Book Review - The Da Vinci Code

(Preamble # 1 - Guess I wasn't going to away from the ol' BullBLOG for that long anyways. Sitting here in an airport, bored out of my skull, waiting for a red eye back to Toronto)

(Preamble # 2 - You may be wondering why I'm not putting this on the "Buk Revue" blog; someone else is planning something on this, I understand, so here it shall stay. That said, I should have something else for that blog soon. Maybe by the end of the night if my plane doesn't hurry the fuck up getting here.)

So I'm probably the last person on earth who has read this book. I'd read Dan Brown's previous three books (and they're probably reviewed somewhere here in the archives if memory serves), but I held off this one waiting for the paperback version. Finally, my mother lends me her hardcover copy about nine days ago, so I start lugging it around everywhere. It's a damn heavy book! Thing weighs down my entire gymback considerably. And of course, it came out in paperback THIS WEEK. Damn! (I guess this turned into preamble #3. Sorry.)

I loved Dan Brown's "Deception Point" and "Digital Fortress", but didn't so much care for "Angels and Demons" because it was just a little too religious for my liking. Was told that "Da Vinci" was similarly religious, so I steered clear of it for a while.

I was pleasantly surprised, though. Yes, there was a lot of religion references, but they weren't overly burdensome to someone who doesn't know a whole lot about the church, etc. Plus, the story has so many turns and twists that the religious overtones really do come in second to the plot.

Granted, there were a few times where I saw coming what was going to happen next. But for the most part, the swerves were genuine and quite ingenious. Although I find the Robert Langdon character a bit smug (and I doubt Tom Hanks will play him that way), you have to admire the character's penchant for getting out dangerous situations. Plus the supporting characters are strong in their own right. I can't wait to see if the film does justice to Silas, the albino monk (and just as yet another preamble - "Silas The Albino Monk" sounds like a GREAT name for an indy wrestler, no?)

Anyways, I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Very hard to put down (book weight notwithstanding) and probably Brown's best work yet. I don't like him as much as, say, Grisham or King, but his brief body of work is impressive.

Conclusion: Don't be the only person (besides me two weeks ago) who hasn't read this. Definitely worth investing a bit of time and effort into. And now that its in paperback, you really have no excuse....