Dan Brown and “The Da Vinci Code”, Book Review Example

Literature world is like a big ocean, which seems to be very peaceful, but at the same time unpredictable and powerful. Numerous works of modern authors that pop up on the bookshelves often excite readers with some new and unique content. Though many writers are trying to create masterpiece, only few of them become famous during their lives. Dan Brown is the author of such bestselling novels as “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”.  The great interest in reading these books was initiated by rather controversial plot and religious facts, which were taken from real life.

Dan Brown was born in New Hampshire on June 22, 1964. “The son of a Presidential Award winning math professor and of a professional sacred musician, Dan grew up surrounded by the paradoxical philosophies of science and religion”. (Powell’s Books 2003) Young author has never thought about his successful career in writing. In fact, he has graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and moved to Los Angeles, where he decided to become a composer. Writer has realized that the career of musician was not successful and returned back to New Hampshire starting his teaching career in 1993. He has published his first book “Digital Fortress” in 1998. From the early childhood he was interested in both mathematic codes and theology. Therefore, writer decided to share his knowledge with the readers. Though all of his books are rather entertaining detective stories, a variety of important and controversial issues are depicted in them. For instance, “Digital Fortress” describes such problematic as human rights, privacy, access to the information, etc.

As the work on the first novel was over, author decided to become a full-time writer and devote his life to writing detective books. “The Da Vinci Code” was published in 2003 and “became a runaway bestseller, going to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of release in 2003” (Rogak 2005). During the first day of publication 6,000 hard copies were sold; and over 75 million hard copies were sold worldwide by the end of 2008. Dan Brown described the following themes in this book: feminism, human relationships, role of religion in modern society, the power of belief, and many others. As this novel depicts some religious events and is based on real facts combined together, there are many contradicting viewpoints regarding “The Da Vinci Code.”

The Library Journal raved, “This masterpiece should be mandatory reading”; the Chicago Tribune marveled that the book contained “several doctorates’ worth of fascinating history and learned speculation”; Salon magazine described the novel as “an ingenious mixture of paranoid thriller, art history lesson, chase story, religious symbology lecture and anti-clerical screed.” (Olson 2003)

On the one hand, both positive and negative reviews are centered on the novel mostly. On the other, they have shaped general opinion not only about the book itself, but also about Dan Brown as a creative writer. For instance, several lawsuits have been made suggesting that this author supports anti-Christian views, which contradict with religion. “Rev Amato suggested that Catholics around the world should launch organized protests against the ‘The Da Vinci Code’ film just as some had done in 1988 to protest against Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Last Temptation of Christ.’” (Cult of Dan Brown 2006) However, the Dan Brown in the interview states, “My [Brown’s] hope for The Da Vinci Code was, in addition to entertaining people, that it might serve as an open door for readers to begin their own explorations and rekindle their interest in topics of faith” (Brown 2004).

Interest of the readers in this novel has inspired the author to continue his writing career. He has published another masterpiece “Angels and Demons” in 2000. Based on the events written in “The Da Vinci Code”, this book was also very successful. About 60 million hard copies have been sold worldwide.  Now the author is working on “The Lost Symbol”, which will be published on September 2009. Works of Dan Brown became so popular that two movies were produced based on the plots of “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. According to Forbes magazine, for rather short writing career Dan Brown became one of the most influential people, while his books are translated into many languages and attract new readers (Forbes 2007).

Works Cited

Brown, D. 2006. Read the Reviews. April 23, 2009. <http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/reviews.html>.

The Da Vinci Code. April 23, 2009. <http:/ /www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html>.

Cult of Dan Brown. 2006. Boycott ‘Da Vinci Code’ film: top Vatican official. April 23, 2009. <http://www.cultofdanbrown.com/index.php/site/boycott_da_vinci_code_film_top_vatican_official/>.

Forbes.com. 2007. Dan Brown. April 23, 2009. <http:/ /www.forbes.com/lists/2007/53/07celebrities_Dan-Brown_T5P9.html>.

Olson, C. 2003. Part One of a Special Planet Envoy Critique of The Da Vinci Code. April 23, 2009. <http://www.envoymagazine.com/planetenvoy/Review-DaVinci-Part1.htm>.

Powell’s Books. 2003. Angels and Demons. April 23, 2009. <http:/ /www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-9780743486224-0>.

Rogak, L. 2005. Books by Dan Brown. April 23, 2009. <http:/ /www.biblio.com/author_biographies/2658922/Dan_Brown.html>.