HC Reviews

The Da Vinci Code

I read this book in one day!

So, it has to be good, right?

welll.....

...it is good.

I decided to take a break from my Uni studies to read a book 'for fun' (what a concept!), and I actually planned on reading this book in a weekend, so that it didn't completely interfere with my studies.

This was not hard to do.

The book is very fast paced, and an easy read. Not 'easy' becuase it's simple, but 'easy' becuase you can't put it down until you read what happens next.

And this continues as a cycle throughout the book, whereupon you find yourself at the end, finally finding out what happens and having wasted an entire day.

It took me approximately 7 hours to read...but don't let my speed of reading inhibit yours.

I found the characters all likeable and believable. Dan Brown uses a lot of flashbacks to give the reader an idea of what the character is like, and why their history comes into play. At first I found the flashbacks tedious, but later, I realized how necessary they were, and enjoyed them. He uses this technique as a way of letting the reader inside the mind of the character without giving a complete and full background of the character all in one chapter.

Brown also like to foreshadow what's to come. I hate foreshadowing. But I hate it in a 'good' way becuase it makes me wonder what's going to happen next. In those rare moments when I actually guessed what was coming due to the foreshadowing, I was annoyed. But overall, the foreshadowing was spot on.

Brown also has a very keen understanding of how to describe places without being tedious (unlike Dickens, who explains every speck of dirt or dust). I remember walking through the Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa, and as Brown described it, I found myself walking through it again in my imagination. His attention to detail is superb, but again, without being boring.

The book overall is a complex game...a never ending riddle that must be puzzled out. The genious of the way that Brown displays the riddles is that he gives the reader the opportunity to figure it out before his characters give away the answer.

Involving the reader is a good thing. With the reader trying to figure out the clues, plus the attention to detail of the surroundings, it's easy to imagine oneself actually being there.

I would recommend this book...there's a new hardcover illustrated version out, if you're so inclined, but, with Brown's detail, you probably won't need the illustrations.

Read it: you'll find yourself on an adventure....and liking it.

Also, Xinher recommends this movie if you liked the Da Vinci Code.

Posted by calima at November 28, 2004 04:26 PM