The Da Vinci Code

An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last. While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.

Everyone I meet either absolutely adores it or hates it- with a passion. So I finally got around to reading the Da Vinci Code. And it was...satisfactory.

Things I disliked..

It's so Christian. I'm not Christian. I don't know very much about Christianity. So when Dan Brown is making all these references to baby jesus and the holy grail I'm just sitting here thinking.. what the hell are you talking about? I guess if I read, and re-read, and re-read the book I could have understood what he was trying to say, but usually when I'm reading I don't feel like thinking! I just want to read, understand what is going on and enjoy the damn book. I don't want to have to close the book and think about what I just read and re-read the chapter and think about it some more (which is what I was doing for the majority of the book). Impossibly complicated plot. Too much history crap. That I didn't enjoy. I found this on another review website and I had to copycat. It sums up my feelings perfectly:

It was supposed to be a thriller- I was looking forward to a good thriller. It was SO not a thriller. Where was the fast paced writing? Where were the cliffhangers? Where was the excitement? It was like a history textbook that I was forced to read for school. It seemed as if Dan Brown was just trying to show off how much he knew about history and religious conspiracies to the world. It was a snore.

The end was a big let down. Very anti-climatic. I mean, for the whole entire book to be droning on and on about this and that... it was much ado about nothing.

Things I liked..

I kind of liked the plot. It was interesting. But then again, ever single book I read no matter good or bad has a good plot. So that's not really saying much.

I have more bad things to say than I do good, but it's really not as bad as I make it out to be. I just really didn't enjoy it all that much. It was really an average, okay book. 2/5?