Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code - Sion—an actual secret society
Sat Oct 11 18:38:16 2003
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While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. Solving the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci…clues visible for all to see…and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. The Louvre curator has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic, hidden for centuries.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who appears to work for Opus Dei—a clandestine, Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect believed to have long plotted to seize the Priory's secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's secret—and a stunning historical truth—will be lost forever.

In an exhilarating blend of relentless adventure, scholarly intrigue, and cutting wit, symbologist Robert Langdon (first introduced in Dan Brown's bestselling Angels & Demons) is the most original character to appear in years. THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightening-paced, intelligent thriller…surprising at every twist, absorbing at every turn, and in the end, utterly unpredictable…right up to its astonishing conclusion.
http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/plot.html

The Da Vinci Code' gets rave reviews
http://www.tulareadvanceregister.com/news/stories/20030926/localnews/337916.html

By James Ward

The book: "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown

What it's about: A late-night murder in the halls of the Louvre reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle. The two become both suspects and detectives, searching not only for the murderer but also a secret of the ages he was charged to protect. The mystery leads Neveu and Langdon, who are mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, on a flight through France and England.

You might like it if: Reading a complicated murder mystery with a European flavor sounds like a good way to spend the weekend.

You might not like it if: Eurotrash novels in the tradition of Robert Ludlum annoy you.

What's similar: Anything by Ludlum, or any of Brown's previous novels.

For children? Nope. The plot is far too complicated and the violence is inappropriate.

For teens? Sure. Older teens may be fascinated by all the plot twists.

What the critics say:

The San Francisco Chronicle -- "It's a smart, compelling yarn. It's good fun -- Umberto Eco on steroids."

What we say:

Dave Adalian of Visalia -- "I'll certainly never look at a Leonardo da Vinci painting the same way after reading 'The Da Vinci Code.'

"Included as fascinating background information is the story of mystic symbolism in Leonardo's works. The entire book is rich in visual descriptions supporting a plot deeply entangled in secrets, secretive societies and their hidden languages and signs.

"None of this, however, interferes with a reader just looking for a well-written, fast-paced adventure. At its heart, 'The Da Vinci Code' is a modern tale of the search for the Holy Grail, replete with violently insane monks, shadow figures anonymously pulling strings, ladies in distress and knights of the realm.

"It is also a murder mystery, a whodunit that will leave you guessing until the final chapters unfold. Genuine mystery fans will enjoy the way all the evidence is presented before the solution, letting the reader arrive, right or wrong, at his own conclusion.

"Despite the blood, 'The Da Vinci Code' is still tame enough for almost everyone. What some may find disturbing and others refreshing is the evidence for a different perspective on Christian faith included in the story."

Terri Skill of Visalia -- "It's one of those books I couldn't put down. It is an intriguing new twist on the search for the Holy Grail. A blend of history, art and religion, 'The Da Vinci Code' is an exciting and controversial read."

William R. Allen of Visalia -- "It's by far the most polished murder mystery I have ever read.

"Brown tweaks the reader's curiosity prior to even beginning the story by saying that the Priory of Sion, a European secret society, is a real organization, and the controversial Vatican prelature known as "Opus Dei" is truly a deeply devout Catholic sect in New York City.

"Obviously, 'The Da Vinci Code' is a step above the usual whodunit. It is so rich in fascinating detail that the reader will be unconsciously turning a page almost before finishing the one he is on."

Summer Robinson of Visalia -- "It kept me interested from the first paragraph. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. It is a quick read, even at 454 pages. This is the first book I have read by Dan Brown, and it will not be the last."

Book Talk is a joint effort by Choices and the Friends of the Tulare County Library, a nonprofit group benefiting the library. To join the organization, call 733-6954 and ask for the Friends of the Tulare County Library representative. At least four copies of this month's book are available at the library.

Originally published Friday, September 26, 2003
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** See Dan on the ABC Special "Jesus, Mary, and Da Vinci" airing Monday, Nov. 3rd (8 PM EST)

-- MORE THAN THREE MILLION COPIES NOW IN PRINT --
In its first week on sale, "The Da Vinci Code" achieved unprecedented success when it debuted at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list... as well as #1 Wall Street Journal, #1 Publishers Weekly, and #1 San Francisco Chronicle. Since then it has hit #1 on every major bestseller list in the country and is being translated into more than 30 languages.

Soon to become a major motion picture...
MORE:
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March 17, 2003
Spinning a Thriller From the Louvre
By JANET MASLIN

The word for "The Da Vinci Code" is a rare invertible palindrome. Rotated 180 degrees on a horizontal axis so that it is upside down, it denotes the maternal essence that is sometimes linked to the sport of soccer. Read right side up, it concisely conveys the kind of extreme enthusiasm with which this riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller can be recommended.

That word is wow.

The author is Dan Brown (a name you will want to remember). In this gleefully erudite suspense novel, Mr. Brown takes the format he has been developing through three earlier novels and fine-tunes it to blockbuster perfection. Not since the advent of Harry Potter has an author so flagrantly delighted in leading readers on a breathless chase and coaxing them through hoops.

The first book by this onetime teacher, the 1998 "Digital Fortress," had a foxy heroine named Susan Fletcher who was the National Security Agency's head cryptographer. The second, "Deception Point," involved NASA, a scientific ruse in the Arctic and Rachel Sexton, an intelligence analyst with a hairdo "long enough to be sexy, but short enough to remind you she was probably smarter than you."

With "Angels and Demons," Mr. Brown introduced Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of art history and religious symbology who is loaded with "what his female colleagues referred to as an `erudite' appeal." No wonder: the new book finds the enormously likable Langdon pondering antimatter, the big-bang theory, the cult of the Illuminati and a threat to the Vatican, among other things. Yet this is merely a warm-up for the mind-boggling trickery that "The Da Vinci Code" has in store.

Consider the new book's prologue, set in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre. (This is the kind of book that notices that this one gallery's length is three times that of the Washington Monument.) It embroils a Caravaggio, an albino monk and a curator in a fight to the death. That's a scene leaving little doubt that the author knows how to pique interest, as the curator, Jacques Saunière, fights for his life.

Desperately seizing the painting in order to activate the museum's alarm system, Saunière succeeds in buying some time. And he uses these stolen moments — which are his last — to take off his clothes, draw a circle and arrange himself like the figure in Leonardo's most famous drawing, "The Vitruvian Man." And to leave behind an anagram and Fibonacci's famous numerical series as clues.

Whatever this is about, it is enough to summon Langdon, who by now, he blushes to recall, has been described in an adoring magazine article as "Harrison Ford in Harris tweed." Langdon's latest manuscript, which "proposed some very unconventional interpretations of established religious iconography which would certainly be controversial," is definitely germane.

Also soon on the scene is the cryptologist Sophie Neveu, a chip off the author's earlier prototypes: "Unlike the waifish, cookie-cutter blondes that adorned Harvard dorm room walls, this woman was healthy with an unembellished beauty and genuineness that radiated a striking personal confidence." Even if he had not contrived this entire story as a hunt for the Lost Sacred Feminine essence, women in particular would love Mr. Brown.

With Leonardo as co-conspirator, since his life and work were so fraught with symbols and secrets, Mr. Brown is off to the races. Google away: you may want to investigate the same matters that Langdon and Agent Neveu pursue as they tap into a mother lode of religious conspiracy theory. The Priory of Sion, the Knights Templar and the controversial Vatican prelature called Opus Dei are all invoked, as is the pentacle, the Divine Proportion, the strange sex rites glimpsed in the film "Eyes Wide Shut" and the Holy Grail. If you think the Grail is a cup, then Mr. Brown — drawing upon earlier controversial Grail theories involving 19th-century discoveries by a real Saunière — would like you to think again.

As in his "Angels and Demons," this author is drawn to the place where empirical evidence and religious faith collide. And he creates a bracing exploration of this realm, one that is by no means sacrilegious, though it sharply challenges Vatican policy. As Langdon and Sophie follow clues planted by Leonardo, they arrive at some jaw-dropping suppositions, some of which bring "The Da Vinci Code" to the brink of overkill. But in the end Mr. Brown gracefully lays to rest all the questions he has raised.

The book moves at a breakneck pace, with the author seeming thoroughly to enjoy his contrivances. Virtually every chapter ends with a cliffhanger: not easy, considering the amount of plain old talking that gets done. And Sophie and Langdon are sent on the run, the better to churn up a thriller atmosphere. To their credit, they evade their pursuers as ingeniously as they do most everything else.

When being followed via a global positioning system, for instance, it is smart to send the sensor flying out a 40-foot window and lead pursuers to think you have done the same. Somehow the book manages to reconcile such derring-do with remarks like, "And did you know that if you divide the number of female bees by the number of male bees in any beehive in the world, you always get the same number?"

"The Da Vinci Code" is breezy enough even to make fun of its characters' own cleverness. At one point Langdon is asked by his host whether he has hidden a sought-after treasure carefully enough. "Actually," Langdon says, unable to hide his grin, "that depends on how often you dust under your couch."

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