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The Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown
Doubleday, 2003, ISBN 0385504209
$37.95
You may have heard about this book. It's been at the top of the bestseller lists, the critics have loved it, and people everywhere are talking about how masterful the research is and how riveting they found the story. If you have heard about this book, and you want to find out just how good it is, then I have some advice:
Borrow it. Find a friend or a library. At the very least, try second-hand shops or wait for the paperback. Do not drop forty bucks on this novel without knowing what you are getting.
The Da Vinci Code is a murder mystery whose motive derives from a pivotal moment in Western history, when those rascally Christians, in order to control the populace, lied about Jesus' life and all but eradicated the divine feminine from spiritual belief. Chances are, if you read Wyntergreene, then you know a thing or two about the divine feminine. And you will realise, very quickly on, that Brown's research is sloppy. It seems to rely on two main sources: Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln's Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and the testimony of "members" of the Priory of Sion. The first source is highly questionable; the second has been revealed as a hoax.
The author's job is to grab your attention and hold it. If you as a reader are bothered by incorrect research presented as fact, you may find a reference to "ancient Wiccan relics" distracting; this and other examples may take you out of the book. The characters are paper-thin, and whenever our heroes are in trouble, the police help them out by being stupid. Finally, the prose is bland, merely presenting the events without style or embellishment. When the author wants to elicit emotion, he'll tell you how one of the characters feels. If poor research, unlikely characters, and robotic writing are likely to bother you, you will probably find this book a challenge to finish.
But maybe not. Many, many readers, either blind to, indifferent toward, or forgiving of these faults, have absolutely loved it. So if you must find out for yourself, borrow The Da Vinci Code.
(Reviewed May Day 2004)
Taras is a Montreal writer, teacher, and counsellor whose online column The Teddybear Sawdust Show! deals with art and creativity: trapdoor.cosmic-muse.com/thetsshow.html
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Book reviews © 2004. Permission to reprint, with full credit, must be
granted by the author. If you would like to reprint this review, please
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