The Da Vinci Code - Book Review

This book follows the attempts of Robert Langdon, Professor of "Religious Symbology" at Harvard University, to solve the murder of Jacques Sauniere, the curator of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The interpretation of hidden messages inside Leonardo Da Vinci's famous works, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, hold clues to solving the murder (hence the title). The main conflict in the novel revolves around the solution to two mysteries:

1) What secret was Sauniere protecting that led to his murder?
2) Who is the mastermind behind his murder?

The unraveling of the mystery requires the solution to a series of brain-teasers, including anagrams and number puzzles. The solution itself is found to be intimately connected with the possible location of the Holy Grail and to a mysterious society called the Priory of Sion (a secret society charged with protecting the Holy Grail), as well as to the Knights Templar (the group who originally found the Holy Grail). The Catholic organization Opus Dei also figures prominently in the plot. There are several concurrent storylines that follow different characters and eventually, all the storylines are brought together and resolved at the end of the book.

I don't know how much of this novel is fact or fiction, but one of the first pages in the book states, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." In any case, the amount of research that must have gone into writing the novel is impressive as is the creativity that clearly went into the creation of the various brain-teasers in the book. There are so many plots and characters that are intertwined, it's tough to summarize it in a couple of paragraphs, but while I was reading it, I was never confused. The author does a great job of setting a complex scene with understandable language.

I'm not a religious guy, but all of the descriptions of religion and religious symbols didn't bother me and really added to the plot and mystery in the novel. I'm pretty sure that some of the allegations (suggestions) that are made in the book could create quite a stir for religious folks. The author presents some bold theories that contradict the very fabric of Christianity. Beyond that, this is a great novel that will take you for an wild, exhilarating ride through a jungle of mystery and is extremely hard to put down.


Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Would I read it again: Yes

The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Hardcover: 454 pages
March, 2003