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May 06, 2006
Finished the Da Vinci Code
Categories: Words
I wrapped up this book last night. Nothing in the last half of the book changed my opinion. Still porly written, still fairly predictable (though, I admit, I didn't figure out where the grail was until the grandmother drew the triangles for "chalice" and "blade". Then I was like "oh yeah! back to the beginning.") and it still kept me up until midnight finishing it.
I will offer a brief comment about the general church uproar over the book. No one tells me what I can and cannot read. I'm also of the thought that "condemning" something just makes it more attractive and gives it a degree of legitimacy. But I do understand why the church (and the Catholic Church in particular) don't like this book. It's not becase it's some unveling of a conspiracy and the Chruch is afraid of the truth. Rather, it's because the book denies the divinity of Jesus -- the cornerstone of the Christian faith. And it does so in such a matter-of-fact, non-literary way. So much of the book is just one character monologues about "historical facts" (which is what makes it a crappy book), and the non-divinity claim is presented so forthrightly, that it's hard not to take the denial of Jesus' divinity as an asserted fact and not part of a story. Couple that with Brown's "Look at all the research I did" forward and I can see why people get a little put out by the book.
I also have a theory about why the book has sold like a billion copies, but that's gonna have to wait.
Posted by Nakia at May 6, 2006 09:55 AM