I read Da Vinci code and enjoyed it...I liked Angels and Demons even more. The thing to remember is that these are fiction works and combine some historical fact with lots of literary license to weave fun and interesting tales. I wouldn't look to deep beneath the surface...just enjoy the ride!
currently reading the da vini code, anyone read?
by highdose 18 Replies latest jw friends
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Band on the Run
I was already supposed to some of the ideas. IMO, it was a junk book. The writing was poor. Of course, Brown laughed all the way to the bank. It was captivating b/c of the subject matter. Summer reading which has its place. The CAtholic Church opposing it opened a much wider audience for it. If they had ignored it, it would be a best seller but not a major cultural statement.
I love the Last Temptation of Christ by Katzenzakis. He wrote fiction, clearly labelled fiction many places, of how Jesus' suffered extra temptations during his crucixion. K. felt the Churches stressed the Godhead of Jesus over his humanity so he stressed the humanity. Jesus' body and mind was tortured beyond belief so he has a temporary hallucination that an angel/devil girl appears and announced God requires no more, Isaac was not slain. He believes it is over and goes about a normal life since his mission is over. He marries Magadalene and then Mary. Children are born. he does carpentry.
Coincidentally, he heards Paul making a lot of noice preaching in the town. He can't believe the lies Paul is telling. Jesus is furious and confronts Paul that he is Jesus and alive. God wants us to have ordinary lives. Paul tells him that it doesn't matter whether he is dead or alive. People need the hope. Faith is separate from fact. Paul is not dissuaded one iota. Jesus walks away and has the pivotal scene. He begs God to let him die for humanity. Jesus snaps out of the hallucination and is on the cross, breathing his last. He yells out and dies.
NY Catholics were ordinary not to go near the theatre and do other things to protest. Scorcese did the film which drew every film buff in the NY area. Progressive Christians turned out. Next, there were great masses of people who turned out to show the cardinal what he could do with himself. The waiting throng were wearing Ralph Lauren, reading the Sunday NYT, or hardcover best sellers. It was affluent, if not wealthy. Northern European looks. The police pushed the protesters off to a side area. They were Greek Catholic immigrants, wearing polyester. I am certain no one had read the Last Temptation. I ran up the first day to send a message with my body. The affluence/poorer dichotomy bothered me greatly.
The DaVinci claims were so utterly shocking when he was first published. Now they aren't.
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jgnat
I am mad at the author by saying in his introduction that the incidents were true. This set off all sorts of speculation.
But then, maybe I should thank him. He showed how print can deceive, and how quickly we accept the deception...simply because it is in print. (Self-assertion of trueness is not yet true)
If you liked the Da Vinci Code, perhaps you would like The Red Tent.
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highdose
thanks everyone, i just finished reading the first harry potter, its so sweet! what are those JW's afarid of???!!
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Band on the Run
I enjoyed the Red Tent. My addiction to historical fiction, film, etc. is limitless. Most of these historical fiction books are just okay in terms of writing. I read about the Whiskey Rebellion that was well-written. Wolf Hall about Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell was excellent.
Many times I get so fed up with mediocre that I will sneak a classic in to read. After reading Pope Joan, very interesting but not well written book, I purchased Jack London, Call of the Wild. When I read a true master, I want to cry for the beauty of the language. Many of these books were last read in junior high school. They are wasted on the young. When I see museum quality paintings, I am moved. When I turn a corner and encounter a masterpiece, my breath is taken away and tears come. I don't need to know anything about the masterpiece.
I feel that when creative artists are extraordinary, like Rembrant, Picasso, Michelangelo, we are very close to God.
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hamsterbait
I too find the polyester suit preachers annoying.
I went to see "Gerry Springer - The Opera." We had to push through throngs of born-agains with leaflets decrying Jesus in Nappies (European art depicts him thus for 2000 years).
I asked one of them as he thrust his vile tract in my face:
"Have you seen the show?"
"No"
"Then I am not interested in somebody elses opinion of it."
I remember a talk at the Kingdumb Hell, condemning the song "Jesus Christ Superstar" - yet when you think about the lyrics, she was asking a valid question "DO YOU think you are who they say you are?"
Bedtime
HB
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Star tiger
Greetings Highdose,
I am also reading the Illuminatus trilogy, which has a lot to do with the NWO and illuminati influences in society don't no what to think at the moment as we are all just mushrooms, many things going on that we peasants just don't know about, similar to the GB, who knows just a bit worrying!!!!!
Star Tiger
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Morbidzbaby
I enjoy Dan Brown's books. jgnat, I think the idea he was trying to convey was that the art, places, etc that are depicted in his books ARE factual. Not that the fiction parts actually happened. For instance, The Last Supper is a real painting, as is the Mona Lisa, etc. Not that there was actually someone who wrote "So Dark The Con of Man" on a famous painting, but that the paintings and the places that house them DO exist...know what I mean?
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Palimpsest
This is my own literary snobbery shining through, of course, but I honestly find Dan Brown to be largely unreadable, and I say that as someone who's made it through The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol -- the first out of curiosity, the second to see if it could get any worse (it did), and the third thanks to a bet.
His writing style grates against me like few others'; here's a simplified log of his various offenses: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/6194031/The-Lost-Symbol-and-The-Da-Vinci-Code-author-Dan-Browns-20-worst-sentences.html My favorite take-down of Brown can be found at http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000844.html
I don't find any reward in solving his "mysteries," with their massive plot-holes and increasingly obvious conclusions. Personally, give me a real historical puzzle-thriller like Eco's The Name of the Rose any day. Even Caldwell and Thomason's The Rule of Four, which is probably more to the liking of Brown fans than Eco would be, is a huge step above.