Jump to content

The Da Vinci Code


Recommended Posts

What do you lot think of all this? I'm having a scan read through the book just now so I'll reserve final judgement untill I'm finished it

 

So far I've found it to be a mildly interesting and fanciful yarn which has degenerated into a slightly below average crime thriller. The peculiar mix of fact and fiction is quite irritating, and the leaps of faith Dan Brown asks reader to make are astounding. He seems to be able to connect any event in history to any other with little or no explanation

 

The most worrying thing about this book is that so many people believe it to be factual

 

I would never have read it but for the huge amount of press and TV coverage it gets, especially with the copyright trial weeks before the release of the film! (excellent marketing). I suppose it's just an average book with a lot of hype

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 63
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I read it and for the first couple of chapters it was pretty exciting, mentioning stuff like divine proportion which I hadn't heard about and found pretty amazing. Then it gradually got more ridiculous and by the end it was kind of irritating. Lost all credibilty whatsoever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The book is so infuriating. The writing style is poor and its fairly clear to see what path its going to take (especially if you read Angels and Demons - better book - before it) but it is bloody impossible to put down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I have read it and I did enjoy it as a story but it is badly written and was difficult to put down. I think its a bit like a bad but catchy pop song it gets its hooks in and you can't stop listening even though you know it's crap.

 

I was looking forward to the film because I thought the book could be turned into a really good film as it reads like a film but having seen some trailers it looks to be a poor show indeed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent gag Tomblands.

 

Anyhoo, I don't stand on the 'pro' side of the book or the film, the book is a compulsive read once you start, but it is a highly irritating piece of plagiarism.

 

The source material that Dan Brown has ridden rough-shod through is worth checking out, if you can be bothered with historical stuff. A major element of the material is that of rewriting biblical history without all the hocus pocus. Ironically, it sits very well in an atheistic context. Much of what has been passed on through the centuries as gospel by the RC church can now be re-interpreted in more plausible forms of history without fear of any eternal damnation nonsense. This is why the Opus Dei character is out to cause harm in the book.

 

The shame, and my opinion, of the matter is that many scholars have spent the last five decades piecing together a credible version of biblical history that can withstand the scrutiny of science, ie no virgin births or suchlike, and Dan Brown has seen a fantastic and sensationalist opportunity to take this work and turn it to fiction for profitable ends, thus belittling and perhaps even ridiculing the source material.

 

The more factual stuff behind it all is actually very interesting. IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The makers of The Da Vinci Code film seemed to have grasped so much of the book yet completely missed its point. How is that for an oxymoron?

 

The book is essentially a love story, the plot a metaphor for Langdon and Neveu unlocking each other's doors and falling in love. The film almost got there then destroyed itself entirely in the last 5 minutes.

 

Hanks and Tautou were dreadfully miscast. McKellen was fantastic, as were a few of the other supporting actors.

 

It is not a bad book, Brown has a lot of good ideas. Cinematically, the film has a lot of good ideas, but they destroyed Brown's ideas. The screenplay is also pretty weak. There is far too much dialogue at times, as it seems to have be more of a copying exercise than the streamlining of good screenplay writing. (This is the point where I say... Adaptation. The best screenplay ever written?)

 

Overall though, it was actually better than I expected considering the miscasting and poor trailers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...