The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown > Reviews

Advantages: Excellent flow to the story, superb settings, thought-provoking concept, action-packed
Disadvantages: Sometimes goes off-track to explain symbolic and religious references in detail, some slightly predictable elements towards the end

...person, but neither am I the type to seek out a book such as The Da Vinci Code simply on the grounds of excited murmurings, that claim it ‘denounces Christianity’ and does other such naughty stuff. Reading it between lessons in school, it became clear to me that Dan Brown’s novel was perhaps being misunderstood somewhat – I don’t know what kind of coverage its been getting in the media but various people I know have asked me ‘how does it disprove ... Read review

Advantages: Exciting, fast moving, thought provoking
Disadvantages: Less than stellar character development

Dan Brown's latest effort, The Da Vinci Code, isn't a great book. All things considered, very few literary works merit such a distinction. Nonetheless, The Da Vinci Code is a highly readable volume based on a myriad of ancient and often mysterious themes. Brown does a credible job of intertwining those themes into a thoroughly modern adventure novel cum murder mystery, and at the same time he focuses a fair measure of intelligent discussion on the ... Read review

Advantages: Annoys religious fanatics. Will hold your attention to the end
Disadvantages: Takes up a lot of space on the bookshelf

...organise my own thoughts on the book. However, read through if you can take any more and maybe you will find something interesting about the biggest publishing phenomenon since JK Rowling ruined the planet with Harry fucking Potter. Religious leaders yield far too much power in modern day society. Those who refrain from using the bible or other sacred scripts as a step-by-step guide to living their daily existence quietly respect the power of religion ... Read review

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...avoided reading Dan Browns thriller The Da Vinci code for a long time, the thought of a populist writer weaving a novel out of a subject that I have been interested in for many years filled me with dread. The turning point for me came when a friend of mine, not known to be an avid reader rattled through not only this book but a number of other books by the same author in short space of time. The resulting conversations we had about the subject matter ... Read review

Advantages: Plot, symbology, historical mysteries
Disadvantages: Not the most brilliant writing

...has to be one of the hottest pop fiction books to come out in a long time - nearly everyone I know has either read it, wants to read it, and is raving about it. But why? By all accounts, the narrative is not that well written, the sequence of events a tad predictable, and for those who have read Brown's other bestseller, "Angels and Demons," a virtually identical structure. So what makes this book such an enjoyable and entertaining read? The answer ... Read review

Advantages: fun, interesting, combination of fact and fiction
Disadvantages: can be a little predictable in places

...factual detail. A lot of the novel centres around religion and art, but it is evident from the outset that one of Brown's passions is really cryptography - working out how to both create and solve codes. This code-breaking theme is not unique to "The Da Vinci Code", but also appears in some of his other works. So, onto the plot. Robert Langdon is a symbologist hailing from Harvard: an expert on the subject who frequently gives lectures and writes ... Read review

Advantages: Decent plot, some interesting characters...
Disadvantages: ... written with all the subtelty of a sledgehammer

...admit, I only really read The Da Vinci Code out of curiosity. After all, few books in the past century have created as much fuss as this one. Seen by some as a beacon of truth and others as a scandalous attack on Christendom (particularly the Catholic Church), it's obviously not a book that one can be indifferent to. Er… well actually, I think you can. Certainly I was. Despite the fact that most people seem to either passionately love or violently ... Read review

Advantages: I suppose I should be grateful it's not longer
Disadvantages: Poor writing and characterisation

Curiosity killed the cat, or so the saying goes and supposedly satisfaction brought him back. Having been avoiding it for all these years, figuring something so hyped couldn’t be any good; my curiosity finally got the better of me when it came to “The Da Vinci Code”. My curiosity cat well and truly dead, I went looking for the satisfaction between the pages that would resurrect it. Depending on whose opinion I listened to, I was either definitely ... Read review

Advantages: extremely enjoyable,unpredictable,unputdownable
Disadvantages: none

Written by the legendary Dan Brown 'The Da Vinci Code' has proven to be a number one bestseller promising plenty of mystery and intrigue throughout it's 593 pages. Many people have read it. Some claim it is just text copied from history books, others say it has weak characters and a weak plotline. After reading many reviews, both good and bad, I decided it was time I found out for myself just what it was about this book that has caused such a stir. *** ... Read review

Advantages: Good pace, easy to read, good and interesting characters. Good Story.
Disadvantages: It's not real.

...read it. I had ignored the reviews and had little idea of the content. Some reviewers early on had said that author Dan Brown's research was "Fantastic" Brown's editor continues to stand by his man, saying that Brown made nothing up save the fictional, contemporary story wrapped around religious controversy. After I browsed through the story initially, I realized what I was in for, and why all the ensuing critical flack from art historians, religious ... Read review

Advantages: too many things to list! (great use of characters etc)
Disadvantages: i would've liked the book to be slightly longer - with a slower pace

The Da Vinci Code gets straight into the story immediately, we enter the world of Jaques Sauniere just as its reaching its peak. With brief descriptions of the murderer, and no information as to why this man would want to murder, we are left to our own imagination. Of course, that doesnt last forever, as the story develops... As we are introduced to the main character Robert Langdon. His sense of character shows through straight away, or at least, ... Read review

Advantages: A great thriller, well written, fast paced
Disadvantages: It ends

...for a novel set in the Vatican for my boyfriend’s mother. The search found Brown’s Angels and Demons and Unholy Trinity by Paul Adam. It was Unholy Trinity that she wanted so I thought no more of Brown until Amazon’s sale. Amazon has been selling the hardback version of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown for just £4.39, which is a real bargain. I knew it was a thriller set in the Louvre and that was enough to persuade me to buy it after spending a lovely ... Read review