www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Da Vinci Code

I would be interested in knowing any reactions among the membership to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code."

I would respectfully ask, however, that no one give away the ending as there may be some here who want to read it but have not yet done so. Thanks!

Yours,

hal

Dear Hal:

As all novelists, Dan Brown weaves fact and fiction into an intricate web of intrigues, sex and/or sexuality, the age-old conflict between religion and science, and, of course, the ubiquitous struggle between good and evil in order to "increase readership," i.e., to become financially viable.

You have to be a "best-seller" to achieve such a purpose. And Dan Brown did just that with his 4th novel: "The Da Vinci Code" which purports to prove the existence of a code embedded in all, or some, paintings and other works of Leonardo da Vinci. It's a masterpiece of a thriller and a cryptogrpaher's dream: like Dan Brown reliving his as "Robert Langdon," an unattached 40-ish symbology Harvard professor.

I am reading the prequel "Angels & Demons" and cannot wait for the sequel of the "Code," due in 2005 or thereabouts. I have read his "Digital Fortress" and "Deception Point," both techno-thrillers.

BTW, the only TRUE fact about the Catholic Curch in this novel is the building and inauguration of the Opus Dei headquaters in New York.

AmdG

P.S. It's a welcome respite from reading all those legal memos you must be generating!

Sorry, let me clarify. I am about three-quarters through the book and was wondering how those who may have read it reacted to the portrayal of the Church, Opus Dei and, of course, whole idea and theology of the Holy Grail as it is presented therein (etc. etc. etc.)

This is hard to do without giving anything away, but I think y'all who have read it get the picture. As for the rest, avert your eyes if you don't want to know what happens.

Amado, I sense that you accept it as fiction - pure and simple and not as a commentary on the Catholic Church and do not see it as slanderous against the Vatican or Opus Dei. N'est pas?

Yours,

hal

Dear Hal:

In my lifetime I've seen reams of odious criticisms written against the Catholic Church which purport to be factual representations.

Dan Brown's accounts in his "The Da Vinci Code" are pure fiction. Nothing comes close to reality, except Opus Dei's new U.S. headquarters.

He is just one of those who find the Catholic Church a convenient target for lies and calumny.

He is simply misinformed!

Good ending . . .and the mystery continues!

AmdG

Hal,

Please visit this website.

The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction? [diosav.org]


God Bless,

ProCatholico