The Da Vinci Code

I've been reading - errr, rather, listening to - that book. For the longest time, I had no interest whatsoever in reading it. I tend to be "that way" - not one to jump on the bandwagon of the latest, greatest, hot thing. I have yet read a single Harry Potter book, though I have seen the movies. Back to Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code was such a phenomenon you would think I'd have plunked down my library card and added myself to the unending list of requestors, but I did not. Only by chance am I listening to it now. One of my co-workers has previously recommended spoken word books that I have really enjoyed. I was feeling the urge to listen again to some literary masterpiece, so I went to him for a recommendation. He mentioned a couple of titles, then said something about The Da Vinci Code and I decided "why not?" We had it on CD, which was perfect! I could listen to it on my way to and from work as well as in my office. Since my commute is a brief 15 minutes long, just listening to it in my car would require about a year to finish it. Well, one CD into the book, I was hooked. I can see why the book created such a stir among Christians and non-Christians alike. I found myself saying "wow, I didn't know that" or "is that true?" I had to find out more. I did what any good techno-geek would do; I went online for answers. If you've never done it, Google The Da Vinci Code sometime. It's mind boggling. Conspiracy theorists must be having a field day. There is a lot of stuff out there, most of it crap. Fortunately, I am pretty good at discerning good sources from bad ones.

I found some very interesting and informative sites. One notable site is lisashea.com. She does a great job on the topic. Click here for her Da Vinci Code info. From this site, and a few others, I gathered the information I was seeking. I just need to keep reminding myself, as I'd told people all along before ever reading the tome, it's fiction, people, fiction! There is enough fact interspersed with fiction to confuse you, and to make for a very convincing story about the Catholic church's role in hiding the truth about Jesus, but it is a work of fiction. The less-than-factual information does not lessen my enjoyment of the book one iota. It did get me to look up some stuff I probably would not have otherwise, which means I learned something, and that's always a good thing (gosh, I sound like Martha Stewart). It's an interesting concept, to say the least - that the Catholic church supressed (hid?) the role of Mary Magdalene, and women in general, and lied about Christ's divinity in order to further their cause - but I don't buy it. I guess I'm just one of those people who believes that Christ is the Son of God, that He died for us, and that the Bible is the Word of God, given to man to guide and teach us. Are there, perhaps, some interpretational issues in the various versions? Probably. Are we to take everything in the Bible literally? I can't imagine how we possibly could. That's why we have to understand to whom each book was written, or what the writer's purpose was in writing the book, so we can understand what was written in the context of the times, the audience, etc. Certainly, if God were to give man the Bible today, there would be references to MTV, iPods, and the internet - and what would those things mean to a generation 500 years from now? 2000 years from now?

Anyway, I'm on my soapbox. Back to the book. It's a great mystery, well written, captivating - and I have yet to finish it, so don't spoil the ending for me! If you haven't read it, do so. If you, like me, find yourself too often short of time to read, listen to it on tape or CD. The actor who reads it, Paul Michael, does an excellent job with accents, French, keeping the characters straight. It's quite entertaining.