Book Review: The Da Vinci Code

What makes "The Da Vinci Code," a thriller that has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for months now, worth reading is the many fascinating facts about art history, word origins, pagan symbols and Christianity that author Dan Brown weaves into the story.

These bits of trivia may be obvious to art students and etymology buffs, but for me, moments like finding out how the Egyptian god and goddess for fertility, Amon and Isis (whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA) inspired the name for one of Da Vinci's most famous paintings is enough to make the book worth reading. (Brown gives several examples of Da Vinci inserting symbols of paganism and subtle digs at Christianity in his works. News to me.)

The "Da Vinci Code" reminds me of old science fiction that survived on the strength of its ideas rather than the quality of its writing. The writing in this book is terrible. Brown uses adjectives and adverbs in his sentences the way McDoanld's uses salt on its fries. And his descriptions of places and people ring hollow. When the main character has a flashback to a symbolism class at Harvard he taught, I thought:

1) Dan Brown has never taught a class at Harvard, or any college.
2) "Saved By The Bell" is going to sue his ass.

While the plot isn't particularly inventive, it kept me turning the pages. It is kind of like watching a soap opera that makes you roll your eyes with the cheesy music and lingering close-ups, but keeps you watching when the heiress' husband, supposedly dead, shows up drenching wet at her door before the commercial break.

In short, this is a book of very interesting ideas about symbols and history with a decent plot that makes up for the poor writing. I won't go into the central and most interesting argument in the book, but it involves the Holy Grail not being a grail, and Brown provides enough evidence to at least make one wonder if it could be true.

My rating:

Rich people: Buy it.
Middle class people: Worth $12-$15.
Poor people: Borrow it from the library.