I admit that I read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code out of curiosity. I wanted to know what all the hullaballoo was really all about. And my curiosity was indeed satsfied after reading the book.
Dan Brown has a subtle way of revealing factoids and myths which simply grabs the reader's attention. And sometimes, it does make the reader think and reflect. After reading the book, one does not really know which is fact and which is fiction. The intrigue and the so-called "greatest" conspiracy in history of man is carefully unraveled bit by bit.
The only flaw of the book, I guess, is Brown's propensity to be distracted by romance. As in Deception Point, Brown does not apply his special kind of subtlety when it comes to the romantic storyline. The romantic parts, in my opinion, only irritate and slow down the page-turning pace of the story.
Brown's website summarizes the book:
"While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. Solving the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci…clues visible for all to see…and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for centuries.
In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who appears to work for Opus Dei—a clandestine, Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect believed to have long plotted to seize the Priory's secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's secret—and a stunning historical truth—will be lost forever.
In an exhilarating blend of relentless adventure, scholarly intrigue, and cutting wit, symbologist Robert Langdon (first introduced in Dan Brown's bestselling Angels & Demons) is the most original character to appear in years. THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightening-paced, intelligent thriller…surprising at every twist, absorbing at every turn, and in the end, utterly unpredictable…right up to its astonishing conclusion."
The book is currently being made into a movie with my favorite actor, Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. Although I would have loved Langdon to be played by Denzel Washington, I think Hanks will do a good job. The person I am wary about is director Ron Howard. Howard, though a good director, has a tendency to be overly sentimental and dramatic. I do not think that his style suits the fast-paced pseudo-adventure genre of Da Vinci Code. The movie is due to be released this June 2006.
Although I have the read book twice, I am currently coveting this special illustrated edition:
My Rating: 8 out of 10
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