The Da Vinci Code

by Dan Brown

I realize that I am very behind the times in picking up this novel. However, I am one of those people who hates reading what everyone else is reading. I know it sounds silly, but for the most part, I seldom read a book that can be found on a current bestseller list. But I decided that it was time to pick up this book and find out what all the hoopla was about.

And? I really enjoyed it! It was very well done, in my opinion. The mystery and intrigue was well-balanced with the suspense and the action, and it most definitely kept me turning the pages. It really was a fun novel to read and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. What I liked best about it was that I had no idea how it was going to turn out. Some parts, yes, but for the most part, I didn't correctly identify the bad guy or his purpose for being a bad guy. It was very good, and I would read it again in a second.

While I was reading, I was also keeping in mind all the controversy surrounding the movie and it's release, and I can't do a proper review without addressing all that. And quite frankly, I don't get it. The book is fiction- very well done fiction in fact. It may present ideas and thoughts within as fact, but common sense still says that all those ideas are just that, ideas and, quite frankly, fiction. It was a fun story, and I challenge anyone who thinks this book is evil to actually read it. For awhile I was thinking that I could see where the Catholic Church got upset about the details within, but it all wrapped up at the end, and the bad guy was not the Catholic Church, so where all the drama came from? I couldn't tell you. I will say that I don't have any desire to see the movie because I think Tom Hanks was miscast, he just doesn't strike me as a Robert Langdon. I also recall seeing reviews that said it was a poor adaptation of the book and left out too much. So instead I will just enjoy the fact that I read a great book. A fun work of fiction.

This was a story about the quest to find the Holy Grail. I think it was fascinating that Dan Brown chose to write a grail story, making the grail more a person and an idea than a physical cup or object. It was creative and exciting, and really, no different than enjoying another grail legend or grail movie- what comes to mind for me is Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Why is that an okay movie, but The Da Vinci Code isn't? It's the same idea, that the Holy Grail will lead to something more. Whether that be immortality or a change in the way the world views something. And like I said before, if you are one of those people who has protested this book or movie in any form, I challenge you to read the book. It was fun and entertaining, and no more controversial to me than The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe.