Stop the madness! This obsession with the Da Vinci Code is driving me up the wall.
Before I say any more, I’ll be the first to admit that I am an avid reader of escape fiction. After a long day at work reading scientific papers, my mind wants a break. So, for the most part, I read books that have interesting storylines with relatively straightfoward point. Bring on the Neal Stephenson or les bandes desinées. The most complex I get is Philip K. Dick. So I don’t have anything against the Da Vinci Code for being escape fiction. I read it several years ago and yes, the storyline was interesting. But I am not a fan of this book for two reasons. First, I don’t appreciate fiction that demonizes a particular group of people in order to drive the plot. This treatment of any group (religious, racial or otherwise) is very one-dimensional, insulting, and frankly, immature. The whole point of the book is to ‘uncover the hidden truth that the Church wants to keep a secret else all chaos break loose’ and there is no shortage of evil, perverted members of a certain denomination to chase the main characters and move the plot along. Second, this book is far more popular than it deserves to be. Every day I see at least 3 people reading this book on the bus/metro and there is so much hype about it that people are acting like this is really a historical account. Da Vinci tours of the Louvre etc. Real history is a lot more interesting and it’s sad to see people obsess over the details taken from the book and ignore anything else.
On the other hand, I just finished reading through a very funny critique of the Left Behind series, which is just as poorly written but from the other end of the spectrum. Same idea, different bad guys.
And by the way, who is dumb enough to use the fibonacci numbers for their swiss bank account? Just about as dumb as phoning your family if you’re trying to go incognito after an atempt on your life. Sheesh!
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