Book Review: The Da Vinci Code
I finished The Da Vinci Code. It was crap, but entertaining. Brain candy. I am a little befuddled about why it was soooo controversial. The Catholic Church and Opus Dei were exonerated of any iniquity in the end, and in fact were portrayed as victims. So why the hell was the church screaming about libel and slander? I was kind of put off by the way Brown kept conscripting poor Langdon as an apologist for the church. It was so obviously an afterthought to the story, meant as an attempt to deflect criticism.
Another thing I find befuddling is the fact that the Goddess worship angle is so shocking. I mean, isn't this shit common knowlege to any educated person? Is it really news that the ancients worshipped a female deity, and that echoes of that worship have continued to reverberate into the present day? Is it really news that the early Christian church actively tried to suppress that worship?
I guess what is so confusing to me is that The Da Vinci Code, while quite entertaining, is clearly a work of fiction, and a very silly one at that. Why the outrage? Apparently, it is because Dan Brown claimed in the prologue that it was all true. However, if you actually read said prologue, what it says is that, (and I quote) "All depictions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel are accurate." Am I the only person who makes a distinction between that statement, and "this shit really happened"? There is no claim that there is extant proof of Jesus' marriage and offspring. There is no claim of proof that the bloodline of Jesus continues to this day. There is no claim that the remains of Mary Magdalene have really been sought by the Church for hundreds of years, or that said remains reside under a Paris museum. Only that the paintings, buildings, etc really exist. The term "secret rituals" is a bit misleading. They may have been secret once, but clearly are no longer so.
Anyway, once I became inured to the stilted prose and cliched delivery, I quite enjoyed the book, as pure entertainment. I think it has been taken far too seriously.
Another thing I find befuddling is the fact that the Goddess worship angle is so shocking. I mean, isn't this shit common knowlege to any educated person? Is it really news that the ancients worshipped a female deity, and that echoes of that worship have continued to reverberate into the present day? Is it really news that the early Christian church actively tried to suppress that worship?
I guess what is so confusing to me is that The Da Vinci Code, while quite entertaining, is clearly a work of fiction, and a very silly one at that. Why the outrage? Apparently, it is because Dan Brown claimed in the prologue that it was all true. However, if you actually read said prologue, what it says is that, (and I quote) "All depictions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel are accurate." Am I the only person who makes a distinction between that statement, and "this shit really happened"? There is no claim that there is extant proof of Jesus' marriage and offspring. There is no claim of proof that the bloodline of Jesus continues to this day. There is no claim that the remains of Mary Magdalene have really been sought by the Church for hundreds of years, or that said remains reside under a Paris museum. Only that the paintings, buildings, etc really exist. The term "secret rituals" is a bit misleading. They may have been secret once, but clearly are no longer so.
Anyway, once I became inured to the stilted prose and cliched delivery, I quite enjoyed the book, as pure entertainment. I think it has been taken far too seriously.