The DaVinci Code

Originally posted May 2, 2005

I'm no professional book critic but I do have opinions about what I read.  Since I joined Book Crossing, I've been making an effort to journal a little about what I read and I've just finished Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code.  I am behind the times when it comes to reading what's on the best seller list and I sort of passed this one by because of time constraints and I wasn't sure I'd like it.  Recently, I saw a special on TV about cracking the DaVinci Code and knew it's to be in a movie starring Tom Hanks so I thought let's give it a try.  If you haven't read the book yet and you want to, STOP HERE.  There are spoilers!

I could have passed.  Mystery thrillers and suspense are just not my cup of tea.  Usually, I find them to be kind of shallow, confusing, contradictory and lots of times the reader gets cheated because the author has action take place that isn't written about or revealed until later.  That's how I felt reading this book.

First of all, the murder itself was quite a stretch of the imagination.  The victim "posed" himself to present clues to finding a secret he was guarding.  Okay, I can buy that ... but then there came a point when the police evacuated the building, all of them, and left their body sprawled out behind.  I don't think so.  Not even in France. 

Some of the characters had extraordinary talents that just seemed a tad unbelievable.  The young woman cryptographer seemed to be a genius at figuring out how to outwit the police by breaking a window and throwing a bar of soap with a transmitter in it onto the back of a truck that just happened to be passing underneath (how convenient) and the whole police force took off after this truck.  They left the body!  Oh, but I said that already ...

The hero seemed half-wimp (he was always getting caught or put on the hot spot) who would have these sudden enlightening moments of clarity and he'd figure out a clue instantaneously.

The bad guy was a mysterious person called "The Teacher" who turned out to be the hero's friend!  And the hero and this girl ran right to his house after eluding the police.  That was a good twist.  I didn't like it, though, that things happened out of sight and then were presented toward the end of the book.  It totally turned me off.

It all gets neatly concluded in the last couple of pages and, yes, once again, the hero has more brilliant insights and solves the biggest puzzle of all.  Ho hum.  Oh...and he kisses the girl, who coincidentally turned out to be the victim's granddaughter.  They make arrangements to meet in Venice (I think) for a week of something *other* than sightseeing.

Um...when did the romance happen?

The book was just 'eh' for me but if you like thrillers, it's a good one.  As for the movie that's coming out, well, I really like Tom Hanks so I'd probably go see it.

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