Review: The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
This was my second time around with Leo, Mona, and Mr. Langdon. I originally read The DaVinci Code the year it came out because it was the first book my brother had read cover-to-cover since Chris Rock's autobiography. If my video game addicted brother loved it enough to finish it in 3 days, I knew I'd like it.
I ate up the story, spending every precious minute racing through Paris with professor Robert Langdon and French cryptographer Sophie Neveu. I wanted to know why Silas killed Sophie's grandfather, and especially who his Teacher was. At every painting or sculpture mention, I was Googling, desperate to find the hidden clues Langdon and Sophie were also uncovering. After the discovery of the cryptex, I, too, tried to decipher the keyword. I loved that I couldn't figure them out and that I had to rely on the characters to help me. I had figured out the truth about Sophie's family (it's pretty obvious once they mention it) and when she rediscovers her grandmother and brother, it almost makes knowing that Langdon will never touch the Grail ok.
Almost.
Don't get me wrong--I love the fact that the Grail mystery will remain safe beneath the Louvre but just to have Langdon touch its box or be in its immediate presence would have been amazing. And it would have easily set up a sequel. But maybe this is the kind of book that doesn't need a sequel. I read Angels and Demons a few months before my re-reading of Code and I'm almost glad that they did not piggyback on one another. I caught several references to Demons that helped better understand Langdon's actions, and I was glad to see Langdon back again. It makes me hope Brown takes on another conspiracy theory (damn them for figuring out crop circles).
I reread Code because of the upcoming film and I only have two qualms about seeing it. (1) Tom Hanks as Langdon. It should be Harrison Ford...twenty years ago. (2) The Sophie-tied-and-bound-thrown-into-the-well scene from the trailer. Not in the book. Really gonna piss me off if it replaced a major sequence. Oh, I also noticed that Silas has short hair; it's definitely mentioned as being long in the book.
I'm sure I will post a movie review within the next few days. I'm hoping it does not disappoint me like Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.