What readers think of The Da Vinci Code, plus links to write your own review.

This book was brilliantly researched. The intrigue and weaving of clues was the best I have read in the mystery genre. It certainly created controversial debate regarding dogma of the catholic religion. Many of us had never heard of "Opus Dei" or The Priory of Scion. Consequently, we headed for lectures and further research to satisfy our curiosity. It proved to be exceedingly interesting. To substantiate the authenticty, many people were upset but needed to be reminded it WAS FICTION. My compliments to Dan for a job well done.

There has been so much uproar over this book that now that it is being made into a movie, I can't help but smile. Mel Gibson's Movie is not even out yet.... The Church has called it borish and blasphemus. The devoute Christians call it a blantant effort to derail the scriptures of the Lord. The Opus Dei call it a work of satanism and of unfounded proof of involvement. The Priory of Sion, well who knows......
I find the book for what it is a factual/historical/artistic piece of fictional writing. But what if? Mr. Brown was putting a DaVince on us all....Not a painting but a Book......Think about it? What if this was all true except the location of the Grail.....Thank You Grand Master Brown.......

This is in response to Rivers posting. There is a code, actually several on the jacket of the book. If you look up the web site for the book (I found it using a search engine and typing in The Da Vince Code) it tells more about it. If you can break the code you should get a clue about what the next book is about. There is also a neat code game on this sight, maybe even two versions. Worth looking at. Reading the book will help with these games- plus it's a lot of fun!

Okay, this book has been floating about our school, (I'm 16, by the way) and I myself recently picked up a friend's copy and turned to the inside jacket cover of her hardback copy. I then noticed something strange. Some of the letters are bolded, and the idea popped into my head "Why couldn't there be a code inside a book about a code?" So, I wrote down the letters I found, but the middle makes no sense. Maybe someone else has figured out what it means, or maybe someone can point out that I missed a letter or something. I got this : "Is the rehohlp for the widow" The "reholp" doesn't make sense to me, but maybe someone else can figure it out. "hlp" could be "help". Anyway, if anyone has any ideas or have already figured out what it means, please email me. My email is River's email so if anyone can help, that would be greatly appreciated. Maybe someone else has already figured it out, but if not, you might want to go back and check. I should probably note that I have yet to actually READ the book, so maybe this clue will help figure out the book. Who knows?!? Anyway, any help would be great!
~River~

Just a note in response to annoyed enough to post. You must really read fast as you put it to miss the half page devoted to Langdon DRIVING the armored truck. He even pulls over and kicks off the bumper to stop the shower of sparks. I just assumed the truck had an automatic transmission
On the topic however I did note one little funny discrepancy today. The length of Teabings driveway is stated to be a mile long, on page 220 and then at the end of 279 it has shrunken to 1/2 mile. Anyway, it is the best read I can remember.

I rarely ever post things on sights like this, mostly because I respect the right for others to share their opinions without wanting to argue about my own. However, I am very frustrated reading some of these posts. I just read a comment that said the book was inaccurate because in one chapter Langdon couldn't drive a stick shift and later he drove an armored truck. Goodness!! Personally I read quickly and often miss details but if you are going to be critical then make sure your facts are straight. Langdon did NOT drive an armored car, the bank owner did. There are many other such statements on these pages. I'm sure there are mistakes here and there, most things have them. I'm sure the book did not get through the publishing process without meeting some kind of standard of accuracy. For Pete's sake this is a fictional novel and the reader is expected to suspend their disbelief in order to enjoy the book. If the topic of the story weren’t so controversial no one would be arguing this.

Everyone has a right to have, and post, their thoughts on this book. That is one of the great things about the great WWW. My opinion is that too many out there are assuming this book is more than it is. It is a work of fiction. No one involved in the creating of the book has claimed that it is any more. However, it is true that the church has minimized the role of women in the church, most history has done that. It is true that Mary was said to be a prostitute that Jesus felt pity for, which has been proven false. The things told in The Da Vince Code about Leonardo's paintings all appeared when I looked for them. While I don't think that this is by any means a map to the final resting place of the Holy Grail, obviously lots of research and hard work has gone into this book. For those of you who are so sure you are right and Dan Brown is wrong, I encourage you to do your own research and write your own book.

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" is one of the best books i have read in a very long time and i think the other people who have commented should step back and see the amazing piece of work the Mr Brown has put together a marvolous piece of work and he should be congradulated. this was the best thriller i have read in a very long time, the amount of research that must have gone into it, not to mention the fluent way that he educated the reader with so many unknown and useful information was fantastic, AND for the person who mentioned the lack of time gone into his plot? what rubbish! everything flowed in such a manner that i did not even notice it was happening. the characters, the places the twists all worked so well and in such harmony with eachother that i was left speechless after finishing the novel.
i think Dan Brown deserves a huge congratulations, and everything he gets from this novel is very well earned!
i am a church goer, an art lover and everything about history fasinates me, and the fact that Mr Brown can make me think twice about so many passions in my life is amazing. well done mr brown and thankyou for such a fantastic novel for me to ponder over!

The redeeming value of this book is its premise. Brown would have done the reading public a favor had he taken his outline and plot points and given the whole package to a person with a gift for the written word. Much of the blame for this poorly written book should go to the editor, who should know enough about the craft not to allow such pathetically shallow dialogue, adorned by tags that just make you want to barf. Worst of all was the character of Teabing. His character was so stereotypical it actually made me laugh out loud as I read. Teabing rarely "said" anything. Rather, he chortled, proclaimed, declared, boasted, ventured and--my personal favorite--"tittered." Another kneeslapper that comes to mind is from the shallow character of Sophie. "I'M DREAMING, she thought. THIS IS A DREAM."
Wow, neat. It's like Brown spent 80% of his time researching his pet conspiracies, 15% typing it into a decent plot outline, and 5% spitting out filler material: little things like characterization, plausible action and dialogue.

One final thing. When it comes to discussion of the premise, it's pretty silly to use this work as the forum. Many folks commenting on The Da Vinci Code are quite correct in asserting that this topic has been covered much better by previous works, whether you agree with the grand premise or not.