The Da Vinci Code

Kira

9/12/09

Period 2, English

Ms.Huff

 

BOOK REVIEW BLOG:

THE DA VINCI CODE

 

            Currently, my favorite book in the whole wide world (sorry for the childish words, but it explains it) is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.  The reason I decided to read this book was because early in the summer I saw the movie based on the prequel of The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons.  It was a really fantastic movie, and afterwards my parents suggested since I liked it so much, I should read The Da Vinci Code.  They had read it a few years ago and still had the book, so they lent it to me.  When they gave it to me, I was shocked about how thick the book was.  It was four hundred and fifty-four pages.  I got through the book in about two weeks, though.  It was so good, I could barely put it down.  I brought it everywhere.  I even read it waiting for my dad to order his Chinese food at Panda Express!  I'm glad my parents suggested The Da Vinci Code to me, because it was a really great read.

            The Da Vinci Code has a very large, interesting, and complex plotline to it, but I'll try to summarize it as best as I can.  It follows the story of Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist in his fourties, made a bit famous by his books on religious symbols. Langdon was contacted by the Judicial Police with some very important information that required his help.  A curator of the Louvre museum by the name of Jacques Sauniere, someone who was scheduled to meet Robert that night, had been murdered.  Robert was then invited to meet the head of the Judicial Police, Captain Bezu Fache.  Fache showed him to the crime scene where he saw, there, in front of him, probably one of the more disturbing things he had seen in his life.  Jacques Sauniere's body was not only lying there dead, but his body was naked, spread out like the Vitruvian Man, with a pentacle painted on his stomach in blood.  Next to him, also written in blood, was a jumble of numbers and the phrase, "O, Draconian Devil!  O, Lame Saint!"  Langdon is later accompanied by expert cryptologist Sophie Neveu, who turns out to be the granddaughter of Jacques Sauniere.  Neveu confronts Langdon later and tells him that the only reason why he was there was that Captain Fache suspected Langdon of committing the murder.  Sophie decided to help Langdon prove his innocence and also find out who Sauniere's murderer was by strange clues hidden on various Da Vinci pieces, along with various cryptexes and boxes.  Then something else was revealed: Jacques Sauniere was part of a secret religious organization named the Priory of Sion, which kept a timeless secret that could destroy the idea of Christianity itself.

            One of my favorite quotes in the book is "So dark the con of man."  It is the first clue that Langdon and Sophie find, written across the Mona Lisa's face in the museum.  I think that it's something that kind of explains the book quite a bit.  In the book there are so many twisted lies and people who appear to be good, but in the end are the enemies. There are also people who turn against each other.  For example, Captain Fache, who says that he needs Langdon's help, but really wants to prove that he's a suspect.  There are others, but I don't want to give them away.

             I'm going to rate The Da Vinci Code in Fleur De Li's, the symbol for the Priory of Sion, which was the organization that Jacques Sauniere was a member of.  A few of the clues in the book were related to this symbol.

I gave The Da Vinci Code twenty Fleur De Li's.  In my opinion, it really is the best book ever.

            I highly recommend The Da Vinci Code to anyone who enjoys a good book.  Here are three reasons why you would want to read this book:

1.It's really suspenseful!  A real page-turner and always leaves you thinking about what's going to happen next.

2.It has every great book element in it: thrill, mystery, a bit of humor, and even some romance!

3.Lastly, it's just really interesting and full of surprises.

Even though The Da Vinci Code is a phenomenal book that everyone should read, I guess there's a few warnings I'd need to include.  I don't think there's anything that bad, but there's violence, blood, and a tiny bit of sexual content, but it's just a flashback and it doesn't go into detail or anything.  This is probably a book for probably ages 13+.  Well, hopefully you'll read it and like it!  The Da Vinci Code is a great book!