Read merely as a thriller, there is nothing terribly wrong with Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. It moves along briskly, and is passably written; it is neither brilliant nor terrible, and it is enjoyable enough for an afternoon at the beach. However, many readers are attracted to the book for its claims of realistic art and history. Despite those claims, the supposed facts in the book are misleading at best, and the wise reader will not take them too seriously.
The Da Vinci Code opens with the murder of a curator at the Louvre, in the museum at night. A cryptic message he leaves as he dies brings the involvement of Robert Langdon, the hero of this novel and Brown's earlier Angels and Demons. Langdon will likely surface in other novels still to come, based on the tremendous success of this book. Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, an astonishingly attractive and competent French law enforcement official, pursue and are pursued across France and elsewhere in typical page-turner fashion. Unfortunately, the plot occasionally makes way for leaden descriptive passages:
The Da Vinci Code opens with the murder of a curator at the Louvre, in the museum at night. A cryptic message he leaves as he dies brings the involvement of Robert Langdon, the hero of this novel and Brown's earlier Angels and Demons. Langdon will likely surface in other novels still to come, based on the tremendous success of this book. Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, an astonishingly attractive and competent French law enforcement official, pursue and are pursued across France and elsewhere in typical page-turner fashion. Unfortunately, the plot occasionally makes way for leaden descriptive passages:
Langdon felt a familiar tinge of wonder as his eyes made a futile attempt to absorb the entire mass of the edifice. Across a staggeringly expansive plaza, the imposing façade of the Louvre rose like a citadel against the Paris sky. Shaped like an enormous horseshoe, the Louvre was the longest building in Europe, stretching farther than three Eiffel Towers laid end to end. Not even the million square feet of open plaza between the museum wings could challenge the majesty of the façade's breadth. Langdon had once walked the Louvre's entire perimeter, an astonishing three-mile journey. (p. 18)
The book relies on passages such as these for its supposed factual basis: on a page labeled 'Fact,' prior to the main text, Brown claims that "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."
The book relies on passages such as these for its supposed factual basis: on a page labeled 'Fact,' prior to the main text, Brown claims that "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."
The history and art criticism in the text, however, have come under a series of attacks from Catholics, Former Catholics, and others. The authors of one of the novel's cited sources, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, have sued, claiming that Brown plagiarized their work. To compound this, Holy Blood, Holy Grail has also come under attack for its inaccuracy, particularly as regards the Priory of Sion, a shadowy and semi-mythical organization whose modern incarnation appears to be a hoax. Even Dan Brown seems to be backing off of what his 'Fact' page implies: Dan Brown's web site says, "If you read the "FACT" page, you will see it clearly states that the documents, rituals, organization, artwork, and architecture in the novel all exist. The "FACT" page makes no statement whatsoever about any of the ancient theories discussed by fictional characters. Interpreting those ideas is left to the reader." The 'Fact' page, as quoted above, claims that the descriptions are accurate, though it does leave 'organizations' out of its list. At least, readers interested in accuracy should do some additional research before accepting this work of fiction as gospel.
The characters are modestly well-drawn, but tend towards stereotypes. Brown rarely delves deep into their psychology. Fortunately, the plot is devastatingly implausible. Undoubtedly, readers enjoy thrillers for both their absence of introspection and the what-happens-next sensation that can come only when what-happens-next is unpredictable. Readers looking for light entertainment and the frission of conspiracy theory may well enjoy this book. Readers who demand plausibility and well-researched books should look elsewhere - though why such readers would look to the thrillers section of the bookstore or library is a greater mystery than that posed by The Da Vinci Code itself.
