For a long time I resisted the urge to be dragged into the whole Dan Brown phenomenon, not being a big devourer of
thrillers and without much expectation of its merits I stayed away. When I finally succumbed to the Da Vinci Code, I found that there was much to be said for the book. It may not be the most elegant of literature, its style is very much in the region of popular market pulp fiction, but I loved the fact that someone had the daring to write on such a subject. Controversy always sells, and using Mary Magdalene, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Vatican as your
main reference points was always going to play host to that. Despite the fact that one side will always propose that the
book is based on hidden truths and the other that it is total fiction, what remained was a reasonable thriller, set for a change in the dusty halls of academia with a
backdrop of mystery that is as old as Christianity itself.
Langdon's ordered
world is thrown into chaos when he is asked to attend the scene of a murder. An eminent scientist has been killed violently and strange symbols have seared onto his chest. As an expert in religious iconography Langdon's conclusion is that they are the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood long thought vanished, but apparently resurfaced to continue its fight against the Catholic Church. The age-old war between science and religion has been rekindled and through the course of the few days that the book covers is played out amongst the history and grandeur of the Eternal City, Rome. Against the backdrop of the choosing of a new Pope, a terrorist cell has vowed to destroy the Vatican, both spiritually and physically and Langdon finds himself in a desperate race to stop that happening. Leaving a deliberate yet subtle trail and using the media to bring the war to the worlds attention, a lone assassin is always one step ahead of Langdon and his eclectic gang of helpers. The race is break-neck through the renaissance architecture and gilded halls of Rome; the outcome of that race is the saviour or the total destruction of the biggest organisation in the western world.
What in my opinion makes this the better book than the better known Da Vinci
Code is that the main theological thrust of the book is easier to contemplate, though it is the biggest question in western religion. Basically it's the idea of can science and religions co-exist. Did God make the universe, did it evolve through the pure and rigid laws of physics, as defined by man, and where, if anywhere, do these two paradigms meet. In the Da Vinci code we are asked to deal with the mythology of Christianity, the writings of human theologians. Here we are presented with the very concept of universal creation, a subject that most people have at least thought about to some degree. One of the factors that set this book apart from most thrillers is its ability to make you ask questions about the nature of the world we live in. There is one dialogue between two lead characters, which is a very telling piece of philosophy. One asks the other if he believes in a higher power. His reply is that he has studied the books of all the major religions but finds that he can't relate to them. The first character then qualifies the question by saying, religious writing is just the record of mans struggle to understand his place in the order of things and all you need to do is look up at the stars and ask yourself if there is something bigger than your understanding, a higher power directing the universe. And questions like this crop up with regularity, taking the book out of the normal range of thrillers.
The physical setting of the books can also spark interest away from the main plot thread. As much of the intrigues involve works of art, church architecture, fountains, statues and the like, you actually begin to become familiar with the works of Italian renaissance men. Those works also include the secret writings and records of Galileo and the history of the igious conflicts within the Vatican. There is a lot of peripheral information here that acts not only as a backdrop but also becomes an integral part of the complex twists of the story.
If you read only one Dan Brown book, this is the one and like most of his books it is a weighty tome, but has an easy style that will carry you swiftly through its pages. Never destined to be classic literature, a point I levelled at The Da Vinci Code also, but as far as thrillers go, it does the job well and throws in a large helping of philosophy, theology, history and fine art and that's got to be value for money.
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