The Da Vinci Code

[poliphilo]

They say the Da Vinci Code is badly written. That's enough to put me off. Life is too short.

But what really gets me is that people are reacting as if this stuff about The Priory of Sion and Mary Magdalen and Rennes Le Chateau were new and shocking. It isn't. It's all there in the 1982 non-fiction best-seller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which is still in print. Also it's all over the Net. What sheltered lives some people must lead!

Also, if Brown had researched properly- instead of just reading The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail- he'd have known that the Priory of Sion has long since been revealed as a hoax. I'll admit I didn't know that myself before last night (when Channel 4 revealed all) but if I'd been proposing to put the Priory at the centre of a novel I'd have made damn sure I found out all I could about it before I went ahead and committed myself.

Comments

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

It's all there in the 1982 non-fiction best-seller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which is still in print.

Also, if Brown had researched properly- instead of just reading The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail- he'd have known that the Priory of Sion has long since been revealed as a hoax.

THANK YOU - I've been saying the same bloody thing since Brown's book came out, but all I got were blank stares. I read the book out of curiosity, and "they" didn't mislead you. It makes John Grisham's books seem like high prose. I suspect Brown knew all along the data was false, but recognized the opportunity for a significant financial score in repackaging Holy Blood's central thesis in a pulp fiction format for mass consumption. Either way, he's certainly laughing all the way to the bank.

I'll be passing on the movie when it comes out.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's odd the things that capture the public imagination. Some bestsellers are trash and some (like the Philip Pullman trilogy) are actually pretty good. There doesn't seem to be any way of predicting success.

Just as well probably or all we'd get would be things written to a formula.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

I don't know about across the pond, but here in the States I suspect much of the book's success is a reaction to a combination of social phenomena, including the rise of Christian conservative groups since 2000 and the ever-present scandals involving Catholic priests. Brown's book provides a means of thumbing one's nose at the establishment.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I hadn't thought of that.

It makes me warm to the guy.