The Da Vinci Code
The Last Supper is supposed to be thirteen men. Who is this woman?” Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code.
Intelligent Harvard Professor Robert Langdon is woken in the early hours of the morning to the news that a man he has never met has been murdered in the Louvre and he is the number one suspect. From the first page to the last, this thrilling mystery novel will keep you hooked on every word.
The impact that The Da Vinci Code had on the world when it was first published has been likened to Harry Potter, a small but thick novel describing the adventures of Robert Langdon, highly intelligent professor of religious symbolism and reluctant participant in a discovery that would shake the world.
Since its original release in 2003, the thrilling story has spawned three films, one still waiting to be released. Due to the incredibly popularity of The Da Vinci Code, many people (myself included) assume that it’s a standalone novel. But it is in fact the second in a collection of four books all surrounding Langdon and his penchant for discovering long hidden religious scandal.
I came across this book over two years ago, on yet another family camping holiday. I’d been aware of both the film and the novel for some years, but it had always gone over my head as something that I wouldn’t find particularly appealing. I love historical novels, but religion seemed to me to be a far less interesting theme for a story. Oh, how wrong I was.
Dan Brown has the incredible ability to imbue a powerful sense of danger and excitement on every page. The plot (spoiler: whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had descendants that continued on to the modern day) is so full of twists and turns it really does feel like the reader is experiencing it first hand alongside Langdon and his companion Sophie Neveu, a French cryptologist with a secret (obviously).
Something that I personally found quite interesting is that the topic of whether Jesus was married is a highly controversial one that has been long debated by historians and religious scholars alike, with many books and articles being published on the subject. On the one hand, substantial evidence has been found over the years that suggest he may have been married, coupled with the historical knowledge that in that time period, marriage was essentially a compulsory part of life. However, the Bible, the very book that is responsible for over two thousand years of organised religion has never explicitly mentioned, which surely it would. Until the truth is discovered, it seems that the final decision rests with the individual reading the story. I for one, was perfectly happy to suspend any form of disbelief and get swept away by the writing.
If you love a good mystery, a story that will keep you hooked until the very end, where at times you can’t figure out where the plot’s going and how it’s going to end, then you will most definitely enjoy this book. At the very least you should give the film a watch, Tom Hanks never disappoints.