برای پیدا کردن رمز های کریپتکس رو محتمل بشوند میتونستن اون را داخل یخچال بزارن تا سرکه یخ بزنه و بعد اون رو بشکنند

Caveat Academics!!!
I won't belabor the obvious, as it's been done quite well by other reviewers, but I just couldn't stand not to add my own "hear hear!" to the fray. If you're going to create a character who is an expert, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you check your facts! Whoever edited this drivel ought to be sewn in a sack with a rabid raccoon and flung into Lake Michigan.

And just as a matter of good taste - your expert should not be an expert in everything under the sun. That's one of the hallmarks of poor writing.

Even if I were not a practicing pagan, I would find it stretching credibility that every single item the characters run across is a symbol of goddess worship. Five pointed star? Goddess worship. Chalice? Goddess worship. Porcelain toilet bowl? Goddess worship. Pilot ball point pen? Goddess worship. You get the general idea. Not only is every item part of the mythology of the divine feminine, but every number is also part of the divine feminine. Hello? Is a cigar NEVER just a cigar?

And some of the claims of symbolism are just plain wrong, as the editor would have found out if he'd bothered to do some fact checking. Remember those military chevrons that, because of the way they were pointed, represented the female divine and those poor slobs of soldiers had been running around all these countless centuries with goddess symbols flaunted on their uniforms without knowing it? The only problem with that premise is that the chevrons facing in their current direction is relatively recent - according to my military historian husband, they faced the OPPOSITE direction for quite some time before being reversed (for what reason, I have no idea...unless the generals all got together and decided they didn't have quite enough goddess symbols on their uniforms and needed it fixed post haste).

My theology professor ended up traveling around the country giving talks about this book to thousands of interested people. He loves the book if only because he's now giving pretty much the same information that he used to give to dozing freshman and sophomores to packed theaters of interested listeners. He tells a story about being somewhere in southern Ohio and making a joking remark about the celice being something that all Catholics wore and how now the secret was out, and there was a lady in the back row who elbowed her husband and said "See? I told you so!" The increased interest in history is about the only positive thing that's come out of this book. Honestly, you don't need to make anything up about the Catholic church to point out that it's been the source of some horrible things.

I could go on about the poor research and editing in this book, but others have done a pretty thorough job of finding the problems with it.

If you want a decent page turner, go for it. If you want something well researched and accurate, give this one a big ol' pass.

Believe it or not, my BOSS lent me this book. He said it was so great that I HAD to read it, and he pressed it into my hands. I said thanks in surprise, because that was about as personal as my boss ever got. well, imagine the awkwardness when I didn't really like the book. what do you say to the man who signs your paychecks when you think his book is nothing more than a creative version of what I call the man's romance novel--boring, average man (okay, in this book very smart--but not special looking) finds incredibly beautiful and often smart woman to follow him through thick and thin and all manner of ludicrous plots and danger for some unknown reason. It's just a religious conspiracy version of the Bourne Identity or any other book like that. What average guy wouldn't love to believe that a hot woman would follow him around, as he impresses and saves her from all kinds of dangers.
except I don't get much out of that myself, not being a guy, and I didn't think there was much to the whole plot of religious conspiracy, having majored in Biblical studies in college, and knowing how hokey and unrealistic some of this stuff is. and don't even get me started on weak arguments and faulty logic. (SPOILER ALERT: "don't worship Jesus because He was a normal guy who married a woman and had a kid--no, but go ahead and pray to his fully human wife who's DEAD!" yes, clearly a good argument.)
but, hey, my boss likes Jennifer Aniston a lot too, and she doesn't do much for me either. ;)

I could not put this down! Im 100% sure this book is going to start a love affair with Dan Brown.