The Obligatory DaVinci Post

I like Leonardo. He was a true renaissance man who dabbled in everything, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the term was originally defined using him as an example. His early helicopter and tank ideas were pretty cool. Apparently he had a lot of ideas that were too far beyond the manufacturers of the day. So I don’t really hold it against the man that he’s the root of all this controversy.

The Lady Friend is a big fan of The Davinci Code by Dan Brown. So with the movie coming out this week, I finally got around to reading the book. The verdict? Meh. It was okay, but a little on the dull side. It’s an interesting topic to speculate on, but then apparently Brown got that from someone else. The intellectual convolutions they had to go through were mildly interesting to read. It reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones, but without Nazis, snakes, and giant boulders. So essentially, without the fun parts.

I was discussing it with a friend after I finished reading it, and I commented that I didn’t see how they could make it into a good movie. Most of the book is about the characters reasoning their way through a puzzle. That can make for interesting reading if handled properly, but on screen it could get pretty dull. So we reasoned that they’ll add some action sequences and car chases to make it more interesting. Apparently they didn’t.

At this point, any post on The Davinci Code would be incomplete without some comment on the controversy by Christian groups. So let’s just say it. It’s fiction folks, get over it. Sure there’s a fact page, and the fact page is correct. All the descriptions of artwork, rituals, etc… probably are true. That doesn’t mean he’s claiming the interpretations of them are true.

Think of it as historical fiction. Gone With The Wind didn’t really happen either.