Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)” as Want to Read:
Rate this book
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre. Home DAN BROWN Novel The Da Vinci Code Bahasa Indonesia. Bahasa indonesia free download pdf.Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer at.
See a Problem?
We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
Not the book you’re looking for?Preview — The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
(Robert Langdon #2)
![Da vinci code novel Da vinci code novel](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124802680/650414281.jpg)
An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci.
A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe.
An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body c...more
A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe.
An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body c...more
Published March 28th 2006 by Anchor (first published March 18th 2003)
To see what your friends thought of this book,please sign up.
To ask other readers questions aboutThe Da Vinci Code,please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Lucas Drake You have to ask yourself what do you mean by science and what do you mean by religion. The definition for religion (from the dictionary app) is a…more You have to ask yourself what do you mean by science and what do you mean by religion. The definition for religion (from the dictionary app) is a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world, and the definition for science is observing the world around you and coming to conclusions based off of observations, experiments, and evidence. Now, I can't see how these two are opposites, can you? Why would one have to live with one and without the other? It seems to me that you cannot have one, without the other. How can someone observe the world around them and not come to hold any worldview (science with religion).
If you are using the common meaning of the word religion, theism (the belief that there is a god), then what makes theism and science opposites? You would be suggesting that people who do not have atheism (anti-theism) as their worldview are narrow-minded and, therefore; their worldview is illegitimate and not considered 'science'. The real question should be a world without theism, or a world without atheism (not 'science' as you call it), or the question could be a world with science, or without it (obvious answer).
On another note, to the atheists reading who think that their belief is the only 'science', you certainly have small grounds to stand upon. Based off of observation, experiments, and evidence, evolution and other atheist beliefs hold no ground. Specifically for evolution, there is no way to observe macroevolution (an animal evolving from one kind to another kind), as it would take too long. Your experiments that you use have failed through the centuries (experimenting with life from non-life, finding fossil evidence, etc.), so now atheists have created their own 'experiments' which are rigged to give them what they want. For an example, what makes carbon dating so useful? Why have scientists suddenly used carbon dating? The method is highly unreliable and often dates things such as volcanic rock and recently dead plant material to be millions, or billions of years old.
Now to evidence. You would think that of all of the intermediate species, there would be at least a couple remaining fossils of a fish-human, or a frog-cat, but there isn't. Not even one! You can invent more evidence (conveniently weak, dissolving fossils theories for all of the intermediate links) for all of the inconsistencies, or you can throw away your bias and look at the real question: a world without atheism or without theism; a world without science or without non-science.(less)
If you are using the common meaning of the word religion, theism (the belief that there is a god), then what makes theism and science opposites? You would be suggesting that people who do not have atheism (anti-theism) as their worldview are narrow-minded and, therefore; their worldview is illegitimate and not considered 'science'. The real question should be a world without theism, or a world without atheism (not 'science' as you call it), or the question could be a world with science, or without it (obvious answer).
On another note, to the atheists reading who think that their belief is the only 'science', you certainly have small grounds to stand upon. Based off of observation, experiments, and evidence, evolution and other atheist beliefs hold no ground. Specifically for evolution, there is no way to observe macroevolution (an animal evolving from one kind to another kind), as it would take too long. Your experiments that you use have failed through the centuries (experimenting with life from non-life, finding fossil evidence, etc.), so now atheists have created their own 'experiments' which are rigged to give them what they want. For an example, what makes carbon dating so useful? Why have scientists suddenly used carbon dating? The method is highly unreliable and often dates things such as volcanic rock and recently dead plant material to be millions, or billions of years old.
Now to evidence. You would think that of all of the intermediate species, there would be at least a couple remaining fossils of a fish-human, or a frog-cat, but there isn't. Not even one! You can invent more evidence (conveniently weak, dissolving fossils theories for all of the intermediate links) for all of the inconsistencies, or you can throw away your bias and look at the real question: a world without atheism or without theism; a world without science or without non-science.(less)
Shauryanot at all necessary to read the previous book. Interestingly, this was the first ever novel I read, and It was so much fun
Best Books Ever 55,449 books — 191,797 voters
The BOOK was BETTER than the MOVIE 1,499 books — 18,505 voters
More lists with this book...
Rating details
|
Apr 12, 2007Mer rated it did not like it · review of another edition Shelves: tripeshitandgarbage
PLEASE do NOT recommend The Da Vinci Code to me because you think it's brilliant. Please do not try to explain to me that it is a 'really interesting and eye-opening book.' Just don't. Please.
I've read Iain Pear, I heart Foucault's Pendulum, Dashiell Hammett is my hero, Alan Moore is My Absolute Favorite, I listen to Coil on a fairly regular basis, and cloak n' dagger secret society/Priory of Sion/Knights of Templar-tinged num nums make me a very happy girl... but if you truly believe that Brow...more
I've read Iain Pear, I heart Foucault's Pendulum, Dashiell Hammett is my hero, Alan Moore is My Absolute Favorite, I listen to Coil on a fairly regular basis, and cloak n' dagger secret society/Priory of Sion/Knights of Templar-tinged num nums make me a very happy girl... but if you truly believe that Brow...more
Apr 17, 2007ryan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
most of us have heard of this controverisal book. it takes an open minded person to read this and to remember it is just fiction. but it brings up a lot of important questions about the Christian church, and the loss of paganism and the respect of the Goddess or the Woman.
I don't care if I am the only one who likes this book. it is my own truth, and i will think what i want to think. Dan Brown didn't LEAD me or anyone else. he OPENED our minds. simply and importantly...he was just a catalyst fo...more
I don't care if I am the only one who likes this book. it is my own truth, and i will think what i want to think. Dan Brown didn't LEAD me or anyone else. he OPENED our minds. simply and importantly...he was just a catalyst fo...more
Jul 15, 2008Ethan rated it liked it · review of another edition
Four stars for pure entertainment value.
However, Dave Barry's review gets five stars:
`The Da Vinci Code,' cracked
by Dave Barry
I have written a blockbuster novel. My inspiration was The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, which has sold 253 trillion copies in hardcover because it's such a compelling page-turner. NOBODY can put this book down:
MOTHER ON BEACH: Help! My child is being attacked by a shark!
LIFEGUARD (looking up from The DaVinci Code: Not now! I just got to page 243, where it turns out that one...more
However, Dave Barry's review gets five stars:
`The Da Vinci Code,' cracked
by Dave Barry
I have written a blockbuster novel. My inspiration was The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, which has sold 253 trillion copies in hardcover because it's such a compelling page-turner. NOBODY can put this book down:
MOTHER ON BEACH: Help! My child is being attacked by a shark!
LIFEGUARD (looking up from The DaVinci Code: Not now! I just got to page 243, where it turns out that one...more
This is a pretty formulaic page turner, a fun quick read. Written at about the level of the average Nancy Drew mystery, it is best appreciated at that level. As far as the content, there are howlers on virtually every page (starting with the hero who looks like 'Harrison Ford in Harris tweed' and is a 'Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard' -- good work if you can find it). You have to ignore very pulpy, cheesy writing to enjoy this romantic thriller.
Intended as a book that a dedicated rea...more
Aug 01, 2013Jayson rated it really liked it · review of another editionIntended as a book that a dedicated rea...more
Shelves: author-american, 400-499-pp, genre-mystery, subject-religion, genre-thriller, read-in-2010
(A-) 80% | Very Good
Notes: Excessive exposition and ludicrous writing discolor an otherwise captivating, thought-provoking, page-turning read.
May 13, 2007J.G. Keely rated it did not like it · review of another editionNotes: Excessive exposition and ludicrous writing discolor an otherwise captivating, thought-provoking, page-turning read.
Shelves: novel, america, contemporary-fiction, reviewed
A thriller devoid of pacing or exciting language. A mystery devoid of clues, foreshadowing, or facts. A tell-all of half-truths based upon a forged document written by a schizophrenic conman. A character-driven modern novel devoid of character. The second draft of Angels and Demons. Page-turning action thanks to the literary equivalent of pulling out at the moment of orgasm. A spiritual awakening built on new-age conspiracy theory. This book is many things, and none of them good, new, or interes...more
Aug 24, 2008Stephen rated it liked it Shelves: thriller, 2000-2005, religion-spirituality, conspiracies-and-weird-science, mystery, audiobook
OKAY PEOPLE…someone let me in on the gag because between the cries of 'Greatest Book of Greaty Greatness EVER' and the screams of 'Lamest Load of Lamey Lameness EVER', my itty bitty brain is left very…
So post Hype-a-ganza, I finally got around to reading this popular, polarizing, pop culture icon and thought it was….drum roll……………………FINE(sigh). It was a solid read with a slight lean towards the “eh” side of MEH and few moments of genuine “that’s neat.” I don’t see all the love and I don’t see...more
Jun 25, 2014Lisa rated it did not like itSo post Hype-a-ganza, I finally got around to reading this popular, polarizing, pop culture icon and thought it was….drum roll……………………FINE(sigh). It was a solid read with a slight lean towards the “eh” side of MEH and few moments of genuine “that’s neat.” I don’t see all the love and I don’t see...more
Shelves: don-t-read-it, postliterate-fiction, monster-mash-of-a-mess, so-bad-it-hurts, subterranean, hahahahahaaarrrrrgh
No, I am not!
No, I am not going to write a review about this piece of nonsense just because I had yet ANOTHER of those incredibly annoying conversations (in a bookstore to top it off!).
No, I am not.
Oh, for goodness sake!
It is NOT a great book to broaden your cultural horizons, and whatever the humbug mentioned on Leonardo - it is NOT equivalent to reading a book researched by a REAL art historian, - which is something entirely different from a blind-folded arrogant gold digging bestseller aut...more
Jan 07, 2012James rated it it was amazingNo, I am not going to write a review about this piece of nonsense just because I had yet ANOTHER of those incredibly annoying conversations (in a bookstore to top it off!).
No, I am not.
Oh, for goodness sake!
It is NOT a great book to broaden your cultural horizons, and whatever the humbug mentioned on Leonardo - it is NOT equivalent to reading a book researched by a REAL art historian, - which is something entirely different from a blind-folded arrogant gold digging bestseller aut...more
Shelves: 1-fiction, 3-multi-book-series, 5-favorite-books
5 stars to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Most folks have seen the movie and probably not read the book. What a loss for them!
That said, I know a lot of people don't enjoy Brown's books, believing he is too commercialized and over-exaggerated in his style. While I can understand why someone may think that, I don't agree. I love the complexity of the story, the reality and the fiction, the test of character strength, the puzzles, the different view points. It completely absorbs me... so I fall i...more
That said, I know a lot of people don't enjoy Brown's books, believing he is too commercialized and over-exaggerated in his style. While I can understand why someone may think that, I don't agree. I love the complexity of the story, the reality and the fiction, the test of character strength, the puzzles, the different view points. It completely absorbs me... so I fall i...more
Oct 26, 2008Will Byrnes rated it really liked it
Dan Brown - image from USA Today
A real page-turner, about a Holy Grail quest. It is replete with oodles of interesting little details about church history, the true meaning of the grail, secret societies through the ages, Opus Dei and architectural details. In this fast-paced adventure an American art expert is accused of killing a director of the Louvre. Rescued by the deceased's granddaughter, a police cryptologist, the pair flees from both French and British police. The tale is enlivened wit...more
Sep 03, 2007Ruth rated it did not like it
Impossibly complicated plot. Really, really, really bad writing. This book was forced upon me. I should have known better.
Jul 30, 2007Maura rated it did not like itRecommends it for: someone interested in a completely mindless beach read
I've finally started reading that ever so controversial best-seller by Dan Brown. Actually, not reading it, listening to it while driving around Lansing, MI. This book seems to have changed the minds of many Catholics (my grandfather included) and Protestants alike. Granted, there have long been rumors of secret societies and organizations within the Roman Catholic Church, and historical cover-ups are rampant throughout civilization.
HOWEVER,
The book is crap. It's not at all well written. Brown...more
HOWEVER,
The book is crap. It's not at all well written. Brown...more
Jun 29, 2017Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Every summer I tend to enjoy reading action and adventure thrillers. The genre seems perfect for the hot weather outside as all of the action builds to a heated crescendo. Last week I participated in a diary called the Pepys Project in one of the groups I am part of, the reading for pleasure book club. The diarist relays pertinent literary information on a daily basis to ones peers. It happened that author Dan Brown celebrated a birthday last week, and as I had never read his best selling DaVinc...more
I downloaded the book and put it on my ipod and began to listen to it on a long road trip. I found it engaging and the plot twisted and turned, jumping from scene to scene, back and forth in time. Really kept the reader on her toes. I'm not sure if I liked it, the writing style was pretty crude, but it kept me thinking.
About an hour into listening I realized that the ipod was on shuffle mode and in fact all the chapters were being shuffled. I groaned and started over. When played in a linear fas...more
About an hour into listening I realized that the ipod was on shuffle mode and in fact all the chapters were being shuffled. I groaned and started over. When played in a linear fas...more
May 18, 2013Warwick rated it did not like it
Exciting news for the blind and partially-sighted community, as the publishers release a Braille version:
Feb 22, 2008Robert rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
For the most part, it seems that people either passionately love this book or they passionately hate it. I happen to be one of the former. For my part, I don't see the book so much as an indictment of the Catholic Church in particular but of religious extremism and religion interfering in political process in general. The unwarranted political control granted to extreme religious organizations like the CBN is an issue that we will be forced to address one way or the other. To my eye, our politic...more
It's considered an unfair advantage using a cryptex box to solve this.
For cheap supermarket fiction, this sure was cheap supermarket fiction. It would have helped if this was the first book I had ever read. Unfortunately, having read Curious George as a child (a towering work of literary genius by comparison), The DaVinci Code suffered perhaps unjustly.
This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This book is non-stop action.This bo...more
This book, and everything written by Dan Brown (to varying degrees), represent much of what I most dislike about pop literature. First of all, Mr. Brown, despite teaching English at Amherst College, is a bad writer. This is not to say that I am a good writer. But I recognize a person who can't 'show' you vivid scenes, he has to 'tell you'. Various characters wear expensive clothes. How do we know? The text says they're expensive. How do we know Mr. Langdon is brilliant? The text makes no bones a...more
Book Circle Reads 11
Rating: 3 stars of five
The Publisher Says: An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cr...more
Mar 26, 2008CJ rated it did not like itRating: 3 stars of five
The Publisher Says: An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cr...more
Shelves: mystery
Caveat Academics!!!
I won't belabor the obvious, as it's been done quite well by other reviewers, but I just couldn't stand not to add my own 'hear hear!' to the fray. If you're going to create a character who is an expert, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you check your facts! Whoever edited this drivel ought to be sewn in a sack with a rabid raccoon and flung into Lake Michigan.
And just as a matter of good taste - your expert should not be an expert in everything under the sun. That's one of the...more
I won't belabor the obvious, as it's been done quite well by other reviewers, but I just couldn't stand not to add my own 'hear hear!' to the fray. If you're going to create a character who is an expert, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you check your facts! Whoever edited this drivel ought to be sewn in a sack with a rabid raccoon and flung into Lake Michigan.
And just as a matter of good taste - your expert should not be an expert in everything under the sun. That's one of the...more
Got about 15 pages in and couldn't continue for the tears of laughter and rage filling my eyes. Seriously, the writing is laughably bad, so bad I couldn't see straight. I had to put it down. No way am I going to willingly subject myself to torture.
And yet, at times I do. That's led me to wonder why.
I think it's because some books, while bad, are not horrible to the bone and I hold out hope that they might salvage a rough start and shine by the end. I want to enjoy what I'm reading. I always go i...more
And yet, at times I do. That's led me to wonder why.
I think it's because some books, while bad, are not horrible to the bone and I hold out hope that they might salvage a rough start and shine by the end. I want to enjoy what I'm reading. I always go i...more
Illuminati and Club of Rome. Is Dan Brown illuminated or enlightened?
He is a good researcher that is for sure.
If you like Dan Brown.
Check out Crooked Gold by Carl Knauf.
He is a good researcher that is for sure.
If you like Dan Brown.
Check out Crooked Gold by Carl Knauf.
Jun 18, 2014Laz rated it it was amazing
I am utterly stupefied by this masterpiece and Dan Brown's ability to blur the lines between the real and the fictional, as he did in the first book in the Robert Langdon series. It's a mouthwatering book, always keeping you on the edge, from page one up until the last page I could hear my own heart beating because of the thrill.
I had found the first book extraordinary when I read it three months ago and I'm so glad I finally read it, especially after all those years of reading the controversia...more
I had found the first book extraordinary when I read it three months ago and I'm so glad I finally read it, especially after all those years of reading the controversia...more
Well that was unfortunate. ?
Robert Langdon is an American professor of Symbology who finds himself suddenly thrust into a dangerous plot involving two separate Church organizations revolving around the Roman Catholic Church. Tensions and steaks both rise as Robert Langdon works hard to not only escape but to find out the truth.
Okay I say that this is unfortunate because I have, very unfortunately, made a grave mistake with this book. That is that I have seen the film first before reading the boo...more
Robert Langdon is an American professor of Symbology who finds himself suddenly thrust into a dangerous plot involving two separate Church organizations revolving around the Roman Catholic Church. Tensions and steaks both rise as Robert Langdon works hard to not only escape but to find out the truth.
Okay I say that this is unfortunate because I have, very unfortunately, made a grave mistake with this book. That is that I have seen the film first before reading the boo...more
Fellow Goodreaders, I have a confession to make. (Strikes Abe Lincoln pose). No, I haven't actually read it, if that's what you're thinking. But, in a way, it's worse. The fact is, I... er... I... I'm sorry, this is rather difficult for me... I once, ah, I once wrote a letter to a national newspaper supporting Dan Brown's book. And had it published.
OK, I've said it, and now I feel better. (Wipes sweat from forehead). I tried to find the offending item just now on Google, but it looks as though...more
Aug 02, 2012Marwa rated it it was amazingOK, I've said it, and now I feel better. (Wipes sweat from forehead). I tried to find the offending item just now on Google, but it looks as though...more
Shelves: religion, baby-i-am-addicted, thriller-mystery-suspense, goodreads-hype, favorite, turned-into-a-movie-or-a-tv-show
“Life is filled with secrets. You can't learn them all at once.”
This is one of the best and most amazing novels I've ever read!
When I finished it at almost 3 am, I couldn't sleep.
From the instant the book starts, Dan Brown immediately grabs the readers attention, grabbing them by the throat and making them read on right until the end!
I like conspiracy theories, so the whole basis of the book was interesting.
Obviously most of what is in the book is fiction, but Brown's story telling makes you t...more
This is one of the best and most amazing novels I've ever read!
When I finished it at almost 3 am, I couldn't sleep.
From the instant the book starts, Dan Brown immediately grabs the readers attention, grabbing them by the throat and making them read on right until the end!
I like conspiracy theories, so the whole basis of the book was interesting.
Obviously most of what is in the book is fiction, but Brown's story telling makes you t...more
I read the Baigent book a decade before I read this novel.
Somehow, Brown managed to 'dumbify' everything.
Afterwards I read Eco to wash the taste out of my brain.
Aug 31, 2018Loretta rated it did not like itSomehow, Brown managed to 'dumbify' everything.
Afterwards I read Eco to wash the taste out of my brain.
Shelves: fiction, my-2018-reading-challenge, one-star-reads, the-great-american-read
I didn't enjoy this book at all. The story was very juvenile and quite unbelievable. I'm still shaking my head!
topics | posts | views | last activity |
---|---|---|---|
City Cruises Coupon Code | 1 | 3 | Mar 28, 2019 10:29PM |
Author suggestion after Dan brown and Matthew fitzsimmons? | 4 | 14 | Mar 11, 2019 06:50AM |
Goodreads Librari...:Please Add The Page Count | 12 | 36 | Jan 30, 2019 03:56AM |
Goodreads Librari...:Alternate Edition In a Different Language? | 3 | 15 | Jan 28, 2019 05:10AM |
OPEN LETTER TO DAN BROWN | 1 | 32 | Jan 26, 2019 07:52AM |
Mr. Kawel's Class:Sahara Knapp | 1 | 7 | Dec 16, 2018 01:00PM |
Thermo Sculpt Pro >> http://dietpillspapa.com/thermo-sculpt-pro/ | 1 | 1 | Nov 17, 2018 02:42AM |
Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates
See similar books…
See top shelves…
Dan Brown is the author of numerous #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the best selling novels of all time as well as the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown’s novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print.
In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIM...more
In 2005, Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIM...more
Robert Langdon(5 books)
More quizzes & trivia...
“Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” — 2509 likes
“History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?” — 1230 likes
More quotes…Author | Dan Brown |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Series | Robert Langdon #2 |
Genre | Mystery, Detective fiction, Conspiracy fiction, Thriller |
Publisher | Doubleday (US) Transworld & Bantam Books (UK) |
Publication date | April 2003 |
Pages | 689 (U.S. hardback) 489 (U.S. paperback) 359 (UK hardback) 583 (UK paperback) |
ISBN | 0-385-50420-9 (US) / 978-0-55215971-5 (UK) |
OCLC | 50920659 |
813/.54 21 | |
LC Class | PS3552.R685434 D3 2003 |
Preceded by | Angels & Demons |
Followed by | The Lost Symbol |
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mysterythriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel Angels & Demons. The Da Vinci Code follows 'symbologist' Robert Langdon and cryptologistSophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in Paris causes them to become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus Christ having been a companion to Mary Magdalene.
The novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot point is that the Merovingiankings of France were descended from the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, ideas derived from Clive Prince's The Templar Revelation (1997) and books by Margaret Starbird. The book also refers to The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) though Dan Brown has stated that it was not used as research material.
The Da Vinci Code provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Mary Magdalene's role in the history of Christianity. The book has, however, been extensively denounced by many Christian denominations as an attack on the Catholic Church, and consistently criticized for its historical and scientific inaccuracies. The novel nonetheless became a worldwide bestseller[1] that sold 80 million copies as of 2009[2] and has been translated into 44 languages. In November 2004, Random House published a Special Illustrated Edition with 160 illustrations. In 2006, a film adaptation was released by Columbia Pictures.
- 3Reaction
Plot[edit]
Louvre curator and Priory of Sion grand master Jacques Saunière is fatally shot one night at the museum by an albino Catholic monk named Silas, who is working on behalf of someone he knows only as the Teacher, who wishes to discover the location of the 'keystone,' an item crucial in the search for the Holy Grail.
After Saunière's body is discovered in the pose of the Vitruvian Man, the police summon Harvard professor Robert Langdon, who is in town on business. Police captain Bezu Fache tells him that he was summoned to help the police decode the cryptic message Saunière left during the final minutes of his life. The message includes a Fibonacci sequence out of order.
Langdon explains to Fache that Saunière was a leading authority on the subject of goddess artwork and that the pentacle Saunière drew on his chest in his own blood represents an allusion to the goddess and not devil worship, as Fache believes.
Sophie Neveu, a police cryptographer, secretly explains to Langdon that she is Saunière's estranged granddaughter, and that Fache thinks Langdon is the murderer because the last line in her grandfather's message, which was meant for Neveu, said 'P.S. Find Robert Langdon,' which Fache had erased prior to Langdon's arrival. However, 'P.S.' actually refers to Sophie, as the nickname given to her by her grandfather is 'Princess Sophie'. It does not refer to PostScript. Neveu is troubled by memories of her grandfather's involvement in a secret pagan group. However, she understands that her grandfather intended Langdon to decipher the code, which leads them to a safe deposit box at the Paris branch of the Depository Bank of Zurich.
Replica cryptex: prize from Google Da Vinci Code Quest Contest
Neveu and Langdon escape from the police and visit the bank. In the safe deposit box they find a box containing the keystone: a cryptex, a cylindrical, hand-held vault with five concentric, rotating dials labeled with letters. When these are lined up correctly, they unlock the device. If the cryptex is forced open, an enclosed vial of vinegar breaks and dissolves the message inside the cryptex, which was written on papyrus. The box containing the cryptex contains clues to its password.
Langdon and Neveu take the keystone to the home of Langdon's friend, Sir Leigh Teabing, an expert on the Holy Grail, the legend of which is heavily connected to the Priory. There, Teabing explains that the Grail is not a cup, but a tomb containing the bones of Mary Magdalene.
The trio then flees the country on Teabing's private plane, on which they conclude that the proper combination of letters spell out Neveu's given name, Sofia. Opening the cryptex, they discover a smaller cryptex inside it, along with another riddle that ultimately leads the group to the tomb of Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.
During the flight to Britain, Neveu reveals the source of her estrangement from her grandfather ten years earlier. Arriving home unexpectedly from university, Neveu secretly witnesses a spring fertility rite conducted in the secret basement of her grandfather's country estate. From her hiding place, she is shocked to see her grandfather with a woman at the center of a ritual attended by men and women who are wearing masks and chanting praise to the goddess. She flees the house and breaks off all contact with Saunière. Langdon explains that what she witnessed was an ancient ceremony known as hieros gamos or 'sacred marriage.'
By the time they arrive at Westminster Abbey, Teabing is revealed to be the Teacher for whom Silas is working. Teabing wishes to use the Holy Grail, which he believes is a series of documents establishing that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and bore children, in order to ruin the Vatican. He compels Langdon at gunpoint to solve the second cryptex's password, which Langdon realizes is 'apple.' Langdon secretly opens the cryptex and removes its contents before tossing the empty cryptex in the air.
Teabing is arrested by Fache, who by now realizes that Langdon is innocent. Bishop Aringarosa, head of religious sect Opus Dei and Silas' mentor, realizing that Silas has been used to murder innocent people, rushes to help the police find him. When the police find Silas hiding in an Opus Dei Center, he assumes that they are there to kill him and he rushes out, accidentally shooting Bishop Aringarosa. Bishop Aringarosa survives but is informed that Silas was found dead later from a gunshot wound.
The final message inside the second keystone leads Neveu and Langdon to Rosslyn Chapel, whose docent turns out to be Neveu's long-lost brother, whom Neveu had been told died as a child in the car accident that killed her parents. The guardian of Rosslyn Chapel, Marie Chauvel Saint Clair, is Neveu's long-lost grandmother. It is revealed that Neveu and her brother are descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. The Priory of Sion hid her identity to protect her from possible threats to her life.
The real meaning of the last message is that the Grail is buried beneath the small pyramid directly below the La Pyramide Inversée, the inverted glass pyramid of the Louvre. It also lies beneath the 'Rose Line,' an allusion to 'Rosslyn.' Langdon figures out this final piece to the puzzle; he follows the Rose Line to La Pyramide Inversée, where he kneels to pray before the hidden sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene, as the Templar knights did before him.
Characters[edit]
|
|
Reaction[edit]
Sales[edit]
The Da Vinci Code was a major success in 2003 and was outsold only by J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.[3]
Historical inaccuracies[edit]
A woman protesting against The Da Vinci Code film outside a movie theater in Culver City, California. The TFP acronym in the banner stands for the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.
The book generated criticism when it was first published for inaccurate description of core aspects of Christianity and descriptions of European art, history, and architecture. The book has received mostly negative reviews from Catholic and other Christian communities.
Many critics took issue with the level of research Brown did when writing the story. The New York Times writer Laura Miller characterized the novel as 'based on a notorious hoax', 'rank nonsense', and 'bogus', saying the book is heavily based on the fabrications of Pierre Plantard, who is asserted to have created the Priory of Sion in 1956.
Critics accuse Brown of distorting and fabricating history. For example, Marcia Ford wrote:
Regardless of whether you agree with Brown's conclusions, it's clear that his history is largely fanciful, which means he and his publisher have violated a long-held if unspoken agreement with the reader: Fiction that purports to present historical facts should be researched as carefully as a nonfiction book would be.[4]
Richard Abanes wrote:
The most flagrant aspect... is not that Dan Brown disagrees with Christianity but that he utterly warps it in order to disagree with it... to the point of completely rewriting a vast number of historical events. And making the matter worse has been Brown's willingness to pass off his distortions as ‘facts' with which innumerable scholars and historians agree.[4]
The book opens with the claim by Dan Brown that 'The Priory of Sion—a French secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization'. This assertion is broadly disputed; the Priory of Sion is generally regarded as a hoax created in 1956 by Pierre Plantard. The author also claims that 'all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents… and secret rituals in this novel are accurate', but this claim is disputed by numerous academic scholars expert in numerous areas.[5]
Dan Brown himself addresses the idea of some of the more controversial aspects being fact on his web site, stating that the 'FACT' page at the beginning of the novel mentions only 'documents, rituals, organization, artwork and architecture', but not any of the ancient theories discussed by fictional characters, stating that 'Interpreting those ideas is left to the reader'. Brown also says, 'It is my belief that some of the theories discussed by these characters may have merit' and 'the secret behind The Da Vinci Code was too well documented and significant for me to dismiss.'[6]
In 2003, while promoting the novel, Brown was asked in interviews what parts of the history in his novel actually happened. He replied 'Absolutely all of it.' In a 2003 interview with CNN's Martin Savidge he was again asked how much of the historical background was true. He replied, '99% is true… the background is all true'.
Asked by Elizabeth Vargas in an ABC News special if the book would have been different if he had written it as non-fiction he replied, 'I don't think it would have.'[7]
In 2005, UK TV personality Tony Robinson edited and narrated a detailed rebuttal of the main arguments of Dan Brown and those of Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, who authored the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, in the program The Real Da Vinci Code, shown on British TVChannel 4. The program featured lengthy interviews with many of the main protagonists cited by Brown as 'absolute fact' in The Da Vinci Code.
Arnaud de Sède, son of Gérard de Sède, stated categorically that his father and Plantard had made up the existence of the Prieuré de Sion, the cornerstone of the Jesus bloodline theory: 'frankly, it was piffle', noting that the concept of a descendant of Jesus was also an element of the 1999 Kevin Smith film, Dogma.
The earliest appearance of this theory is due to the 13th-century Cistercian monk and chronicler Peter of Vaux de Cernay who reported that Cathars believed that the 'evil' and 'earthly' Jesus Christ had a relationship with Mary Magdalene, described as his concubine (and that the 'good Christ' was incorporeal and existed spiritually in the body of Paul).[8] The program The Real Da Vinci Code also cast doubt on the Rosslyn Chapel association with the Grail and on other related stories, such as the alleged landing of Mary Magdalene in France.
According to The Da Vinci Code, the Roman Emperor Constantine I suppressed Gnosticism because it portrayed Jesus as purely human. The novel's argument is as follows:[9] Constantine wanted Christianity to act as a unifying religion for the Roman Empire. He thought Christianity would appeal to pagans only if it featured a demigod similar to pagan heroes. According to the Gnostic Gospels, Jesus was merely a human prophet, not a demigod. Therefore, to change Jesus' image, Constantine destroyed the Gnostic Gospels and promoted the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which portray Jesus as divine or semi-divine.
But Gnosticism did not portray Jesus as merely human.[10] All Gnostic writings depict Christ as purely divine, his human body being a mere illusion (see Docetism).[11] Gnostic sects saw Christ this way because they regarded matter as evil, and therefore believed that a divine spirit would never have taken on a material body.[10]
Literary criticism[edit]
The book received both positive and negative reviews from critics, and it has been the subject of negative appraisals concerning its portrayal of history. Its writing and historical accuracy were reviewed negatively by The New Yorker,[12]Salon.com,[13] and Maclean's.[14]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that one word 'concisely conveys the kind of extreme enthusiasm with which this riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller can be recommended. That word is wow. The author is Dan Brown (a name you will want to remember). In this gleefully erudite suspense novel, Mr. Brown takes the format he has been developing through three earlier novels and fine-tunes it to blockbuster perfection.'[15]
David Lazarus of The San Francisco Chronicle said, 'This story has so many twists—all satisfying, most unexpected—that it would be a sin to reveal too much of the plot in advance. Let's just say that if this novel doesn't get your pulse racing, you need to check your meds.'[16]
While interviewing Umberto Eco in a 2008 issue of The Paris Review, Lila Azam Zanganeh characterized The Da Vinci Code as 'a bizarre little offshoot' of Eco's novel, Foucault’s Pendulum. In response, Eco remarked, 'Dan Brown is a character from Foucault's Pendulum! I invented him. He shares my characters' fascinations—the world conspiracy of Rosicrucians, Masons, and Jesuits. The role of the Knights Templar. The hermetic secret. The principle that everything is connected. I suspect Dan Brown might not even exist.'[17]
The book appeared on a 2010 list of 101 best books ever written, which was derived from a survey of more than 15,000 Australian readers.[18]
Salman Rushdie said during a lecture, 'Do not start me on The Da Vinci Code. A novel so bad that it gives bad novels a bad name.'[19]
Stephen Fry has referred to Brown's writings as 'complete loose stool-water' and 'arse gravy of the worst kind'.[20] In a live chat on June 14, 2006, he clarified, 'I just loathe all those book[s] about the Holy Grail and Masons and Catholic conspiracies and all that botty-dribble. I mean, there's so much more that's interesting and exciting in art and in history. It plays to the worst and laziest in humanity, the desire to think the worst of the past and the desire to feel superior to it in some fatuous way.'[21]
Stephen King likened Dan Brown's work to 'Jokes for the John', calling such literature the 'intellectual equivalent of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese'.[22]The New York Times, while reviewing the movie based on the book, called the book 'Dan Brown's best-selling primer on how not to write an English sentence'.[23]The New Yorker reviewer Anthony Lane refers to it as 'unmitigated junk' and decries 'the crumbling coarseness of the style'.[12] Linguist Geoffrey Pullum and others posted several entries critical of Dan Brown's writing, at Language Log, calling Brown one of the 'worst prose stylists in the history of literature' and saying Brown's 'writing is not just bad; it is staggeringly, clumsily, thoughtlessly, almost ingeniously bad'.[24]Roger Ebert described it as a 'potboiler written with little grace and style', although he said it did 'supply an intriguing plot'.[25] In his review of the film National Treasure, whose plot also involves ancient conspiracies and treasure hunts, he wrote: 'I should read a potboiler like The Da Vinci Code every once in a while, just to remind myself that life is too short to read books like The Da Vinci Code.'[25]
Lawsuits[edit]
Author Lewis Perdue alleged that Brown plagiarized from two of his novels, The Da Vinci Legacy, originally published in 1983, and Daughter of God, originally published in 2000. He sought to block distribution of the book and film. However, Judge George Daniels of the US District Court in New York ruled against Perdue in 2005, saying that 'A reasonable average lay observer would not conclude that The Da Vinci Code is substantially similar to Daughter of God' and that 'Any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalized or otherwise unprotectable ideas.'[26] Perdue appealed, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the original decision, saying Mr. Perdue's arguments were 'without merit'.[27]
In early 2006, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh filed suit against Brown's publishers, Random House. They alleged that significant portions of The Da Vinci Code were plagiarized from Holy Blood, Holy Grail, violating their copyright.[28] Brown confirmed during the court case that he named the principal Grail expert of his story Leigh Teabing, an anagram of 'Baigent Leigh', after the two plaintiffs. In reply to the suggestion that Henry Lincoln was also referred to in the book, since he has medical problems resulting in a severe limp, like the character of Leigh Teabing, Brown stated he was unaware of Lincoln's illness and the correspondence was a coincidence.[29] Since Baigent and Leigh had presented their conclusions as historical research, not as fiction, Mr Justice Peter Smith, who presided over the trial, deemed that a novelist must be free to use these ideas in a fictional context, and ruled against Baigent and Leigh. Smith also hid his own secret code in his written judgement, in the form of seemingly random italicized letters in the 71-page document, which apparently spell out a message. Smith indicated he would confirm the code if someone broke it.[30] After losing before the High Court on July 12, 2006, they then appealed, unsuccessfully, to the Court of Appeal.[29][31]
In April 2006 Mikhail Anikin, a Russian scientist and art historian working as a senior researcher at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, stated the intention to bring a lawsuit against Dan Brown, maintaining that he was the one who coined the phrase used as the book's title and one of the ideas regarding the Mona Lisa used in its plot. Anikin interprets the Mona Lisa to be a Christian allegory consisting of two images, one of Jesus Christ that comprises the image's right half, one of the Virgin Mary that forms its left half. According to Anikin, he expressed this idea to a group of experts from the Museum of Houston during a 1988 René Magritte exhibit at the Hermitage, and when one of the Americans requested permission to pass it along to a friend Anikin granted the request on condition that he be credited in any book using his interpretation. Anikin eventually compiled his research into Leonardo da Vinci or Theology on Canvas, a book published in 2000, but The Da Vinci Code, published three years later, makes no mention of Anikin and instead asserts that the idea in question is a 'well-known opinion of a number of scientists.'[32][33]
Release details[edit]
The book has been translated into over 40 languages, primarily hardcover.[34] Major English-language (hardcover) editions include:
- The Da Vinci Code (1st ed.), US: Doubleday, April 2003, ISBN0-385-50420-9.
- The Da Vinci Code (spec illustr ed.), Doubleday, November 2, 2004, ISBN0-385-51375-5 (as of January 2006, has sold 576,000 copies).
- The Da Vinci Code, UK: Corgi Adult, April 2004, ISBN0-552-14951-9.
- The Da Vinci Code (illustr ed.), UK: Bantam, October 2, 2004, ISBN0-593-05425-3.
- The Da Vinci Code (trade paperback), US/CA: Anchor, March 2006.
- The da Vinci code (paperback), Anchor, March 28, 2006, 5 million copies.
- The da Vinci code (paperback) (special illustrated ed.), Broadway, March 28, 2006, released 200,000 copies.
- Goldsman, Akiva (May 19, 2006), The Da Vinci Code Illustrated Screenplay: Behind the Scenes of the Major Motion Picture, Howard, Ron; Brown, Dan introd, Doubleday, Broadway, the day of the film's release. Including film stills, behind-the-scenes photos and the full script. 25,000 copies of the hardcover, and 200,000 of the paperback version.[35]
Film[edit]
Columbia Pictures adapted the novel to film, with a screenplay written by Akiva Goldsman, and Academy Award winner Ron Howard directing. The film was released on May 19, 2006, and stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu, and Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing. During its opening weekend, moviegoers spent an estimated $77 million in America, and $224 million worldwide.[36]
The movie received mixed reviews. Roger Ebert in its review wrote that 'Ron Howard is a better filmmaker than Dan Brown is a novelist; he follows Brown's formula (exotic location, startling revelation, desperate chase scene, repeat as needed) and elevates it into a superior entertainment, with Tom Hanks as a theo-intellectual Indiana Jones.' 'it's involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations.'
The film received two sequels: Angels & Demons, released in 2009, and Inferno, released in 2016. Ron Howard returned to direct both sequels.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Wyat, Edward (November 4, 2005). 'Da Vinci Code' Losing Best-Seller Status'Archived October 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times.
- ^'New novel from Dan Brown due this fall'. San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^Minzesheimer, Bob (December 11, 2003). ''Code' deciphers interest in religious history'. USA Today. Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ abFord, Marcia. 'Da Vinci Debunkers: Spawns of Dan Brown's Bestseller'. FaithfulReader. Archived from the original on May 27, 2004. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
- ^'History vs The Da Vinci Code'. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^Kelleher, Ken; Kelleher, Carolyn (April 24, 2006). 'The Da Vinci Code' (FAQs). Dan Brown. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^'Fiction'. History vs The Da Vinci Code. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^Sibly, WA; Sibly, MD (1998), The History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay's 'Historia Albigensis', Boydell, ISBN0-85115-658-4,
Further, in their secret meetings they said that the Christ who was born in the earthly and visible Bethlehem and crucified at Jerusalem was 'evil', and that Mary Magdalene was his concubine – and that she was the woman taken in adultery who is referred to in the Scriptures; the 'good' Christ, they said, neither ate nor drank nor assumed the true flesh and was never in this world, except spiritually in the body of Paul. I have used the term 'the earthly and visible Bethlehem' because the heretics believed there is a different and invisible earth in which – according to some of them – the 'good' Christ was born and crucified.
- ^O'Neill, Tim (2006), '55. Early Christianity and Political Power', History versus the Da Vinci Code, archived from the original on May 15, 2009, retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ^ abO'Neill, Tim (2006), '55. Nag Hammadi and the Dead Sea Scrolls', History versus the Da Vinci Code, archived from the original on May 15, 2009, retrieved February 16, 2009.
- ^Arendzen, John Peter (1913), 'Docetae', Catholic Encyclopedia, 5, New York: Robert Appleton,
The idea of the unreality of Christ's human nature was held by the oldest Gnostic sects [...] Docetism, as far as at present known, [was] always an accompaniment of Gnosticism or later of Manichaeism.
- ^ abLane, Anthony (May 29, 2006). 'Heaven Can Wait'Archived October 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. The New Yorker.
- ^Miller, Laura (December 29, 2004). 'The Da Vinci crock'Archived September 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Salon.com. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
- ^Steyn, Mark (May 10, 2006) 'The Da Vinci Code: bad writing for Biblical illiterates'Archived June 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Maclean's.
- ^Maslin, Janet (March 17, 2003). 'Spinning a Thriller From a Gallery at the Louvre'Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^Lazarus, David (April 6, 2003). ''Da Vinci Code' a heart-racing thriller'. San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^Zanganeh, Lila Azam. 'Umberto Eco, The Art of Fiction No. 197'Archived October 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. The Paris Review. Summer 2008, Number 185. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^Yeoman, William (June 30, 2010), 'Vampires trump wizards as readers pick their best'(PDF), The West Australian, archived from the original(PDF) on August 4, 2011, retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^'Famed author takes on Kansas'. LJWorld. October 7, 2005. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^'3x12', QI (episode transcript).
- ^'Interview with Douglas Adams Continuum'. SE: Douglas Adams. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^'Stephen King address, University of Maine'. Archive. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^Sorkin, Aaron (December 30, 2010). 'Movie Review: The Da Vinci Code (2006)'. The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^'The Dan Brown code', Language Log, University of Pennsylvania (also follow other links at the bottom of that page)
- ^ abEbert, Roger. 'Roger Ebert's review'. Sun times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^'Author Brown 'did not plagiarise'Archived November 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, August 6, 2005
- ^'Delays to latest Dan Brown novel'Archived April 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, April 21, 2006
- ^'Judge creates own Da Vinci code'. BBC News. April 27, 2006. Archived from the original on September 5, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ ab'Authors who lost 'Da Vinci Code' copying case to mount legal appeal'. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
- ^'Judge rejects claims in 'Da Vinci' suit'. MSNBC. MSN. April 7, 2006. Archived from the original on July 6, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^'Judge rejects claims in 'Da Vinci' suit'. MSNBC. MSN. April 7, 2006. Archived from the original on July 6, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^Page, Jeremy. 'Now Russian sues Brown over his Da Vinski Code', The Sunday Times, April 12, 2006
- ^Grachev, Guerman (April 13, 2006), 'Russian scientist to sue best-selling author Dan Brown over 'Da Vinci Code' plagiarism', Pravda, RU, archived from the original on October 7, 2012, retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ^'World editions of The Da Vinci Code', Secrets (official site), Dan Brown, archived from the original on January 27, 2006.
- ^'Harry Potter still magic for book sales', Arts, CBC, January 9, 2006, archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
- ^'The Da Vinci Code (2006)'. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
Further reading[edit]
- Pullum, Geoffrey K. 'The Dan Brown code.'
- Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Da Vinci Code |
- The Da Vinci Code (official website), Dan Brown
- The Da Vinci Code (official website), UK: Dan Brown
- Mysteries of Rennes-le-Château
- The Da Vinci Code and Textual Criticism: A Video Response to the Novel, Rochester Bible, archived from the original on December 12, 2010
- Walsh, David (May 2006), 'The Da Vinci Code, novel and film, and 'countercultural' myth', WSWS (review)
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Da_Vinci_Code&oldid=916679042'