The author of the book "The Da Vinci Code" is Dan Brown. Brown was born in the United States in 1964. He is currently one of the richest contemporary writers. The greatest fame brought him "The Da Vinci Code", which became a world bestseller.
The book opens with the assassination of the Louvre curator Jacques Saunier. The body of the deceased is arranged similarly to the painting "Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci. This layout and anagram are meant to make it clear where to look for the next clue - also in da Vinci's works, for example, "Monie Lisa".
Robert Langdon, a scientist skilled in symbolism, is called upon to solve a murder mystery. At the scene of the crime, he discovers a series of camouflaged signs left by Saunière before his death, which lead not only to the murderer but also to a mystery dating back to the beginnings of Christianity. Langdon is helped to unravel the mystery of Sophie Neveu, the deceased's granddaughter and a police agent specializing in cryptology.
The attitude of both characters makes a good impression. Despite the fact that they were in great danger, they strove to know and reveal the truth. The teacher behind the plot is a very mysterious figure here. His person does not appear until the end of the book. However, although we do not know who he is, it is known that you are trying to work against Robert and Sophie. He is helped by many negative heroes, such as Silas or Bishop Aringarosa. The controversial plot concerns Christian matters and the truth about Jesus Christ. Presumptions are presented here such as that Mary Magdalene was the spouse of Jesus and is herself the Holy Grail, which is considered a holy chalice.
The author refers to the "Last Supper", on which, according to him, Mary Magdalene is seated next to Christ, which is to be expressed by her delicate, feminine facial features and the same colors of her clothes as Jesus. However, others believe that he is a young apostle. When we ask a Catholic question how many chalices there are in the image of "The Last Supper", he will say that one - Jesus, as the Scriptures say: "Then he took a chalice and gave thanks, saying: my blood of the covenant, which will be poured out for many for the remission of sins ... »”. But in fact, after looking at it, we will see that there is no chalice there ... The only image of the chalice is the phenomenal deviation of Mary Magdalene from Christ, which resembles that chalice.
The search for Sauniere's murderer leads to the Order of Zion, to which the deceased belonged (as well as Leonardo da Vinci, Victor Hugo, Isaac Newton), and to the secret kept by this organization. Its mission is to protect the Holy Grail, which is not, as is commonly believed, a chalice, but a dynasty born of Mary Magdalene and Christ.
The language used by Brown is understandable and goes to the reader. Nevertheless, before reading this book, I was terrified of its volume. The beginning was not very interesting, but when I got through the first chapters, it hooked me terribly and within a few days or noticed that the book was about to end and the mystery of the Holy Grail was solved.
I evaluate the whole piece positively. The logical division of events, presenting many interesting, historical facts, introducing the reader to the riddles of the Holy Grail, up to the end of the work of the famous painter of the Renaissance era, Leonardo da Vinci, are the main reasons that I highly recommend this reading. This book, despite many critics, both for me and many people, is a first-rate work. You could say that everything the author describes is correct. The motifs in the paintings of Leonard or the Order of Zion that really existed.
The Church condemned it - and this is probably also why the readers fell in love with the novel and gave it the status of a cult work. It was similar with the film that was made on the basis of it. If there was an inquisition today, Dan Brown and the film crew would probably burn at the stake - and without a trial. The thing is that what is forbidden seems even more attractive and interesting today. Therefore, the popularity of the Da Vinci Code has not diminished despite the passage of time.
I think that every reader has to make their own judgment and take their place in the battle: is Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" sensational, religious, iconoclastic, historical, or just skilful manipulation?
The popularity of the book does not decrease also because it is simply a very good, carefully prepared novel, suspenseful and surprising. Written in simple language in a very interesting way, the reader is literally taken into the whirlwind of action from the very first page. The plot of the book is actually trivial. There is a corpse, there is a puzzle to be solved, and there is a suitable person who has the skills, time and willingness to take on the challenge. The author had to put a lot of effort and work into preparing the publication of the publication, he must have spent months collecting all the information on cryptology, works of art and historical monuments in many places in Europe. He had to get acquainted with the oldest beliefs, mythologies, with the life of Leonardo da Vinci, and then weave between the non-fictional plot so that the whole would seem credible.
One must remember: Dan Brown's novel is a literary fiction. With this assumption, it is possible with pleasure to plunge into reading, following the dramatic events and fate of the characters, reading about their adventures. The Leonardo da Vinci Code is simply entertainment at its purest. Many consider the novel to be a lame mush of literary scribble, an expression of a desire for profit and an attempt to create a sensational atmosphere to increase sales. Maybe it's true. But if all the books were such a sensationally tailored "literary mush", we would not have to admire and talk about only one novel for so many years.
Angels and Demons. Dan Brown
The book (how brilliant) tells the story of a symbolism researcher and lecturer at Harvard University - Robert Langdon - who is urgently called to the Swiss research center (CERN) to analyze a mysterious mark burned on the body of a murdered physicist-priest. He meets his "daughter" - Vittoria Vetra, who decides to find her father's murderer. He discovers that it is a symbol of a secret anti-religious brotherhood - the Illuminati. He also soon learns that a powerful explosive substance - antimatter - has been placed in the center of the Vatican and will explode in 24 hours. Additionally, all the preferiti suddenly disappear, literally just before the conclave. Now Langdon and Vittoria have only less than a day to save the papal salt, they follow an assassin, thanks to which they discover a terrible secret. Because before their eyes, a terrible, age-old struggle between religion and science is taking place. But who will win this time?
I reached for the book mainly due to the fact that I really liked the "Da Vinci Code" by the same author. However, I initially treated this novel with a slight distance. Fighting the Illuminati? Vatican? And what could be interesting and realistic about it? And now I know how wrong I was, because as it turned out, Dan Brown is a master at creating intricate, intricate, but at the same time extremely engaging stories. As for the characters: I had the pleasure of meeting Langdon himself in "Kod ..." and I must admit that he did not lose any of his charm and general wisdom. Until the reader feels stupid with him. But it's nice to know that everyone, even he is wrong. Recently, I often come across books in which the heroes are infallible, immortal and omniscient. It's nice to know that this one is not like that;) I was also charmed by Vittoria, who (fortunately!) Is not empty and thoughtless, deprived of her own will, like most of the current protagonists. The author very accurately portrayed all her emotions that swirled in her after her father's death. Together, they make a great couple. The background characters are also fully formed, not artificial and unreal. Especially the duplicity of Camerlengo, which, however, only comes to light at the very end. And the plot itself is perfectly formed. After reading "Osaczona" I expect everything from books, but I would never have come up with such an unexpected and shocking ending. The story unfolds rapidly, there are no unnecessary additions, but it is also not just a cluster of consecutive, unrelated shots jumping around one another. I admire Mr. Brown's knowledge and language, because it was necessary to read a lot about antimatter, accelerators (etc.) and about the Vatican itself, its history and customs that govern it to create such a realistic world. Simply a brilliant novel, tailored to the last button. Even though the book also contains a lot of fiction, I recommend it to anyone. After reading such a well-written and engaging story, I'll probably be more picky about other books. ;) I myself will come back to it for a long time.
"Inferno" by Dan Brown
After getting my hands on "Angels and Demons" and "The Leonardo Da Vinci Code", I could not pass by another novel by the amazing Dan Brown. I assumed in advance that "Inferno" would occupy a special place in my bookcase, as it came from the hand of a master of intrigue and a character creator, whom I have great love and admiration for.
The structure of the novel, its multithreading, numerous descriptions of cities, interiors, buildings, characters and the emotions accompanying them came to me as a 100% recipient. Brown prepared a remarkable, fast-paced action for us, from which it is difficult to break away. Following in the footsteps of Robert Langdon, an extraordinarily intelligent, mysterious and perceptive man who even amnesia cannot overcome, was for me a kind of journey that never bored me for a minute.
In addition, the plot that the lecturer is to work out has been so carefully and cunningly worked out that discovering each new part of the puzzle has become a puzzle that we can't wait to finish, but not to get over it, but to see the full effect. work.
"Inferno" left me with many questions about the world we live in, as it refers to problems that we face every day, whether we like it or not, but we push them out of our consciousness, because it is easier for us sometimes. For me, as a person who loves traveling, it was also an opportunity to break away from everyday life and move to distant places, which the author meticulously describes, in order to best reflect the reality of the characters.
"Origin" Dan Brown
Since the release of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's popularity has continued to grow. Each subsequent book sold either better or at least as well as the previous one. At some point, the author and his series became interested in Hollywood and films with Tom Hanks as Professor Langdon began to be made.
The opening volumes of the series were typical conspiracy thrillers. It was like that to the Lost Symbol. More science fiction than historical elements appeared in Inferno - although the plot of Dante and his mask was still strongly present here. It is only the Beginning that almost completely abandons historical motives - here we have a modern technothriller taking place against the backdrop of palace intrigues.
Because everything else is unfortunately the same. Here we have a mysterious ecclesiastical dignitary, a beautiful woman and a scientist who put everything on the line. There are some news related to the latest technologies and scientific discoveries, but they serve as ornaments and an excuse to move the plot forward. Unfortunately, not everything is the same. Many elements of the novel are worse than in the volumes that preceded it - one gets the impression that the author has sometimes forgotten how to write. Or maybe he used the services of a better editor before?
Inferno's theme was transhumanism. The topics of the Beginning are ... the origins of existence, artificial intelligence and the issue of life in simulation.
Dan Brown also kept his style, which can be felt strongly by every reader after a few hundred pages. A characteristic feature of this style are encyclopedic inserts explaining almost every issue. Unfortunately, they give the impression that they were copied from Wikipedia. They sound very artificial and we have the impression of intentionally increasing the volume of the text. It looks like:
Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia, operating on the basis of the principle of open content. Its slogan is "A Free Encyclopedia That Anyone Can Edit."
Another trick characteristic of Brown is to artificially delay the action by describing the situation. These descriptions usually tell the reader nothing meaningful. Oh, something like: “It completely changes the shape of things! Langdon thought. That I hadn't figured that out either! ”. Of course, this sentence is immediately followed by a new chapter featuring Langdon's antagonist, and once the narrative returns to the professor, we still don't learn anything new. It is a narrative awkwardness that theoretically would have to be removed from the novel in the redaction process - but let's face it - then there would be little left of the novel.
The word narrative comes from the Latin word narratio, meaning storytelling. It's so obvious now, thought the editor of Taler. If only I had come up with it sooner! It would spare me reading an entire Brown book.
So we get more of the same, this time with Wikipedia knowledge about artificial intelligence and quantum computers. Once I came across an interesting and original idea about the conflict between scientific knowledge and faith, it quickly turned out that Brown was quoting some scientist in it.
I would not like you to misunderstand me: I love entertainment and "genre" literature. I read entire thriller series (eg I love Steven James's "chess" series). And I liked Dan Brown's series on Langdon until the book Lost Symbol. Recently, however, the author includes mishaps: the dialogues and descriptions seem even more forced, and the blatological explanation of each issue gets on the nerves. And the solution to the whole puzzle, I have to admit, I figured out so early that the following pages only confirmed my assumptions. Disappointing. If we add to this completely unbelievable psychological behavior and the plot of the Prince's bride, a native of Brazilian soap operas, we will get a mixture that is completely indigestible.
Were it not for the review obligation, I would throw it into a corner and not read it to the end. And you (although you probably won't listen to me anyway) I advise you to do the same. There are many much better entertainment books on the market. Maybe it's better to take the time to read something else?
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