The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)

The one I read was 'Da Vinci Code Decoded' by Martin Lunn, published by disinformation. It was an interesting extension of the historical symbolisms of the novel, albeit I still wasn't totally convinced, it still has interesting information and plausible theories.

 

Hi white scorpion,

What really turned me, as it were, is that the bloodline idea comes almost entirely from 'Holy Blood / Holy Grail'. And co-author Michael Baigent calls that a "pure hypothesis" as of 2005 on UK TV. There simply is no evidence. Even in their book it is basically fictional.

Dan Brown's publishers should stop him, IMO, from duping the masses with fiction that he passes as fact.

The Priory of Sion are the main lead to a Jesus bloodline, and they turned out 10-12 years ago to be just three silly Frenchmen who began as a prank in the 1950s. Why should Brown be allowed to continue to peddle his books as based on fact??? He's now at work on a follow-up.

 

He's not trying to claim anything as fact.. he fully admits that it's all fiction, he's just being very intellegent in the ways that he puts it across, for example, he claims that the Priory of Sion is fact.. and for a while it was.. OK, it was all a con, but an orginisation called the Priory of Sion existed, and so he's fully within his right to claim so in his book.. If someone is idiotic enough to believe it as fact, then thats their problem...

and anyway, why would the publishers stop him? they are making a whole ton of cash off him, I don't see why they should want to shoot themselves in the foot like that.

Oh, one last thing, just because the main body of the story is fiction, all you need to do is look at the last supper painting, to see that it's a woman... and that a lot of the symbolism and other histoical information is indeed fact (such as the oragin and meaning of the pentagram, the pagan infulances of the catholic church, etc..)

 

World of Dan,

I hear you, but Brown states his book is based on the "FACT" that the Priory have existed as a major 'secret' society since 1099, with leaders such as Da Vinci. Fact is, it was a prank by three guys from the 1950s. So Brown is duping his readers. He knew all this and was told it.

As for the publishers, they surely should want to be seen as responsible and reputable? That's DoubleDay owned by Random House.

 

He states the book is based on "FACT", and the book has lots of FACT.. one FACT is his description of the origin and meaning of the pendagram symbol... another FACT is that the catholic church has a hell of a lot of pagan infulence.. these, and many more FACTS are in the book... (such as the descriptions of the paintings, buildings, etc..)

I understand what you're saying, and fine, after seeing the documentry on C4 (which I thought was very well done), if you believed the book as FACT before, and have now seen the light, I guess it's fair that YOU might be pissed off if you believed what he said was fact... but I don't understand the purpose of your crusade against him....

He's using the marketing machine to his full advantage, and making a whole ton of money at the same time - I don't see a problem with that - getting all upset over it, demanding that the publisher stop selling it.. that's just silly..

For what it's worth, I enjoyed reading the story, and believe it's a good book for anyone to read, even though it is only a story.

Oh, and I'm still very much of the opinion that jesus and mary were more than just friends, as for having a child, i've got no doubt they probally had many.. but that does not mean anything (because I believe jesus to be just a man, maybe descended from david, but nothing more special than that, and I also don't believe in god.. so.. make of that what you will).

 

I haven't read The Da Vinci Code but I just finished Deception Point. Now that one was an awesome read. I couldn't put it down.

 

Hi World of Dan,

I hadn't accepted the book as fact. Opus Dei has some reality and divine geometry too, but he seems to know very little about that. (He unearths it as if it were something new.)

My "crusade", which I wouldn't call it myself, is that there's an old saying that quite a bit of truth mixed with error is more dangerous than total error, as people swallow it all whole.

So for one thing we can all get the Priory of Sion thing sorted out - that it ain't so, and that's therefore no proof for any other contention.

I'm a lover of truth, and I detect that Dan Brown knows he's putting warped scholarship over on his reders, just to make money. Either that or he'd better try harder at getting his facts right, what?

 

You're a truth lover... as am I.. but you need to seperate what needs to be seeked out as truth, and what is just entertainment... Dan Brown is playing a game, a very intellegent one at that, and it's making him sell lots of books... and I say good luck to him.

I wish you luck, but I think you're waisting your time.... no one will care.

 

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/W/weirdworlds/da_vinci_code/index.html

yeah i wanted to watch it , fell asleep... doh :&

 

If you missed the end, then you missed the best bit (that there is some truth to the whole jesus & mary 'getting it on' thing)...

 

I would bet my dollar that it was the publishers that slipped in the 'based on true facts' anomaly in the book. It would make sense, DB just writes the book and the publisher is just interested in selling as many copies as possible.

1. The theme of the book explores religion from an angle that is bound to generate heated debate and hence publicity.
2. Anything with the words 'true story', as marketing departments are aware, catches the eye.

So, I've now gone to the bookshelf and I've brought my copy of the book in front of me. It's the US version, printed by Doubleday. On first inspection, not a fantastic cover, but along the top line a banner displaying: #1 New York Times Bestseller' and a complimentary comment by a critic by the aforementioned journal. Nothing wrong so far.

I turn to the back cover. Various praise from an assortment of critics again, that's OK. The first paragraph describes the story. It sounds like a fascinating mystery, that's OK. Then somewhere on the second paragraph starts with the sentence:

"Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Scion-an actual secret society..."

Now it's not OK. This is a hook for people that would normally avoid reading a novel.

Let's flick through the first few pages, right after acknowledgements, a single page with large, bold print letters bears the title:
FACT:
It then misinforms the reader that the Priory of Scion is, indeed, a true society. Well, I can sympathise with the way Akasha7 feels, because that's irresponsible. The book might as well have been writen by an Evangelist who is convinced that Jesus was an astronaut from Orion! Fact! Why not? It sounds interesting and if you can get a made up secret society and start analyizing the works of Salvador Dali, I'm sure that if anyone was a good storyteller he would sell quite a few copies (just make sure you send me a free complementary one when you do).

On the other hand, The World of Dan is quite right, too (You're not Dan Brown by any chance? ) . He says: "...no one will care." He's absolutely right. I can't imagine a scholar sitting in a university of Mars in a thousand years and studying this novel in order to write his thesis on cinquecento rennaissance art. However, true facts aside, apart from the 'Indiana Jones' limitless energy of the central character and swashbuckle adverture ride (or maybe because of it) it is in all essence an enjoyable book in its own merit and desreves to be in a best-seller position. Whatever people want to believe about the past, one thing is for sure: "The winners may write history, but the past doesn't change."

As an end note I would like to add:
FACT:
Dan Brown is an 'actual' rich man with 'real' money made from selling his books that are based on 'facts' that are almost 'real'. His luxurious home, cars and vacations are based on 'fact' and I'm very optimistic that he thanks us all for helping him. Fact.

Anyway, if anyone can be arsed to see my webpage (don't worry about buying my book. It's based on fact ) I've got my own theory on the 'Last Supper' painting by DV on the 3rd and 4th page of the GALLERY section, a link somewhere down the bottom. And that's a fact, albeit a long winded one. Thank you. Good night.

 

http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html

(PS, I'm not Dan Brown.. but I wish I had his money )

 

Having money is no bad thing, but I prefer to get it truthfully or without deception.

 

LOL... you never stop do you

 

No, Angels & Demons I think has to do with matter and anti-matter and it's "possible relation" to the Divine and the creation from the Divine. I'm not entirely sure yet, cuz I just started it. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't deal with the same ideas as in Da Vinci.

 

I've not read it, but I was under the impresson that A&D was about the Illuminati? I've no idea what his next one is about, however, although it is a sequal (in as much as it's the same character), i doubt it's going to have anything to do with DVC or the thoeries contained within it.

 

Both Rhythmdevil and The World of Dan are correct as far as the themes explored in 'Angels & Demons' contain antimatter and Illuminati theories. The book also gives a fascinating tour of Rome and an esoteric view of the Vatican. Although I prefered 'The Da Vinci Code', this prequel is well worth its price, for the creative monograms alone (I won't ruin it for those who haven't read it). The only thing that spoiled it for me was a reference to Daedalus (the creator of the original labyrinth in Crete) and the nickleodeon escapes of the central character, especially regarding a certain scene with a helicopter. Since, however, it is an adventure novel, I am willing to overlook these faults as I enjoyed this book very much. The only novel of his I didn't enjoy as much was 'Digital Fortress', but even that was above average and is worth a peruse for the inside information he's collected on the workings of the NSA (though who the hell would verify the truth on that is beyond me).

 

I not only missed the end i missed the begining and the middle ..it should be repeated prety soon (i hope).

 

lol , i want to so read it everyonei have talked to that has read it says its a BRILLIANT!! book , ima buy it today or tomoorw

 

I finally read it and honestly I thought it was very poorly written. The plot was EXTREMELY improbable and got boring fast. Sure, I liked all the history and theory tidbits thrown in, but that's about it. I was hopeing there would be some redeaming quality at the end... but no. I liked Angels and Demons much better.