Well, I’ve finally read it. I must be the last person on Earth to actually pick up the damn book.
And now that I have experienced this phenomenon of literature, I’m of two minds about it…
(1) It has a great story, lots of amazing research, and some exciting plotting and scene construction. This is going to make an amazing movie (staring Tom Hanks…coming soon!);
(2) This is one of the most amateurish novels I’ve ever read. It stops every 5 pages for the most monumental exposition and information dumping I have encountered in quite some time. The prose is basic, almost high school in its construction…frankly, I’ve read high school writing that was more creative than this. I CAN WRITE better than this. Every time a scene picks up energy, it hits a wall of exposition so dense, it could shield North America from a nuclear attack. Remember the teacher from your past who used to say “show, don’t tell” when criticizing writing? Well, this novel is a massive case of “TELL (and tell and tell…), don’t show!” The novel literally stops (on endless occasions!) as one person asks a question, and the answer takes THREE PAGES!
So, on the one hand, I get a novel that ties together most of the conspiracy theories regarding the Catholic Church, to which I have subscribed in various forms. On the other hand, I get the most overrated piece of fictional garbage I’ve read in years. I wish I could be more generous, but The DaVinci Code left me stunned by its childish writing style and clunky prose.
The subject matter deserves so much better treatment. Timothy Findley would have turned this into a terrifying classic…but as it stands now, it’s mildly enjoyable trash.
My friend James put it best when describing the attitude author Dan Brown must have brought to this novel: “I have suffered for my art, and now you will too!”
Trust me…I did.
