The Novels of Dan Brown

I’m using my blog today to set down a few rambiling thoughts about the Da Vinci Code.  If you are interested to know what I think please read on.  If not normal POTD service will resume tomorrow.

I went to see the Da Vinci Code this mording… 5 mins past midnight to be accurate!  The cinema was packed.  I know this book and film has caused a lot of controvesy, but even though I’m a Christian, I have both enjoyed reading the book and watching the film.  As a work of fiction it is both a good read and a good watch.  As a piece of theology and as a piece of history it is however a load of hockum!

Putting asside the theological issues it raises, the novel has a lot of inaccuracies.  The descriptions of where the characters are driving in Paris don’t make sense.  As one guide said – if you get lost in Paris make sure you don’t ask Dan Brown for directions.  Other facts like the assertion that a certain location in Scotland is both on and named after the “Rose Line” meridian is clearly not the case (just look at a map and you can see that).  So if the facts concerning the 21st Century are not accurate, how trustworthy are the facts in the book concerning the 12th Century or the 1st Century?  Does it matter that the facts are inaccurate in the book? No… because it is a work of fiction.  The book Dan Brown wrote was never inteded to be an expose of the church.  It was intended to be a page turner with some interesting puzzels. 

There is only one thing that does bother me – the fact that in a survey 60% of people who read the Da Vinci Code thought the “facts” and the theological implications in the book were true.  If ever there was proof that we live in a world where people don’t think for themselves that is it.  If you do what to think more about this film here’s a couple of links you might find helpful:

http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=5&id=474

http://www.saintmartins-stockport.org.uk/stmdavinci.html