The DaVinci Code **spoilers**

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:51pm

Ok, so I wont give away spoilers but wanted to add it to the subject line as I'm sure items will come up.

Have you read it? What do you think about it? Did it change your perception on religion? Do you believe it?

I just started reading Angels and Demons and its awesome as well... its almost like watching every episode of 24 as the entire book takes place in the span of a day.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 5/18/04 at 11:59pm

I read The Da Vinci Code and I loved it so much that I read every Dan Brown book. They are great reads. The key to his books is the research that you can tell he does on each topic. It makes it that much more interesting.

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 12:09am

The even greater joy is doing research on items mentioned in the books after you're done to discover just how much truth his "stories" are based on...

[Mattio98]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 12:20am

I've done that too. Suprisingly accurate.

[Ruffian]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 9:24am

Both books are excellent reads. The Religious Topics are interesting, but I find the inclusion of Art & Travel also fascinating

I was in Milan a few months back to stare at THE LAST SUPPER...LMAO....the book played in my head

I look forward to the next book Brown writes

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 9:38am

Ron Howard has been rumored to be the director attached to The DaVinci Code movie. No casting has been announced. Who would be some of your choices?

[Karma76]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 10:00am

The book rocks. and I am sure you have gone to his site and played his games he has. I loved the hidden fun stuff on the book cover and in the book. I have passed my book on to many people and plan to start angels and demons myself.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 10:21am

I loved The DaVinci Code and I'm reading Angels and Demons now. Fascinating material. Unfortunately, even if the issues were posed to Southern Baptists and fundamentalist Christians, they still wouldn't consider the theories presented in the book. I find it interesting how so many people refuse to question a book that was written and revised numerous times in over a thousand years, choose only the text they want to take literally while discarding the text they conveniently found obsolete, and then force everyone else (including the population of an entire country that supposedly separates religion from government) to conform to their neatly manicured rules of morality.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 10:29am

Oh yeah?

Check this out:


The Bush White House and Rapture Christians

[Karma76]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:05am

Can i tell you i NEVER growing up thought the person at the right hand of jesus was NOT a female??? haha I went to a catholic elementary school AND my Italian Nana, well she had SEVERAL last supper paintings and pictures and I always thought it had to be mary magdeline.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:13am

I know I am in the minority, but I did not like it. But then again, I also could not get through "The Firm"

[Ruffian]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:15am

My sister wasn't crazy about the book, either

Ron Howard is attached

Although he is not a "name" actor I would see Richard Roxburgh in the Lead. He is the right type, he is a good actor, and I would love that choice. However, he has no chance in Hell of appearing in it

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:26am

You're really not in the minority, Jimmcf. I have a friend who is a theologian and he thought it might have made a compelling short story. He cringes over the number of people who don't seem to grasp that it's a work of fiction.

I have another friend whose most recent novel came out six months ago. He just mentioned The DaVinci Code in an email today, apparently co-workers of his have, well, I'll let him tell it:

"been pushing me to read a book called
'The Da Vinci Code.' They just go on and on about it, as though I'm supposed to take lessons from this guy. The author's name is Dan Brown and the book is about as original as the name. It's such an unpleasant read, so hackneyed and toneless.

"Naturally, it's a bestseller, praised by the New York
Times, etc. Pages of raves on the inside pages. But an utterly artless book that makes use of art history to make it seem somehow high-brow. It makes the worst of Steven King seem to have integrity."

[orion59]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:35am

It's a work of fiction but, it is based on a book taht came out years ago entitled Holy Blood, Holy Grail. HBHG supports the same exact theory about the holy grail being Mary Magadline and that there still exists a bloodline descended from Jesus. However, it isn't fiction. It's an historical lineage and history of secret societies. It gives some very convincing arguments to support the theories that are based on historical fact. It still fails to provide absolute proof.

Anyone interesin the theories put out in Dan Brown's novels might want to read Holy Blood, Holy Grail which has now been reprinted and is widely available. Be warned though, if you are the type of person who finds historical text dull, you will not like this book. It isn't a fictinal novel so there are no cool professor/dectectives chasing down murderers with a hot French woman by his side.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:37am

namo, you have the most divoon friends!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:40am

I know, and I count you among them. Ain't I a stinkah?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 11:50am

yes, but a shower will help with that, and if ya didn't count me among 'em i'd so kick yer ass!

[Maggie]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 2:01pm

I read Angels & Demons first...loved it...maybe a tad bit more than The DaVinci Code...now I'm reading Digital Fortress...but I'm not that far into it to profess my love for it yet.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 2:55pm

I thought is was an interesting read...but it didn't change my opinions on the Church.

A bit too "Chariot of the Gods."

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 5/19/04 at 10:38pm

I read Da Vinci Code a few months ago.

I really enjoyed the plot, but I HATED the storytelling technique. It seemed to overdramatic. I get that it's a pageturner, but it shouldn't have to rely on red-herring "cliffhangers" to close each chapter. The dialogue was kind of weak too. But I really did enjoy the plot and the theories. Esp since I'm heading to Europe next year and I'm v. excoted to see the Louvre!

Re: the movie - What about Ralph Fiennes as Silas? I just keep remembering him from Red Dragon - he was so great, and this is a similar role (and maybe a bit more challenging). Eh?

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 5/20/04 at 10:55am

See, I'm the opposite- I loved his story telling technique. Each chapter is short and gets to the point and ends in something that makes you want to keep reading. It also reads like a movie playing in real time... I sometimes feel like I'm watching episodes of 24. It's very fast paced.

Found this today:
‘Da Vinci Code’ author left out
most controversial part
Says some material alleges Christ survived crucifixionThe Associated Press
Updated: 6:24 p.m. ET May 19, 2004CONCORD, N.H. - Though “The Da Vinci Code” was contentious enough to produce 10 books attempting to discredit it, its author said he left out what likely would have been the most controversial part.

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Dan Brown said that when he wrote the best seller that dissects the origins of Jesus Christ and disputes long-held beliefs about Catholicism, he considered including material alleging that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion.

While speaking at a benefit Tuesday for a New Hampshire writers’ group, Brown said the theory is backed by a number of “very credible sources,” but that he ultimately decided it was too flimsy.

“For me, that was just three or four steps too far,” he told the crowd of more than 800 people.

Brown’s discussion of his book, during which he answered audience questions, was a rare public appearance for him. He has declined most requests for media interviews this year, saying he is focusing on writing the sequel to his book.

He said the new book, set in Washington, D.C., would focus on the Free and Accepted Masons, a secretive fraternal organization. He said the architecture in Washington is soaked in symbolism and plays a major role in the novel. He also said the dust jacket of “The Da Vinci Code” contains a code that reveals information about the sequel.

‘Code’ has stirred controversy
But Brown spent much of the evening discussing the controversy that has surrounded “The Da Vinci Code.”

Since the book was published in March 2003, liberal and conservative writers have cited numerous errors. A key assertion in “The Da Vinci Code” — that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that sinister Christians suppressed information about it — comes from a 1982 book titled “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” which a New York Times reviewer called “rank nonsense.”

Brown said he is grateful his book is generating so much debate. He said apathy is a constant threat to the study of the uncomfortable relationship between science and religion.

The book casts unflattering light on the Catholic Church, accusing church leaders of demonizing women for centuries and of covering up the truth about the Holy Grail, which Brown says is Mary Magdalene herself.

Many critics have taken issue with Brown’s claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child who was whisked away to France after Jesus’ crucifixion.

But Brown, who was raised Christian, said that theory does not detract from Christianity’s message.

“In my mind, the possibility that Jesus might have married Mary Magdalene in no way undermines the beauty of Christ’s message,” he said.

“The Da Vinci Code” has sold 7.5 million copies worldwide and is expected to be made into a movie.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/20/04 at 11:20am

just one more step towards neibuhr's prophecy: "a god without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a christ without a cross." how does your religion make you feel?

[orion59]

Posted: 5/20/04 at 11:26am

As I recall, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, puts out the theory that it was not Jesus who was crucified but instead one of his many followers posing as him. Jesus escaped, with Mary, to the Orient. This seems a bit far fetched and too much like a conspiricey theory. The idea of Jesus having been the groom at the wedding in Caanan and Mary having been the bride and that they had children is more beliveable. The theory that she, after his death, went underground and that she was revered by early Christians to the point of them preserving and protecting her reamins is also plausible. The one thing that I do believe without a doubt is that her gospel is missing. I am sure she would have written about her life as an apostle and may have revealed things that we have yet to hear. If they do exist in some hidden place protected by one of these societies, it would be fascinating to see what they have in them.

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 12:37am

(Havn't seen this thread in awhile, huh?)

I just finished "The Da Vinchi Code" and found it to be a great read. I got very busy while at one point, and put it down for a day or two, but I finished it today anyway. I though it was very provocative, to say the least. I'm not enlightened enough on it's historical accuracy, so I'll try not to comment on that, except to say that I will never look at the Bible the same way again. Without getting too personal, I'll admit that I've been skeptical of the religion I was raised in for years, and stopped attending church last year. But this book brought me to the realization that millions of people really do put their faith in something that could so easily be completely false. Now, with that kind of logic, I cannot possibley believe all of the theories that the book mentions, but at least my eyes are open to the fact that history is, by its own nature, one sided, and false because it is written by man. Human error applies here like it does everywhere else.

Anyway, now that I've finally gotten around to reading it, I would like to discuss it, anyone else have any thoughts?

[Mythus]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 12:42am

I couldn't finish The DaVinci Code. Near the end, my attention wavered and eventually I was just reading words and not comprehending them. I did get to meet Dan Brown, though. He's a great guy - especially since he commented on my Back to the Future shirt. That kicks him up several notches in my book.