Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code is, strictly speaking, not a historical fiction novel. Nor is it new, I realize. However, I decided to read and review it anyway for my followers who haven’t had a chance to read the book. It’s a book that draws on a great deal of Christian history to produce a fast-paced modern quest for the Holy Grail.

The star of Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code is Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist. Unwillingly at first, he takes up one of the greatest quests in history: the search for the Holy Grail. He has some help, however. At his side are Sophie Neveu, a French cryptologist, and Sir Leigh Teabing, a British Royal Historian. As you might expect of a book with this cast, thinking through puzzles and solving arcane codes plays a major role in the story.

Langdon has a problem, though. Namely, he’s wanted for the murder of Jacques Soniere, who runs the Louvre Museum in Paris. This is the event that drives most of the story. Langdon, Neveu, and Teabing attempt to solve one of history’s most enduring mysteries while simultaneously staying out of the hands of French law enforcement. Plus, there just might be a fanatical Roman Catholic organization trying to obtain the Grail at the same time. The combination creates plenty of tension to keep The da Vinci Code moving.

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Analysis of Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code

In fact, the pacing of the book is so good that it leads to one of my only critiques of the book. The characters accomplish three or four days of action in about 24 hours. I can’t remember that they ever sleep. Yet, they manage to solve a host of intellectual puzzles and codes despite the fact. After spending years in graduate school, I remember how tough it is to concentrate after being up all night. I guess that’s why I’ve never been the star character in a novel?

That said, I found the rest of the story of a fun combination of action and speculation about religious history, mixed in with some real history, mixed with famous art. Some of the so-called history in the story was mere speculation rather than fact. It holds up as far as keeping the story moving and fun, however. Plus, if you know some Renaissance or art history yourself, you can play along with the characters and guess what they’ll do next. (I found one of Brown’s other popular books, Inferno, too easy in this respect.)

I suppose that if I had to offer another criticism, it would be that Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code does use the Catholic Church as a stock villain. He implicates the Church in a conspiracy regarding withholding important historical truths. This is a trope that authors have used about 1,000,000,000,000,001 times before. And it’s the only reason I’d give this book 9 points out of 10 rather than all 10. If you can look past that, however, it’s a very fun book that most readers will enjoy. I’ll add that the ending of book isn’t exactly the same as the ending of the movie. Those who’ve seen the movie will still find a surprise or two.

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