At the beginning of a fiction novel, you either see a disclaimer saying that all the characters in the novel are ficticious, or you don't see anything. What Dan Bown chose to do was far ahead. He wrote with confidence that all the Organizations/Places mentioned in the story exist and gave a brief description to each of them. Doesn't look like a wise thing to do, especially in the Google age when we all can get much more information about them in under 20 seconds. What the author does write halfway through the book infact is a good piece of saying :
"What is History? Its just a fable agreed upon."
Nice work, huh?
If you have not read the book, my advice is "Read It". Chances are good that you won't regret. The theme that the author has chosen is very controversial. It deals with the the search for the Holy Grail, with reference to Jesus Christ. No wonder to the Catholic Church, this work will sound more, if not equally blasphemous than the work of Galileo or Copernicus.
But what steals the show for Dan Brown is the homework he has done to write this novel. Reading through the novel(which goes at breathneck pace throughout), you can hardly avoid appreciating the detail to which the author has gone to consolidate his point. The whole novel is filled with etymological refences to words in daily use but seldom considered for their roots.
I don't think that the author will find much audience for his conspiracy theory, but all-the-more, he has definitely found audience for his style of writing; The sales speaking for themselves. Let alone the conspiracy theory of the Holy Grail and the Sangreal documents, the novel is a treat to readers of mystery novels and history alike. The author had a daunting task of building a fiction on facts, which are all mixed up. And Dan Brown has come with flying colours. The suspense of the novel is very well hidden and explained. The cryptology "All Greek" to the public.
Ratings:
(Out of 10)
Plot : 8.5
Suspense : 9.0
Language : 7.5
Thrill : 9.5
Overall : 8.6
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