Jzero
Elephant Talker
Oh the flower pot that sits so still...
Posts: 149
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Post by Jzero on Oct 30, 2004 5:02:38 GMT -5
What a fine read this is!
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Post by RepairmanJack on Oct 30, 2004 23:30:10 GMT -5
I read this book a few months ago. I thought it was a fast fun read. I just do not understand why people are so obsessed with it. It has been out a long time and people still come into the library almost daily looking for it. My library branch had about 20 copies and there are more than 500 copies in our system and rarely are there any on the shelf. I just do not understand--it is not that good.
There is a jesuit university in the Cleveland area called John Carroll University. A Dr. Joseph Kelly is the head of the Religious Studies department. For more than a year he has been giving lectures all over the area about this book. I met him when he did the lecture at my library branch. Even he does not understand people's fascination with the book. He said that he has had to spend a lot of time trying to explain to audiences that there is no proof for much of what Dan Brown wrote. People do not seem to understand that the book is a work of fiction. Still, it has got a lot of people interested in reading so that is a good thing.
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Post by RepairmanJack on Oct 31, 2004 9:52:38 GMT -5
I was thinking that my earlier post may have been a bit harsh. I did not mean that. I did like the book and thought it was an enjoyable read. I am just curious as to why it is such a huge bestseller still.
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Jzero
Elephant Talker
Oh the flower pot that sits so still...
Posts: 149
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Post by Jzero on Oct 31, 2004 11:27:35 GMT -5
I can't say for sure what it is that has made this book such a phenominal success, I guess it must have to do with the fact that it is so fast-paced and highly readable. True - a lot of the so called historical and theological details presented in the book are apparantly innacurate but it seems as if a lot of people were inspired enough by it to delve into the 'bowels' of christian and pre-christian ritual and practices. That in itself makes this a worthy book. As far as I'm concerned, this book caught my fancy for it's sheer entertainment value.
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TriKrona
Minstrel in the Gallery
Posts: 28
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Post by TriKrona on Oct 31, 2004 13:20:33 GMT -5
The book is fast paced--almost a little too fast paced for me. The word that came to mind for me most while reading it was "cinematic." It reads more like a movie adaptation than an actual novel. Why is it so popular? I think it part that it's so popular because it's a different view of Christianity and Catholicism in particular than most people are used to. I find that many people have never thought to question what they are taught. As for the info in the book it's not exactly new to me. It's been covered in conspiracy theory books for a while, books like "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and the like.
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Post by Shutter Girl on Oct 31, 2004 13:27:11 GMT -5
Yeah, I understand that it made a lot of people question their faith because they were taught that certain things from the Bible were absolute truth and now this book presents some 'evidence' that this may not have been so. There are folks that come into the library looking up the Last Supper, trying to see clandestine little details that don't really exist. Makes me want to shout: It's fiction, people!! Still.... I understand it's a fast read and I'll be finding out in the next few weeks because I'm doing a book discussion on it in 2 weeks! Better get to reading, don't ya think? Cinematic is a good word --- Ron Howard bought the movie rights right after it came out.
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Jzero
Elephant Talker
Oh the flower pot that sits so still...
Posts: 149
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Post by Jzero on Nov 19, 2004 11:56:32 GMT -5
I just read somwhere that the movie making is now under way, starring Tom Hanks I think...
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Post by Shutter Girl on Nov 19, 2004 13:31:00 GMT -5
I've heard that too, Ron!
I've just finished reading it and I did a book discussion on it yesterday. Everyone loved it and wanted to talk about Christianity and the things we know (and don't know) about Jesus Christ. My group couldn't understand why the book had such a profound effect on peoples' beliefs. It's fiction!! They loved the puzzles and the cryptology.
It was a good read!
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