For those who like reading entertaining books, The Da Vinci Code is for you! This book is full of suspense, action, and historic trivia. You are left riveted and in suspense as you follow the plot. Some argue the book is historically inaccurate and portrays religion incorrectly. No matter what your side of the story is, the book is entertaining, hands down. That said, Dan Brown offers an interesting perspective on religion, its history, and the implications of its role in our lives. Whether or not you agree with his point of view, it is an interesting perspective. In addition, Brown puts together the plot and leaves a trail of clues that even Sherlock Holmes would be proud of!

As a sequel to Angels and Demons, it mirrors the style exactly. If you haven't read Angels and Demons and you enjoy The Da Vinci Code, then you must read the prequel as well!

From what I hear, the movie is going to be a disappointment for those who read the book.

The downside:
This book is thick. Like really thick. Like almost 500 pages thick.

The upside:
This book is divided into ~50 chapters. That means 10 pages per chapter. For all you people who like to think you've accomplished something (like getting through a chapter), this is great news. This means that you can get through at least 1 chapter and sometimes much more if you are busy laying a bomb in the bathroom. Hence, this is great bathroom reading.

The review:
I am not a literary genius but this book must have been really good if I actually finished it.

I've read about 1 book in the last 2 years. OK, maybe 2.5 years. My attention span is pretty short (borderline ADD). My philosophy is if someone can't get to the point in less than 2 minutes, it's probably not worth knowing about. This applies to verbose writers of thick books as well. Besides the ugly yellow and black covers, Cliff's notes are too long. Why can't all books be summed up in 3 bullet points?

The Da Vinci Code has a good plot and I believe you qualify as "erudite" if you say you've read it.

This is the Hostess CupCake of modern literature. The plot was spit out of a factory, the story is adorned with superficial enhancements and its definitely not good for you. Regardless of these apparent shortcomings, you will absolutely enjoy every single bite/page.

The Dan Brown Plot Factory - read one and you've read them all. Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons, Deception Point. They are formulaic to a flaw. I was lucky enough to have read Da Vinci Code first but if you have read his other books first, do yourself a favor and wait till the movie comes out. You'll be disappointed by the predictability of the plot and the similarity of the heroes / heroines.

Superficial Enhancements - there are an endless supply of useless nuggets of information sprinkled through this book. Like a Tom Clancy novel, it often seems the author is more concerned with showing the reader how well versed he is in the subject matter instead of spinning a tight story. Im not an expert on the Catholic Church or art history so I don't want to comment on the accuracy of these useless facts, but they can, at times, unnecessarily weigh down an otherwise fast moving story line.

Its not good for you - upon completion, you wont have learned anything new and you wont think about the world in a different way and you wont get into deep philosophical debates about the content with your friends. The theories put forth in the book are interesting but a bit far-fetched and not exactly relevant. There are a ton of facts in the book but none of them are significant enough or organized in a manner that would advance any of the author's theories.

But who cares ? It tastes good ! - There is simply no arguing with 126 weeks on the NYT best seller list. If you get past the obvious fact that Dan Brown is not the next Tolstoy, this is a fun and exciting story, the kind that begs to be made into a movie. Get a glass of wine, put your feet up and enjoy !

Poses the concept that significant aspects of the Catholic religion are based on cover up's made for political gain beginning centuries ago. What is hard to believe about this? It's still happening today.

The story line is well written and I found the book hard to put down. I enjoyed it cover to cover. I especially enjoyed what it left with me... The "what if" some or all of the ideas presented actually happened. Oh my goodness. The power of politics is immense. It makes me want to learn more detail than what I was taught when I was growing up.

A book that makes you want to learn more is a gift to all of us.