Question for those who read the Da Vinci Code

Now that I have seen the movie (finally), is it worth going back and reading the book?

I need some beach reading and thought I might throw that in the bag.

My wife has read the book, hasn't seen the movie and thus isn't a good source for this query.

 

Angels and Demons was more fun.

Or read his other books, Digital Fortress, etc., they were pretty fun.

 

I definately would have went the other way and read the book before seeing the movie (that's what i did). The book adds a lot of different things and the pay off is that the movie enhances your experience.

But, since you're asking I'd say (like the guy above me) that you should pick up Angels and Demons. That's an awesome read. I've always felt DVC was a tad over-rated, but A&D will give you everything you loved about DVC and much much more.

 

You can rip through the Da Vinci Code in about a day, so why not. Angels & Demons was indeed more fun.

 

Couldn't stand the Da Vinci Code movie. It took everything that was so good about the book ... and toned it down to pacify the Bill Donohue fuckhead wing.

Read the book. It was very, very good (still haven't read A&D yet, so can't compare.)

 

It's been a while, but I think I liked Da Vinci Code the book better than A&D. All I remember about A&D are dead cardinals in fountains.

I saw the movie and remember very little about it.

 

What he said.

 

What drove me crazy about the movie was this: It didn't sell the story.

What made the book so good was that it believed in its own premise. You can't take a novel seriously if you think the author/narrator is only halfheartedly creating his story. And that's what the movie did.


**SPOILER ALERT** (is this even needed at this point?)




In the movie, every time Sofia would explain the idea of the royal bloodline (most notably, the entire scene in Sir Teabing's house) as the Holy Grail ... she was interrupted by Langdon snapping, "IF the theory is true, you mean ..." or "IF you believe in that stuff ...", etc.

The book didn't apologize for being a good story. But I thought the movie, because of all the protests, toned down the story -- adding in all those over-the-top "IFs" to convince people that it was supposed to be fiction.

And that just pissed me off, because it ruined the story. In the book, Langdon was a lot more enthusiastic about the search. But Hanks' character was overly skeptical, and I thought it was intentional -- to placate the religious right.

 

Angels of Demons is a better book, but I liked the story of the Da Vinci Code better.

Or, try a book called "Map of Bones," which is also exciting. As is the Last Templar, by Raymond Khoury.