"The Daft Code"...oh sorry, "The Da Vinci Code"

[Michael]

Lawsuit or no lawsuit, it embarrassed me that Brown lifted so much of the story from _Holy Blood, Holy Grail_. I'm not the only person to have reached that way, either.

[Laura]

Every single one of Dan Brown's books has the main theme of a respected authority figure betraying the protagonist.

I also have to say I am very sick of some schleppy older bookworm type having it off with a hot brilliant scientist type. To express it in the vernacular, "As if."

[Lori]

wow. This was one of the first religious conspiracy novels that i read, and i was so taken by it, that i went hog-wild-crazy in my local BN store, buying every copy of every other novel with a similar theme, I was hooked on it. I didnt read it because i thought it was true, and i didnt care that he took an idea from someone else and ran with it. I thought it was fairly well written, kept me intriqued throughout the entire novel.... It was enjoyable for me. And led me to other interesting books that I may never have read otherwise.

Sorry Mispa, I hope this doesnt make you slightly ill :(

[Rachel]

the book held me enough to be an interesting read, but i have absolutely no idea what all the fuss was about. it was captivated to the point of making want to turn the page, but i would never call it a great book or even a really good book. the characters weren't very flushed out, it definitely got melodramatic at several points and some of it just plain didn't make sense. it definitely wasn't worthy of all the praise and hype it received. and the whole catholic church in uproar over it??? there's a big disclaimer right in the front of the book stating it's a fictional story...chill out.

[Rachel]

hahaha...aj's review is hilarious. and perfect.

[Dianna]

It wasn't just the Catholic Church that got all up in arms about this book. My pastor preached a whole series of sermons against it. I thought that was totally ludicrous and I went out right away and saw the movie and read the book "Holy Blood Holy Grail" which is supposed to be what "The DaVinci Code" is based on. I don't care if Jesus was married or not and I think preachers should stop worrying about it so much and start preaching on things that are life affirming and helpful.

[Dusty]

i found the book to be truly truly hideous, and i too was mad at myself for compulsively reading it page after creepy page. i guess i wanted to see what all the fuss was about... now i know, an albino and a disabled person are portrayed as the power hungry disempowered... "the good man" must wrestle the grail from their evil hands and protect the sketchy cult and their historic "power."
sigh... i wish i'd never picked this book up.

[Maria]

I sometimes feel like it's dumb to complain about Dan Brown's nonexistent writing skills, since his books are nothing more than your regular mass market thriller fare meant to be consumed on airplanes just to distract yourself from the misery of your surroundings*, and all the hype just drew way more attention to it than it would otherwise receive. I don't actually read thrillers of this type, though, so I don't know what the average quality of writing in those is. Still, the book is really bad, and so entertaining to bitch about!

*Although reading this book was like torture to me. I bring *good* books on planes, but your mileage may vary.

[Rachel]

i totally agree, maria, it's sad but so fun to talk about. my personal favorite part of the book was when sophie--who had never spoken to her grandfather since peeking in on the secret ceremony and thought he was a nasty, nasty, old man--finds out that the ceremony was part of a culy thing and is suddenly like "oh, that's what that was? my grandfather was amazing!" man, i would love to change deep-rooted opinions that quickly... ;)

[Dusty]

i know, that grandfather n daughter thing just grossed me out. i guess it says a lot about the author... maybe too much.

[Jojobean]

I love this book and I love Dan Brown