The Lost Symbol By Dan Brown English Literature Essay

To begin with, Da Vinci Code – is a novel written by American author and journalist Dan Brown and published in 2003 by publishing house “Random House”. It should be noted that Da Vinci Code was a continuation of another Dan Brown’s popular novel “Angels and Demons” (2000). As a fact, the book has become an international bestseller: it is translated into 44 languages and there are published a total circulation of more than 81 million copies. The Da Vinci Code has top position in the New York Times list of best-selling magazines. Many experts consider the novel as the best book of the decade. Novel is written in the genre of intellectual detective thriller and has arisen widespread interest to the legend of the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene’s place in the history of Christianity, as described in The Da Vinci Code – An Independent Book Review.

It can be said that on a plot of the book its main character, Dr. Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology at Harvard University, should unravel the murder of Jacques Sauniere, curator of the Louvre. As a fact, Sauniere’s body was found inside the Louvre naked and placed in the same way as in the famous drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, with an encrypted inscription on his torso. This inscription indicates that the key to the mystery of the murder is hidden inside the famous works of Leonardo Da Vinci. As a result, analysis of such works of Leonardo as “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper” greatly helps in solving this puzzle. In the meantime, Robert meets the granddaughter of Jacques Sauniere – Sophie Neveu. All her family (mother, father, brother, grandmother) had died in a car accident. Now, Sophie and Robert will unravel many secrets and mysteries. However, Captain Fache is from police, and believes that Langdon had killed Jacques Sauniere. It can be said that Robert and Sophie will have to prove his innocence. The protagonist of the novel will address two main puzzles: what a mystery was defended by Sauniere and why he was killed? Who killed Sauniere and who had planned this murder? 

According to Book Review – The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Author of The Da Vinci Code), it should be noted that unraveling the mystery requires the solution of a series of puzzles. The secret of the Holy Grail location is known to a secret society, the so-called Priory of Sion and the Order of the Knights Templar. The Catholic Church organization Opus Dei also plays an important role in the plot. The novel has several parallel plot lines involving the various characters. At the end of the book all the story lines come together and are resolved in the Rosslyn chapel.

It should be noted that the novel could be unnoticed by various Christian religious figures, if it had not had such success, and if on the first page of the book was not asserted the truth of the events that were described in the novel. As a fact, the criticisms draw attention to the large number of inaccuracies in the presentation of history, the interpretation of historical facts, and use all sorts of unsubstantiated legends. Consequently, Archbishop Angelo Amato, who is the second man in the Vatican after the Pope called on all Catholics to boycott the film “Da Vinci Code”. Archbishop Amato called Brown’s book: “stridently anti-Christian, full of calumnies, offenses and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels and hostile Church”, and called its success by “extreme cultural poverty of a large number of Christian believers”. Amato urged Christians with great zeal “to reject the lies and cheap slander”. He also said that if “such lies and slanders were directed at the Quran or the Holocaust, they rightly would have caused a world uprising”, while the “lies and slander against the Church and Christians, remain unpunished”, as described in Book Review: Exploring The Da Vinci Code: Investigating The Issues Raised by The Book and Move.

As a fact, Amato suggested that Catholics around the world should begin organized protests against the book and the film “Da Vinci Code” exactly the same as there were protests against Martin Scorsese “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1988. However, it can be said that opposing Da Vinci Code by representatives of Christian church not only fuels the hype of the novel, and raises its rating, but it is consistent with the content of the novel, in which the Church seeks to hide some kind of truth, which is presented in the novel, as stated in Book Review: Exploring The Da Vinci Code: Investigating The Issues Raised by The Book and Move.

In my opinion this is a great novel and I like it very much. To be more precise, the novel has dynamic plot, which is based on one of the most interesting historical mystery. It has vivid characters, a detailed narrative that fully immerses the reader in the atmosphere of the novel. As a fact, for the Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” these terms were enough to become one of the most famous bestsellers in recent years.

Moreover, in America, “Da Vinci Code” has literally revived the genre of historical detective, giving it such popularity, that this genre works have not previously received. It can be said that for high-performance sales, and many laudatory reviews of hiding bad, there is a nice detective, which in an accessible form tells the reader about some mystery hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. Revealing the mystery, the protagonist of the book with his head is dipped into historical investigation, the results and details of which both look shocking and realistic. 

In my opinion, this realism, combined with the availability of exposition and narrative detail, is one of the main virtues of the book. Valiantly twirled plot complements the cocktail, condemning the novel to succeed. On the other hand, the novel has weak sides, among them is a pretty weak syllable of the author – many critics consider that the author has a rustic style of presentation. On the other hand, the audience of the novel is so broad that a simple style of presentation has not spoiled the novel much- rather on the contrary; thanks to this, “Da Vinci Code” is a book that is understandable and accessible to everybody without exception. 

To sum it up, “Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown can be characterized as one of the most urgent “must have” books of the recent decade. And everybody should read this book not only because it still remains one of the most fashionable pieces – “Da Vinci Code” is a really interesting, exciting and at the same time sufficiently intelligent, revealing the multiple storylines prose.

Work cited

Book Review: Exploring The Da Vinci Code: Investigating The Issues Raised by The Book and Move. 15 February 2011. <http://relijournal.com/christianity/book-review-exploring-the-da-vinci-code-investigating-the-issues-raised-by-the-book-and-move/>

Julian Price. 2009. The Da Vinci Code – An Independent Book Review. 15 February 2011. <http://searchwarp.com/swa551973-The-Da-Vinci-Code-An-Independent-Book-Review.htm>

Pascasio Felisilda. 2009. Book Review – The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Author of The DaVinci Code). 15 February 2011. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Book-Review—The-Lost-Symbol-by-Dan-Brown-(Author-of-The-DaVinci-Code)&id=5526644>