Patterico's Pontifications

3/31/2006

Da Vinci Code

Filed under: Books,General — Patterico @ 6:57 am



I must be the only person in the world who hasn’t read The Da Vinci Code. I started it a couple of nights ago. It’s good. The guy has a way of making you want to read the next chapter. And it has that Michael Crichtonish “let me teach you something about real life while you read this novel” thing going, which is fun.

Granted, I’m taking the “facts” I’m being “taught” with a pinch of salt, as I do with Crichton. Case in point: I divided my height by my belly button height, and got 1.7, not PHI. (If you’ve read it, you may know what I’m talking about.)

Do me a favor. I don’t like knowing what happens in a book. Before I started this one, I had absolutely no idea what it was about. Given the ubiquity of the book and discussions about it, it has been difficult to maintain this level of ignorance. So if you’re going to leave a comment with a spoiler, say “SPOILER!” at the top of it.

15 Responses to “Da Vinci Code”

  1. I read “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” 20 years ago. From what I’ve seen in the news lately, it seems I don’t have to read The DaVinci Code.

    william (b8a0e0)

  2. It’ll certainly pique your interest in Church history through the Middle Ages. Problem is distinguishing fact from fancy. Can anyone recommend a readable, reasonaly unbiased history of the early Church?

    Diffus (ead439)

  3. I must be the only other person who hasn’t read the DaVinci Code. I did, however, watch a program on A&E or something like that about “Cracking the DaVinci Code.” You might want to track that down once you finish the book. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. 😉

    sharon (e51965)

  4. Much “fancy”, some “fact”. It is a work of fiction after all.

    In my opinion the following are among several generally excellent examinations of the “history” and most of the “implications” in the book.

    Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone’s Asking, Darrell L. Bock, PhD (I believe from Dallas Theological Seminary)

    The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?, Hank Hanegraaff & Paul Maier (Christian Research Institute)

    Exploring the Davinci Code, Lee Strobel and Garry Poole

    Harry Arthur (b318a5)

  5. Darrell L. Bock, PhD, Professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary

    Paul L. Maier, PhD, Professor of Ancient History, Western Michigan University

    Lee Strobel has posted several excellent videos on the Da Vinci Code and other subjects at leestrobel.com

    Harry Arthur (b318a5)

  6. Hmmm, The Da Vinci Code made me feel like I was reading a screenplay rather than a novel…

    AMac (b6037f)

  7. You are way too dismissive of Crichton. You think he is crazy because he was able to bend spoons in a way not explicable to modern science.

    This guy has held hundreds of parties and demonstrated the phenomena (and taught) thousands of people to bend metal. That’s where Crichton was able to bend metal.

    Here’s a skeptic of the phenomena who went to a spoonbending party and was able to bend a spoon bowl. His account is very sobering.

    Here’s a newspaper article on the phenomenon. The reporter came to very similar conclusions to Crichton.

    Here’s a woman using the ability to produce art.

    Just because a phenomena is poorly understood by current scientific thought does not mean it does not exist. This history should be very sobering to those who claim to know what is possible and what is not.

    Matthew (d6a21a)

  8. Hey, I thought I was the last person who hadn’t read it! I just haven’t had time, but now I think I’ll go the distance.

    Patricia (2cc180)

  9. SPOILER!
    Bush did it!

    Eric (cf09d9)

  10. You should read Dave Barry’s column from about a year or two ago. He wrote about the Da Vinci Code and it’s “page turner” style. Very funny and right on the nose. I can’t find it, but the Miami Herald Tribune carried it.

    Steve G. (feb53c)

  11. Now the “other side” of the discussion has produced a DVD to counter the upcoming film (I have no direct knowledge of its contents or their veracity).

    The Da Vinci Code Deception DVD
    by David Balsinger, Producer

    Harry Arthur (40c0a6)

  12. Great looking site so far!! I’m just starting to look around it but I love the title page! Would you please also visit my site?
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    Franklin (f44cab)


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