READING FOR PLEASURE – ASSIGNMENT 2 BY
READING FOR PLEASURE – ASSIGNMENT 2
BY:
PUJA.J , 171102044,
II B.A. English ( Aided )
THE DA VINCI CODE
-Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. Daniel Gerhard Brown ( born in June 22, 1964 ) is an American author of thriller novels, most notably the Robert Langdon stories: Angels and Demons ( 2000 ), The Da Vinci Code ( 2003 ), The Lost Symbol ( 2009 ), Inferno ( 2013 ) and Origin ( 2017 ). His books have been translated into 56 languages and as of 2017, sold over 200 million copies.
This book follows the religious symbologist and professor at Harvard University Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in Paris. This causes them to become involved in a battle between Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ having been a companion to Mary Magdalene. The title refers to the finding of the first murder victim in the Grand Gallery of Louvre, posed similar to Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous drawing, The Vitruvian Man.
This novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot is that the Merovingan Kings of France were descended from the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. The Da Vinci Code provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail Legend and Mary Magdalene’s role in the history of Christianity. The book has, however, been extensively denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church.
Moreover, this work of Dan Brown has been consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies. With reference to the news on BBC dated 16th September, 2004, the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code was banned in Lebanon. This act took place in Pakistan, parts of some other countries including India after complaints as it was offensive to Christianity. The novel nonetheless became a worldwide bestseller that sold 80 million copies as of 2009. It is really amazing to consider the fact that this novel has been translated into 44 languages.
The review given to this novel by NEW YORK TIMES perfectly fits this read: ‘Blockbuster perfection… An exhilaratingly brainy thriller’. This international best seller is exciting, fast-paced with an unusually high IQ. This novel deals with a case study that is full of suspense and is considered to be ‘Unputdownable’. This novel which is full of turns and twists is not to be missed and still remains one of the most widely read novels of all time.
