If you're a regular reader, you've probably seen Dan Brown's latest novel, The Da Vinci Code, because its plastered just about everywhere because it has been such a huge seller. If you've been keeping your eyes open, you would have also seen it mentioned in a heap of articles online and offline - I think there was even a feature on it in one of this weekends papers (either the Australian or the Courier-Mail, not sure which one).

The Da Vinci Code is basically a novel about a modern-day quest for the Holy Grail. A description from Amazon reads:

A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle. The duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Neveu's grandfather's murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England, and history itself.

Now, I've got to say, I thought this was a pretty trite novel. The events of the story were pretty boring, and for me the entire thing was ruined by one small bit at the end in which the author, in an attempt to disguise the real villian, writes a few extremely lame paragraphs designed solely to throw readers off the scent so as to avoid suspicion about one of the characters. While it wasn't exactly a continuity error, it basically featured a scene in which we got to hear The Bad Guy's inner thoughts, phrased in such a way so as to make you think he wasn't the bad guy. LAME!

Anyway, story aside, the most interesting thing - and no doubt the aspect of the novel that has kicked up so much attention - is its speculations about religion, the Holy Grail, flaws in the Bible, and the nature of Christ. Not having ever studied religion, I found all of this really quite interesting, as it was all a new theory to me and - obviously - challenges a lot of what the various Churches have been saying for the last two thousand years. In fact, the book (or characters in it - I don't know if Brown is trying to make a point or just writing a story) flat out attacks the behaviour of the Church.

The Chruch and its followers have been quick to respond, I guess because a billion of the faithful have bought this book or something and are now questioning their faith - you'd think a $20 paperback in the fiction section wouldn't have much sway over something like the Bible, but hey. There's a book now out called 'Breaking the Da Vinci Code', which I'll probably pick up at some point to check out what appears to now be the 'official' rebuttal - although from a quick glance I had at it it looks more like a reference book that you can just look stuff up in.

There are a few web pages out there as well, most of which use words like "utter falseness" and "misguided theories", which are interesting rebuttals - obviously the mainstream popularity of this novel is causing some problems for the Church. Bummer.

Anyway, if you're looking for an interesting read, its worth it just to see what is kicking up all the fuss. Its not worth it if you're actually after a good novel. Recommend it to all your religious friends if you want to start some fights :)

I'm four chapters from the end, and I have to say I was very disappointed in the book. It came highly recommended, but I thought it was mediocre at best. The actual writing and story-telling was nothing to write home about.

But where the book becomes interesting is where the writer did some honest research, and a hell of a lot of creative license, and twisted around the common knowledge about the bible, religion and renaissance artists and creates amazing webs of fiction. Although, sometimes, the theories seem very contrived.

By no means am I a religious person, an atheist at that, but those who take the book at it's face value and question their faith confirms my conception of the religious masses: gullible and unintelligent.

A decent read, if only for those who want to know what all the fuss is about. Just don't take it too seriously.

The events of the story were pretty boring

if you want something that will keep you reading all through the night, i deffinatly suggest Mathew Reilly's books:

• Contest
• Temple
• Ice station
• Area 7
• Scarecrow

Contest and temple are seperate books.
'ice', 'area' and 'scare' follow through.
i recommend ice station first followed by area 7 and then Scarecrow

totally awesum books.
the best i have ever read

last edited by Fuknukle at 12:12:04 27/Jun/04

I thought the book was s***.

Yet another conspiracy theorist... yay for tin foil hats

if you want something that will keep you reading all through the night, i deffinatly suggest Mathew Reilly's books:

Heh, they might keep you AWAKE all night because you're wondering how something so trite actually found a publisher

yeah the g/f just read it... and its 2 books away for me... but she said its an interesting read...
but i've just finished red rabbit by tom clancy... (hes starting to slip in his latter books) and am up to dale brown's flight of the old dog... but then i have to read the partner by grishim... ten i'll get around to da vinci code... and i guess ill be able to comment more bout this thread...

even though it will be long dead

trog have you read the second book from neil stephenson after quick silver?

Im contemplating picking it up

trog have you read the second book from neil stephenson after quick silver?

Nah, I almost bought it the other day but I refuse to pay $50 for a paperback. I didn't really dig Quicksilver that much so I'll wait for it to get cheaper before I buy it.

Have you read any books from the songs of fire and ice series? I highly recommend them.

hmm the first negitive feedback ive heard reguarding his books.

so you've read them then, what didnt you like about them?

my g'f got me onto them and too be honest i generally lose interest in books half way through, however this kept me on the edge of whatever i was on at the time trying to read faster and faster.

contest and temple wernt as good as the scarecrow series i will admit but they were still good books imho.

so you've read them then, what didnt you like about them?

I've only read one (Ice Station) and I just thought it was a fairly trashy action novel. It was ok, but just a bit over-the-top. I think term and I both agree that dude is just writing to try and get a movie license :)

PS, this thread is about Da Vinci code!@#!

matthew reilly is tops, well researched books

well few years ago someone gave me the temple for christmas...

i read it in 2 days... but really... it was the worst story i have ever read... no more rielly for me...

then i saw him in the paper cpl weeks back... he's making 1 million a book now...

and his first book was self published cause no one wanted to touch it...


sorry but the part where hes falling from a plane inside a m1a1 tank with a nucular bomb and he manages to remember his fathers birthday backwards as the disarming code difuses the bomb and manages to have the prototype thruster jacket that auto kicked in 20m from the ground so he was saved and he saved the world...

ummm nice imagineation but too far fetched for me....

sorry but the part where hes falling from a plane inside a m1a1 tank with a nucular bomb and he manages to remember his fathers birthday backwards as the disarming code difuses the bomb and manages to have the prototype thruster jacket that auto kicked in 20m from the ground so he was saved and he saved the world...

hahah so true dude. some crazy bull s*** in there however some great stuff as well.

back to da code before Trog 'admin codes' my ass

sorry but the part where hes falling from a plane inside a m1a1 tank with a nucular bomb and he manages to remember his fathers birthday backwards as the disarming code difuses the bomb and manages to have the prototype thruster jacket that auto kicked in 20m from the ground so he was saved and he saved the world...

u see worse stuff in movies.

If you want to have a great read...read Hart's War. And if you have seen the movie and it puts oyu off don't be cause the movie sucked as far as the quality of the in depth story and such of the book.

i've just finished red rabbit by tom clancy... (hes starting to slip in his latter books)

ermm...sorry to break it to you dude, but Tom Clancy doesn't write his own books...

I havnt read the Da Vinci code..might one day. Does the book have anything to do with Da Vinci? I was under the impression the book was about him... :S I guess not..

u should look at the covers closer...

he co writes some books...

he lets some ppl use his name to write books for him

and he writes his own books...

red rabbit is one of his...

the op centre series was the start of his co authoring

Does the book have anything to do with Da Vinci? I was under the impression the book was about him... :S I guess not..

A lot of the references in it are to Da Vinci's artwork; its not about him per se but his name comes up quite a bit.

meh, 1 name an the series:

George R.R Martin - "Game of Thrones"

Heroic fantasy at it's best

What to read a good book? Have a look at my sig. I bought The Final Theory from Amazon a month ago and really enjoyed it. Certainly has made me go "hmm".

The religious aspects of the book kept me intriqued, didn't realise it caused so much of a stir. Cheers for the links, good read.

C'mon guys, we all know that religion was just ameans for Goa'uld to enslave everyone.

That said,
Dammit, I need some new Stargate episodes to watch. Roll on July 16th

trog, you might want to look at angels and demons by dan brown as well...its actually a kind of prequel, it involves Robert Langdon and the incident to do with the vatican city (it gets mentioned in the Da Vinci Code near the start), its got more of the interesting religious and illuminati information (don't necessarily know if its the truth though). also deception point and digital fortress are his other books that i have read....not as good as the two robert langdon novels, but different nonetheless

I found this book highly disappointing. I have returned to reading RACF For Auditors And Administrators (which I might add is so much better with the pictures and all that).

For the Reilly/Brown link, I'm certain there's a plug for The Da Vinci Code in the postscript for Scarecrow.

Reilly's books are all about suspension of belief, so suspend and enjoy. If you're after well written then Mr Shakespeare (or Christopher Marlowe, depending on who you beleive) has put together some decent works.

i saw trite used a few times. gets a bit repetitive. thought i would lend a hand. :)

22 entries found for "trite".
Entry: trite
Function: adjective
Definition: silly
Synonyms: banal, bathetic, bromidic, chain, chestnut, cliché, clichéd, common, commonplace, corn, corn-fed, cornball, corny, drained, dull, exhausted, familiar tune, flat, hack, hackneyed, hokey, hokum, jejune, mildewed, moth-eaten, musty, old hat, old song, old story, ordinary, pedestrian, platitudinous, prosaic, ready-made, routine, run-of-the-mill, set, shopworn, stale, stereotyped, stock, threadbare, timeworn, tired, uninspired, unoriginal, used-up, vapid, warmed-over, well-worn, worn, worn-out

edit: also American Gods by Neil Gaiman is the best fiction I have read for a while. Straight from the G ut by Jack Welch is the best non-fiction (autobigoraphy) I have read this year. I don't get much out of fiction any more.

last edited by infiNex at 15:44:46 28/Jun/04

trog, you might want to look at angels and demons by dan brown as well...its actually a kind of prequel, it involves Robert Langdon and the incident to do with the vatican city (it gets mentioned in the Da Vinci Code near the start)

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, I was wondering about that stuff - it was all phrased like what happened would be revealed later on in the novel so I just put it down to some non-relevant plot device. I had absolutely no idea there was another book! You'd think it'd be mentioned on the back cover or something.

yeah i had no idea until i saw it in QBD, and then i read the back and understood....quite good, but again very similar to the da vinci code, so if you weren't very happy with that, chances are you wont' be with Angels and Demons either