That Damn Book (And Film)

[poliphilo]

The Da Vinci Code comes too late for me. I did all this stuff in the 80s and 90s.

I'm not saying I was in the vanguard. As someone in the Observer pointed out this morning, people like Robert Graves and Margaret Murray were putting together theories involving the Great Goddess, the sex life of Jesus and centuries-old ecclesiastical conspiracies over fifty years ago.

And behind them lies Frazer's Golden Bough- one of the key texts of the early 20th century.

What was once the prattle of a few off-centre scholars and pseudo-scholars has finally gone mainstream.

There was a time when I hoped and half-believed it was all true.

But now I know it isn't.

There never was a Goddess worshipping Golden Age.
The Priory de Sion was the invention of a mid-20th century fascist hoaxer.
Opus Dei may be sinister- but it doesn't employ albino hit-men.

And so on...

That's what irritates me about Brown. If he'd done proper research- instead of cherrypicking the conspiracy websites- he'd have known that most of the ideas he's playing with here were shot to pieces ages ago.

Comments

[intotheraw.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that it is a poorly written book aimed at the lowest level of intelligence.

I only read the book because I am in the academic game of religion, and wanted to figure out why people were so upset about it. The book was horrible, sure the plot was semi-interesting, I suppose. Maybe more so for those who hadn't read anything else like it before, but the style of writing was insulting. A cliff hanger every three pages is like foreplay without ever getting to the big bang. Only worse. The big bang was the notion that maybe Jesus might have been normal enough to have had a family *rolls eyes*. Really now, where's the controversy?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's got to be some reason why this book rings a bell.

Perhaps it's simply because organised religion- after years of apparent decline- is suddenly all over the headlines again.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that it is a poorly written book aimed at the lowest level of intelligence.

Most bestsellers are.