Davinci Code

I know I am so far behind everyone to read this book. I tried. But every time I started to read a few chapters, those religious terms just scared me off. Without the religious background, even though I looked them up in the dictionary, I still did not understand what they were to proceed reading properly.

So why now? It was frigid gold out. Not being able to go out to do much, I was desperate in February to find something to read to kill some time. And this copy happens to be hardcover, and have lots of photos. Good first impression.

Look at the photo here. This is the paragraph when Langdon explained the trick Davinci played on the church, and the invisible head between woman's hand and the kid, and the lady's finger indicating a knife to cut the head. The church was not happy about it, so Davinci made the church another one, and both have been preserved. I got to read the book, and have these 2 photos right on the book for reference, which makes reading so much more enjoyable.

But maybe this book and movie created so much buzz some years earlier, so I expected a lot from the book, but the result is quite disappointing.

Don't take me wrong. I enjoyed the main story line. It's quite exciting. But other than that, the other story lines are very weak. I watched the movie long time ago, and did not remember anything except the curator lying on the floor mimicking one of Davinci's famous painting. I could still guess something wrong with the rich guy and the Teacher, and the connection is even easier to figure out, once the butler was involved and claimed he is the only one who knows the Teacher's true identity.

The story has a very good start, but the other lines are very weak. They work at best like transitions between Landon's main line, and fail to give a strong impression of what they do and who they are. There is some story about the albino, but such a storyline is a no brainer, and there is just something missing in how the Teacher can be behind the whole thing single-handedly. I think it's good just to watch the movie. At least movie has a faster pace than the novel, and gives you little time to think what makes sense, and what does not.