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The Da Vinci Code - were the numerous mistakes deliberate?

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Nin
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 11:07 am
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To all those for whom Da Vinci Code was not brainy enough: Read Umberto Eco's Foucault's pendulum.


Better stuff on the same subject.

Much better.

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Dindraug
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 1:49 pm
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That is one of may favorite books Nin.

Hardest book to read, but so worth while in the end. And so much better than Browns book.

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Farawen
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 2:13 pm
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I read it over the Christmas holidays.

I finished it (and I enjoyed its page-turner-ness) but I will never ever pick that book up again. It made me highly... uncomfortable... because of the way it's written. It's shallow, clichèd, and on numerous occasions I wanted to yell at Dan Brown to get his damn ducks in order before inflicting his crappy book on me.

Then I turned the page to see what would happen next. :roll:

Dan Brown is pretty much what Bruckheimer would be were he an author.

Last edited by Farawen on Thu 10 Feb , 2005 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Berhael
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 2:25 pm
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or PJ

I didn't say that out loud, did I? :Q

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Holbytla
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 4:21 pm
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I read the book over Christmas too.
I kind of put it on the same level with the movie "The Mummy".
It had action and kept me interested, but you kind of need to check your brain at the door. Which is ok sometimes.
I've been to London once a long time ago, so I wouldn't even notice the mistakes and omissions. I don't think you can examine this work too closely without seeing big holes.
The three page chapters kind of drove me nuts, and the writing style isn't great.
It is first and foremost a work of fiction. Even though it is purported to be fact, some of the crap in there is obviously just that. Crap.
It did piss off Opus Dei pretty good though.
On the whole I liked the book. It has the appeal of a conspiracy, action, history etc.
An easy read, and ok if you don't look at it too closely.

PJ is a hack !

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Leoba
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 5:36 pm
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Holby, I'm sure the London mistakes would have passed me by if they weren't in my back yard effectively. I work maybe 200 yards from the Abbey, and walk through the park every day. It rankled. :P

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Holbytla
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 6:02 pm
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Oh I am quite sure.
I went to the Abbey once and I got lost inside if you can believe it. :Q
Quite an impressive place.
Are Brown's mistakes just plain daftness, or is it like the missing barrels in TTT? Did he lack a continuity editor?

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Dindraug
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 6:25 pm
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I think he just lacked basic knowlage, basic understanding of the layout of say Paris, or London. I also have no idea how he mapped the Abbey and gardens, or why he had historians and/or native Europeans who looked for a second exit from the chapter house.

Oh, and British police don't open fire to kill. On the rare occassions they do, the investigations are huge and their careers are destroyed if they find they have not given the 'victim' the chance to drop thier gun or surrender. Still, he had Kent police opperating in the remit of the Met. Thats a bit like having the californian highway patrol opperating in central LA. Just wrong.

Still, fun read, if anoying....but not as much as 'deception point'.

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Leoba
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Posted: Wed 09 Feb , 2005 6:42 pm
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Holby, next time you come over, let me know and I'll make sure you don't get lost! :smile:

If you check out the link I inserted into my first post, someone has gone to the trouble of listing all the mistakes. Once you start spotting a few, you get on a bit of a roll waiting for the next one. :mrgreen:

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Kaya
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Posted: Sat 12 Feb , 2005 9:24 am
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I read it over Christmas, and despite the mistakes (most I didn't even know of until I read them on that link Leoba provided :P) I quite liked it. I love a good conspiracy - did know the general story behind it already (have been corrupted by Alandriel, again :roll: :rofl: ) but it was nice to see it explained like for someone of my level of knowledge concerning historical facts. :P

Not at all a literary masterpiece, but a nice page turner.

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Farawen
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Posted: Sat 19 Feb , 2005 1:23 am
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Jnyusa
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Posted: Sat 19 Feb , 2005 2:55 am
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Nin and Din ... :) ... Eco is also one of my favorite authors. FP is a good comparison because there you've got someone who really did his homework, uses the language with great skill, and makes a point that isn't cribbed from the tabloids in a supermarket check-out line.

Jn

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Axordil
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 7:43 pm
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When the translation of someone is better English than a novel written by a native speaker, that says something, doesn't it? FP is very good.

So is Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, if you really want conspiracies.

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halplm
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Posted: Mon 21 Feb , 2005 9:30 pm
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Haven't read it, and probably won't, as it's far too popular for me ;) might get it on tape, as I can't read on planes and I'm going to by flying insane amounts over the next 6 months...

As for conspiracy theories and such, and a little action/page turner dealing with religion (as I'm thinking that book does?)...

I would recommend a book called "A Skeleton in God's Closet" if you can find it, by Paul L. Maier. I believe it is just now in print again (it wasn't for a while, which was sad).

It's one of my all time favorites, and tries to tell the story of what might happen if someone dug up Jesus's bones (as most Christians believe his bones wouldn't be lying around somewhere).

It's got a sequel that I'm reading now, but is not as good as the first.

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Berhael
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 2:04 pm
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I'm in the middle of "Angels and Demons", a.k.a. The Da Vinci Code Part I (it was published before TDVC). :Q My God, is it BAD. No, it's WORSE! :LMAO: And it's got exactly the same structure as TDVC, the same cliched characters, the same pace and the same cavalier attitude towards history, fiction and fact. But it's unputdownable. How does Dan Brown do it?? :D


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Meneltarma
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Posted: Wed 23 Feb , 2005 5:22 pm
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I haven't even read this book. People on a literature related mailing list I belong to were so disgusted by it that I was afraid to, and nothing I've heard since has made me want to. :D

Now FP is literature.
*snobface*


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Mahima
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Posted: Wed 02 Mar , 2005 8:24 am
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I read Da Vinci code at a time when I did not want to think about anything, was alone in a hotel when a meeting finished too early, and wanted a pure *fiction* book.

Put it into these categories and its a decent read. Other than that, I can't imagine what made it reach the #1 list! Its like just any other religious-conspiracy-finding-treasure story!! But interesting 'cus I didn't even know about Mary Magdalene being a Hindu, though convent-studied.

In fact, a few months ago, I read the much-earlier-written, the Gemini Contenders by Ludlum. Both of them are absolutely similar books. Ludlum is talking about hidden documents which say that it wasn't Jesus who was crucified, Brown talks about hidden documents which say Jesus had children.

The only thing the book did was want me to go visit Paris again. :)
All the inconsistencies you've mentioned about Paris are making me sick, though.


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Pippin4242
Post subject: Re: The Da Vinci Code - were the numerous mistakes deliberat
Posted: Wed 16 Mar , 2005 7:36 pm
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*reads thread*

I think maybe I won't be reading The Da Vince Code just yet then. :P
Lidless wrote:
Leoba wrote:
But above all, how can a book...have a central female character who is dump as a stump? Sophie is simply used as an object on which to project chunks of background text, whilst she sits there and goes "oh yes, I never thought of that".
Don't bemoan the one fact he got right, eh satch?
I like having Satch around. :D

*~Pips~~*


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kams
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Posted: Wed 16 Mar , 2005 11:12 pm
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Conspiracy Theories a la Religion. meh.


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moonfariegalena
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Posted: Sun 20 Mar , 2005 10:00 am
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I read it in a translation which raised a lot of eyebrows, but I rather approved of it...the translation I mean :D

it took me just a day or two to read it, cause I wanted to enjoy a good conspiracy at the time, but I felt like all the info form the regular Templar literature were just put together , possibly with addition of info from books like "When god was a Woman" by Merlin Stone... ;)

the book was probably much more interesting for the readers who don`t have at least a basic "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" background


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