I just finished reading the Davinci Code. It’s definitely a fluff book but still enjoyable. I don’t know if you call it fiction or adventure or maybe fictenture. Whatever the case, the book held my attention over the weekend which is rare. It wasn’t Harry Potter captivating, and by then end, I started speed reading to keep it moving. Still, I took it out 150 pages at time.
Several thoughts. Brown says in the beginning of the book that the secrets and societies are all “real.” I think I’m going to learn a little more about them. I’d imagine that most of the things he said about Davinci and the Holy Grail were well researched. Then again, outside the Masons, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi texts, and Gospel of Phillip, I have to take his word for it.
AJ mentioned she had trouble with things that “attacked the church.” I can’t say I saw that. The only real conflict I did see was an emphasis on the non-divinity of Jesus Christ. Brown more or less says that Christ was like Mohammad, a great teacher whose history grew to legend status over hundreds of years only to be further twisted by politicians seeking to control the masses.
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Brown’s comments about Mary Magdalene (or the things he says Davinci and the Priory say) don’t seem too far fetched. So Christ was married? Duh. He had a kid? Well, I don’t know, but it makes sense. His family was forever hidden after his crucifixion then forever protected by a secret society dedicated to protect his bloodline and the secrets of the Grail? Secrets which…aren’t that important because everyone who wants to know the true story of Christ already has it. That does sound like fiction, but I don’t find it offensive.
What too read next...
5 comments:
I've heard that this book was very poorly researched...but I haven't read it and it certainly sounds interesting...
Misaneroth recommended Foucault's Pendulum as a kind of anti-Da Vinci Code. (It touches on the same subject matter, only it's much better researched, and makes a more clear delineation between historical fact and flight of fancy.)
Yeah, that one has been on my book queue for a while. I'll have to move it up the list.
Is this a mental queue, or a physical one?
Both. Because I just finished my fun book, I decided now was as good a time as any to check out Pendulum. I doubt I'll be able to finish it in a week unfortunately.
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