Dan Brown, For Real?

Right now, I'm in the middle of 'Angels & Demons'. It's all about the Illuminati conspiracy and their plan to take revenge on Vatican City. I was watching one of those NBC news channels and they were talking about The DaVinci Code, and how it is all mixed/stretched truths. Is it really for real The DaVinci Code or is it actually just a novel?
I've been debating this with myself ever since I purchased the books. On the cover of the Code, it says it's a novel, but then it has a page stating that all the secret societies are real, some other stuff I forgot. Why would Dan Brown put a 'fact' page in a novel, is this just to hype up the popularity of the book even more? Or is he just being misleading?

Read Holy Blood, Holy Grail That is not fiction, was banned by the "chruch" as herisay but today that is not the case.

I say no. Why? Because Dan Brown's credibility is naught. Another book of his you may have heard of, The DaVinci Code, presents "facts" and pretends to hide behind the label "novel" only to not offend. I highly recomend this book:

equip.org...

It's only $4.99. If you can't afford it, U2U me, and I'll buy you a copy. Read that book, and then judge for yourself if you can take Dan Brown seriously, or mearly as a novel writer, as Robert Jordan ( ) is a novel writer.

The Da Vinci Code is a work of FICTION

Get a paper back copy of Michael Baigent's Holy Blood,
Holy Grail. This is a work of NON-FICTION.

The premise of Holy Blood, Holy Grail is based on the theory that Christ was human, subject to the normal
urges of any human. A man of his day and age would
have married, sired children, etc.

A theory is not fact. No matter how well researched theory does not become fact until it become a proven
fact.

No one really knows if Jesus Christ married and sired children. Non of the Gnostic texts that were excluded from the Bible proves that Christ did marry. There is only
traditions, some from France that hold with the idea of Mary Magdelen arriving on the shores of France some time after the crucifixion. Tradition also hold with the fact that there was a child, a daughter born to Mary Magdelen.

Baigent et al did their research well. So well that upon publication they got the Catholic Church in an uproar. Their work was considered heresy and Catholics were told not to buy the book, read it or believe one whit of it. Consequently, I went out and bought my own hardcover copy, read and studied it thoroughly.

It hasn't affected my faith, because I can tell the difference between a theory and a proven fact.

What Baigent does not do is recognize the divinity of Christ. He is God's son. Half man, half God. He died for our sins. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

If Christ had children here on earth, so be it. But I would defy anyone to prove that any person alive today carries Christ's DNA.

So as far as the rest of Brown's story goes, it's a cleverly written, suspenceful and dramatic story.

Angels and Demons is even more exciting than the Da Vinci Code.

But while you are at it, find a copy of Dan Browns other books. The one he wrote about the NSA will peal your scalp off your head. Digital Fortress.

Deception Point aint so bad either. Brown knows his craft. He writes compelling, though provoking Fiction.
But it is still......FICTION

Okay?

And you asked why did Brown include that page about something that is real?

It's called a hook in writer's terms. Each of us writers know that we have only a few seconds to convince a reader that the book they hold in their hands is worth taking home.

So we use hooks, to get the casual reader literally and figuratively hooked on what our books are about.

If Brown didn't think of putting the facts in his manuscript, I can personnally assure you, his publisher and editor are smart enough to know what it takes to sell lots and lots of books.

That, my dear, is a tip straight from the heart. That's why its there. You bought the book didn't you? Or borrowed it from some one who did. It's all about the bottom line, sales.

Writers are a craven lot and we take every liberty we can. Believe it.

[Edited on 1-5-2004 by radstar]

The places which are in Angels and Demons are real.
There is some loosely-based fictitious representation in A&D of the "myths" of the Illuminati.

It strikes me that Brown has an axe to grind for the Catholic Church. His books are definitely easy to read and very interesting (I've read Deception Point and Angels & Demons), but they are simply popularised fiction.

There is a such place as CERN. There is a such place as the Vatican. The same goes for St Peter's Bascilica, etc. The locations are real, just the occurances and "facts" generally are not - or are at least fictionalised beyond repair.

However - For anyone familiar, are the Vatican archives as described? I don't know enough about the Church to say, though the concept seems intriguing.

Dan Brown will not be on my list of favorite authors----EVER.

I was told to read Angels and Demons before I read DaVinco Code. I finished the first in 2 or 3 days, it was a very quick read. I was severly disappointed. If the author had carried his premise to the conclusion, it might have been okay. I could enjoy a NOVEL about the Illuminati. That's not how it ended, though I could ever have tolerated his Mason bashing if he had been more believable.
As previously stated, he really has issues with the Catholic Church.

Two things: I'm glad I didn't buy either book--a total waste of my money. I probably WON'T bother to read TDVC.