The Da Vinci Code

[greenfreak]

By Dan Brown, anyone read it?

I am by no means religious but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just read this 450 page book in one day, I couldn't put it down. It has so many references to things that I never realized in modern day and ties together the Matrix, Harry Potter, Eyes Wide Shut and even The Little Mermaid with religious references never realized.

Of course, there's a ton of information about Da Vinci himself that I never knew and I'm eager to see if it's true or not. Looks like I have a little more surfing to do on the subject.

I need to get some sleep because I stayed up three hours past my bedtime last night to keep reading it and I'm damn tired. Let me just say this is the best book I've read in a long time.

 

[kuulani]

Ooh, I love books like that

*makes a note to go out and get this book*

 

[greenfreak]

I would send it to you but my Dad found out I was reading it and when I told him that Masons played a big part in the book (my Dad used to be a Mason), he made me promise to give it to him this weekend so he can read it!

I'm sure Mom's going to want to read it too so if you haven't gotten it by the time she's done, I'll send it out to you.

 

[freako104]

I know the name but I havent read it yet. I plan to check it out though

 

[BeardofPants]

I just read it myself. Learnt a great deal about mythology, paganism, and of course, Da Vinci. However, I don't like the way Brown 'factually' writes about everything, as if we're supposed to take it for granted that he is telling the truth. There was also a dodgy discovery documentary plugging the book as well. It is these things that make me a bit leery about his so-call "facts". Still, a fun read.

 

[HomeLAN]

I read it last winter. Very engaging, it had me on the net double-checking a lot of his assertions.

Angels and Demons was also good, but skip Deception Point. I haven't read Digital Fortress yet.

 

[kuulani]

(my Dad used to be a Mason),

so, what exactly is a mason? do they do heebie-jeebie stuff? i'm only asking because we had an art exhibit a few weeks ago and it was held in an what used to be a masonic temple of sorts and no one really explained to me what that was, only that they talked about it in a kind of hush-hush tone

 

[kuulani]

Hey, greenie, did you see this list from Borders?

Secret societies, murderous plots, ancient conspiracies: This is the stuff of fiction, and in The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown turned these intriguing materials into a sensational bestseller. But, as he explained in an interview with Borders last year, his novel isn't pure invention. Here are a few works of speculative history and alternative theology that inspired The Da Vinci Code, and a handful of books written in response to the bestselling thriller.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Key Contributors: Baigent, Michael / Lincoln, Henry / Leigh, Richard
Format: Paperback
List Price: $7.99
Publisher/label: Dell Publishing
Publication Date: January, 1983

The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
Key Contributors: Prince, Clive / Pinknett, Lynn
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $15.00
Publisher/label: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: November, 1998

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen & the Holy Grail
Key Contributors: Starbird, Margaret
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $16.95
Publisher/label: Bear & Company
Publication Date: May, 1993

Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Key Contributors: Leloup, Jean-Yves
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $14.95
Publisher/label: Inner Traditions International, Limited
Publication Date: March, 2002

Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine
Key Contributors: Starbird, Margaret
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $15.00
Publisher/label: Bear & Company
Publication Date: October, 1998

The Gnostic Gospels
Key Contributors: Pagels, Elaine H.
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $12.00
Publisher/label: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication Date: September, 1989

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas
Key Contributors: Pagels, Elaine H.
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $13.00
Publisher/label: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication Date: May, 2004

The Secret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic Gospels
Key Contributors: Meyer, Marvin
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $11.00
Publisher/label: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication Date: May, 1986

Lost Scriptures
Key Contributors: Ehrman, Bart D.
Format: Hardcover
List Price: $30.00
Publisher/label: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Publication Date: October, 2003

Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
Key Contributors: Ehrman, Bart D.
Format: Hardcover
List Price: $30.00
Publisher/label: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Publication Date: October, 2003

Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind the Da Vinci Code
Key Contributors: Burstein, Dan
Format: Hardcover
List Price: $21.95
Publisher/label: CDS Books
Publication Date: April, 2004

Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answering the Questions Everybody's Asking
Key Contributors: Bock, Darrell L.
Format: Hardcover
List Price: $19.99
Publisher/label: Nelson, Thomas Publishers
Publication Date: April, 2004

Cracking Da Vinci's Code: You've Read the Book, Now Hear the Truth
Key Contributors: Jones, Peter / Garlow, James L.
Format: Trade Paperback
List Price: $14.99
Publisher/label: Cook Communications Ministries
Publication Date: April, 200

 

[MrBishop]

Havn't read it yet, but I'm awaiting someone to finish it, so I can mooch the thing. Ive read about similar things...in books by Umberto Eco (Faulcault's Pendulum), but it was more along a story line than a quasi-biography like this one seems to be.

 

[greenfreak]

If it's fiction, I treat is as such and was intrigued at the religious references but also wary that it might not be true and be just "creative license". But that list, Ku'u, has a lot of info on there I might be interested in looking into, thanks!

Whenever I thought of my Dad as a Mason, I always thought of Mr. Cunningham on Happy Days. How he was always talking about the "Grand Poo-Bah" and had funny hats and stuff. But here's a blurb from a Mason site:

"Masons are men who voluntarily asked to join a lodge. They were accepted because they were good men who believe in God and hold high ethical and moral ideals. They go to meetings which they call the lodge, in order to learn and to teach what 'friendship, morality, and truth really involve, and to practice on a small scale the reality of brotherhood. They also have meetings open to their wives, children, and friends where they promote an understanding of the serious nature of the Fraternity by entertainment and sociability. Practical programs for charity and relief are planned and executed. The special kinship they feel for each other as a brotherhood is their deepest satisfaction."

The guys in my Dad's Masonic Lodge were men we knew as children; most were in my father's Elevator Constructor's Union in NYC. He probably joined to hang out with the crowd. He only lasted a few years.

 

[BeardofPants]

I found this in the same section as the aliens building the pyramids at my local bookstore. Blech.

I have nothing against some of his ideas (Browns), and theories, but when he tries to pass them off as factual.... Well...

 

[HomeLAN]

Sequel alert:

http://us.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/05/19/books.davinci.code.ap/index.html

 

[PT]

Ok, I know this is an old thread, but I'm finally getting around to reading this book now. I love it. I've always been a little distrusting of the church, and this book has really filled in some missing pieces for me. I realize it's supposed to be fiction, but I've also been checking the net for some of his references to paintings and such. You tell me, the person to Jesus's right here, man or woman?

 

[MrBishop]

You tell me, the person to Jesus's right here, man or woman?

The image is far easier to identify since the cleaning and restoration of the original painting was finished. The first few times that the painting was repaired by the church...it was 'repaired' as well... you know? Modified to match the times to a point. Sometimes sections being repainted entirely or just fucked-up! :grr:

Althought Leonardo's Last Supper had faced progressive deterioration since it had been completed, the earliest recorded restorations are in the eighteenth century. These restorations were based on the false premise that the painting was executed in an oil medium. Thus, Michelangelo Bellotti, in 1726, after cleaning the mural with caustic solvents, covered it with layers of oil and varnish. While in 1770, Giusseppe Mazza removed his predecessor's work and repainted much of the original again in oil.

Understandably these treatments came under much fire and following restorers intervened by also repainting and trying to recreate Leonardo's original, rather than preserving it. A new stage in the Last Supper's history was reached in 1853 when Stefano Barezzi first tried to detach the painting from the wall. After failing to do so, he attempted to consolidate the painting by gluing the paint fragments to the base. Additionally, scientific studies of the mural were initiated at this time. However, the era of inept restorations ended only in the twentieth century, when a more responsible attitude developed.

Read about the history of the painting's restoration

 

[MrBishop]

BTW...here's that figure "After restoration"

 

[PT]

So, male or female?

 

[Shadowfax]

that'll be female, but i always find it very disturbing if you have to ask yourself that question in the first place

 

[chcr]

I'm reading it currently as an e-book on my Visor (am I a geek or what).

 

[BeardofPants]

And I'll bet it sucks just as much there, as it does on paper.

 

[chcr]

And I'll bet it sucks just as much there, as it does on paper.

Seems to me a bit like a Tom Clancy novel (noting that I'm not halfway through). It's a mystery set in the world of religious instead of political intrigue. Interesting references to various organizations, but I suspect the truth is a lot more prosaic. It helped him sell a hell of a lot of books, though. If you really want to read some controversial religious stuff, read up on the gospels according to Seneca. Oh, and don't forget that DaVinci lived a millenium and a half after Christ supposedly did.