The Cryptex and It's Container

You guys recognize this? Yup, its the same one from The Da Vinci Code. This is an image of the cryptex and the box that it was held in. You can see the 5 pointed rose on the box that was mentioned in the book. The cryptex is also accurate to the described one in the book considering it also has 5 letters to the password. These offer a visual to the valueable artifacts that people thirsted for in the book and were a vital component to the plot. 

Delving into the Mona Lisa

In The Da Vinci Code, the Mona Lisa is an important piece of the novel. It is mentioned often throughout the book and eventually we learn that Sophie's grandfather hid a step to the solving of the mystery in the Mona Lisa. In this video, we learn more about the Mona Lisa and why she is considered arguably the greatest painting of all time.

Facts of the Da Vinci Code

Alright, so on this blog there was some question as to what was true regarding the facts presented in this book. I was looking to see what was factual about the Da Vinci Code and what was embellished or created, and I came across this video. While I did not watch all of it, the parts that I saw offered some interesting information. At roughly 18 minutes into the video, the narrator describes that Mary may have fathered Jesus's child. While I am not sure how credible this video is, I found it interesting that Jesus could have actually had a kid, and that the reason it is not known is because the Church decided to withhold that information from the Bible. If this information is true, Langdon's explanation regarding the belief that Jesus had a child is true in that the evidence is out there, however the Church's authority kept the information suppressed for thousands of years. It is mind boggling that such a weighty idea with evidence exists of Jesus having a kid, but that I had not heard of this idea until I started reading a fiction book.

Chateau Villette

I was curious about the home of Reading while reading, so I decided to revisit it after I finished. The home actually does exist and is a quite good looking house, if I do say so myself. It turns out you can actually rent rooms in this house for a couple hundred dollars per night. I thought it was pretty interesting that this is an actual estate (and was the estate used in the shooting of the movie).

Character Quiz

I came across this character quiz online. I got Langdon. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I thought it was interesting. I was surprised that you could get so many characters from 6 questions.

My Concluding Thoughts

I thought the book was great and i would definitely recommend it. One of the most interesting parts of the book was Teabing and his true identity. However, I feel I would have been much more surprised if I didn't read Bray's comment about his prediction on who Teabing really was. That kind of put the idea in my head, but regardless it was a fun journey going through the book and all of the unexpected turns Dan Brown takes you through. Not to mention after reading the book I can't help but be in awe at Teabing's absolute genius. He was an exceptional liar and was able to manipulate everyone around him so that he may achieve his goal. He pit everyone against each other and was able to move them around like chess pieces, although he did ultimately lose.

The Last Supper

This famous picture by Leonardo Da Vinci is cleverly used by Dan Brown to explain the background of his plot in the novel and help the reader connect to the story with real word connections. Teabing, while explaining the back story of the feminine. says this picture is the secret to the Holy Grail and makes references to the symbols and different objects in the painting and explains their meaning. This all connects the real world and the pages in the novel and makes the reading experience much more interesting.

Left Hand Side

Throughout the book, there is a lot of talk about the sacred feminine and how it has been vandalized and tarnished throughout time to degrade women and destroy pagan religions that worshiped the feminine. Dan Brown includes famous historical events such as the crusades and the witch hunts and talks about their significance to the theme. He also uses a lot of latin words and roots to show the influence of the church and their actions against the feminine. The left which is accosiated with women has been associated with evil. The French and Italian words for left: gauche and sinistra, now have deep negative connotations. Evil things are sinister.

Ending

I agree with Bray in that this book had a fantastic ending. I was a little confused as to why Fache dropped from the reader's view at the very end. I had wrongly predicted earlier that Fache was the Teacher due to his suspicious actions and his somewhat baseless need to arrest Langdon. His behavior was never truly explained, which is slightly frustrating as Brown clearly was painting a dubious character with Fache. I also want to know what the situation was regarding Vernet, as he too was acting suspiciously, as he originally believed that Sophie and Langdon were innocent regarding the murder of Saunere, but quickly changed his mind in the truck ride. It appeared as if there was more at play than Vernet thinking that they had attained the box illegitimately as there was no real explanation as to why his behavior shifted so drastically in the truck ride (the story said he heard a news cast saying that Sophie and Lagndon killed a few people, but they admitted before that they hadn't and he believed them). Overall, however, this was an incredible book. I liked how Brown seamlessly integrated fact with fiction which made for an immersive story. It was a book heavy with suspense and offered several surprises that contradicted what Brown lead the reader to believe.

Fantastic ending to this book. Even though I had made the perfect prediction, haha. Nevertheless, I enjoyed how Teabing manipulated the Archbishop and his servant and used them as pawns in order to find Newton's tomb and the Holy Grail. I liked the book overall and enjoyed Brown's embellishment of the truth in order to make the story.