dessert rose | Books | 17 September 2004, 8:41pm
Book: The Da Vinci Code.
Author: Dan Brown
Location: Louvre Art museum.
Victim: Jacques Sauniere a well known and famous curator.
Clues (last written by the victim): 13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5
O Draconian devil!
Oh, lame saint!
Motive: A dark secret presevred for centuries
Suspect: Robert Langdon(Harvard symbologist)
Aide: Sophie Neveu (aide, but she has a lot more stake)
A set of riddles, leading to famous paintings, a ghost-like insane monk, a mysterious Teacher, a desparate Bishop, a Historian, his man-servant all intertwined in a murder mystery. And it isnt just that.
There is so much of history too and definitely not the kind that made your history teacher kick you out of the class. Brown talks extensively about the hidden meanings behind some of Da Vincis famous works like the perfect anatomical Vitruvian Man(said to be a wonderful combination of art and anatomy) , The Last Supper(You actually have to see it to believe there is a lady in the picture) and the lady with the most enigmatic smile, Mona Lisa. Brown also delves extensively into history of Christianity and the premise of the Holy Grail. You found yourself believing everything that was written at the same time wondering "Did this actually happen?".
So in the end, I would call the book a seamless integration of well researched facts, suspense, religion and fiction. It is very intelligent and re-defines words like riveting, un-put-down-able and the likes. Story-telling taken to dizzying heights.
Personally, as a rule, I never buy fiction (good enough to read only once, I say). I bought this one and didnt regret it one bit. You might think I have told you most of the story but you would know better(and appreciate the title of the post ;) ) if you've read it.
Quirky fact(put here only bcoz it seemed relevant): The officials at the Louvre Art museum have placed a sign that requests public not to ask questions based on some best selling novel :)
My Rating 8.5/10
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