I refused to even try to read it, I'd sooner walk through downtown Jerusalem wearing a suicide vest. I did read the Da Vinci Code and it was the worst book I have ever read in my life. Considering I'm one of the few people that has actually read the Bible, that is quite an achievement.
I've seen essays written by eight year olds titled 'What I did on my holidays' that had more of an idea of narrative than Dan Brown.
To those wanting a post on Sousa I apologise for the digression.
On the style of writing I am reminded of Dennis Wheatley (a popular writer in the 1950s and 1960s) who said "Critics complain about inelegant sentences and cardboard characters but I can tell a story by God I can tell a story."
I did find with Dan Brown that I wanted to find out what happened next.
The Da Vinci Code got some important things right.
Opus Dei exists and is a militant Catholic organisation that has had a real and to my mind sinister influence in its native Spain and arguably elsewhere.
The Sacred Feminine is a recurrent and important theme in ancient religions and to a lesser extent in Christianity. I am told that this is not true in Judaism.
There were a number of gospels around in the 4th century and not just four as many people believe.
There clearly was an attempt at some point to smear Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. We do not know why.
The Emperor Constantine was arguably as important as St Paul in the development of Christianity.
There is of course a lot of nonsense in the book as well particularly on the Last Supper and Priory of Sion.
However, when I read the book it made me want to visit St Sulpice in Paris which is a church I do not know. On visiting the Temple Church in London recently it had far more visitors than I remember years ago, I believe the Louvre has also had more visitors.
There are people looking at architecture through Dan Brown who have never picked up a serious architecture book. He deserves credit for this.
