Dan Brown’s Code - What’s all the fuss about?

I finished Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code the other day. I hoped a bestseller would have a bit more substance to it, but one can never underestimate the dullness of the masses. It’s a fantasy thriller, based on the premise that the “evil Church” (sic) has suppressed the real truth about Jesus and the nature of true religion, which is goddess-centred. As a thriller it’s ok. It’s an easy read and kept me interested enough to keep turning pages. There’s not much beyond a fast paced fantasy here ‘though.

I didn’t notice anywhere the author claims his research is thorough or based on real history, hence why I categorise it as fantasy. The few books Brown does refer to in the text, like Holy Blood Holy Grail, are hardly well regarded by serious scholars. I guess he had to mention them to avoid getting sued for plagiarism. (I notice his earlier book Angels and Demons is about a liberal pope getting elected – nothing new there either for those who’ve read David Yallop’s fascinating In God’s Name.)

As an aside, I do wonder how scandalous the idea that Jesus married and had children actually is. I can’t think of anything about it that would endanger the Christian idea that Jesus was g0d in human form, but perhaps I’m missing something. My understanding is that the reason Jesus is never portrayed as being married is not because of some big cover up, but simply because that’s where the evidence lies.

For those who do want to delve a bit more, here’s a handy list of eleven (!) recent books rebutting the ideas in DvC – some better than others. And a couple of skeptical articles: One by a catholic journalist and a brief summary of an archeologist's response. For those who love esoteric stuff, here’s an in depth, but not uncritical piece about the Priory of Sion, a semi-legendary organisation that gets plenty of mileage from Brown.

All in all, I give The DvC a 3 out of 5. A diverting, but not outstanding pop thriller. For something with a bit more meat and panache, I prefer John Le Carre.


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Coincidentally, I wandered into a bookshop and spotted a real goodie: NT Wright’s scholarly but readable 3 volume treatment of Jesus and the early church. I thought about acquiring it, but at well over $130 per volume it didn’t take long to reject that idea. And they weren’t even hardbacks! (Postscript: Looks like I can order them MUCH cheaper over the net, like less than half that price, such is the sad state of the book industry in New Zealand.)

What a perverse world we live in; where poorly researched paperbacks sell oodles and the really interesting scholarship is prohibitively beyond the masses. Perhaps Wright could engage Dan Brown to write something based around his research.

Now there’s a novel idea.



listening to Tom Zé | Defect 2 : Curiosidade