The Da Vinci Code in 4 days

SPOILER ALERT! If you havent read the book and don’t want to spoil any suprises, I highly recommend you NOT to read this post. Anything beyond this point covers unexpected twists and probably the conclusion of the story.

13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5
O, Draconian devil!
Oh, lame saint!
P.S. find Robert Langdon

Sigh. I had to put down yet another amazing thriller after only four days! Simply because I had already finished it. But really, 4 days is a personal record. 490 pages in four days.. This book is definately a page-turner, a fast-paced mystery novel (as various reviewers put it) Never before I had read a novel this fast because you simply can’t put it down! Not only its thrilling, the riddles are amazingly clever and brilliant! Two-thumbs up for Dan Brown!

The review by the San Fransisco Chronicle simply is enough to descibe Dan Brown’s book:

Let’s just say that if this novel doens’t get your pulse racing, you need to check your meds… This is good fun - Umberto Eco on steriods.

And that is so seriously true.

I am no historian nor do I score in my History papers, but some facts in this book (which has sparked much controversy and debate) certainly did raise my eyebrows. For example, the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children and that Leonardo da Vinci is homosexual etc. Everytime I meet any of these facts, I would turn to the book’s cover to double-check where it says: ‘FICTION’ Umm..yeah, fiction. But what are the odds that what Dan had claimed is true?

Despite the doubtful claims, there are, in fact, facts that are true in the book. Very interesting facts. Many of you may have heard of PI (3.14) and the Fibonacci sequence (1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34), both of which are mentioned in the book, but I’ve never heard of PHI. PHI aka the Divine Proportion or the Golden Ratio is simply an irrational number with many unusual appearances in nature. For example:

Measure the distance from the tip of your head to the floor, then divide it by the distance from your belly button to the floor - 1.618. Distance from hip to floor by the distance from knee to floor - 1.618. Divide the number of female bees by the number of male bees found in any bee hive in the world - 1.618. And countless more examples.. Pretty neat huh?

Did you even know that in the Last Supper by Leonardo, the person sitting to the right of Jesus is a woman when the last supper was attended by 13 men? Look closely head here for a hi-res if you want. Look out also for a disembodied hand holding a dagger somewhere in the painting. These are a few of many interesting facts covered I never knew.

The Da Vinci Code is certainly a good read. I would highly recommend you to get a copy. As NatGeo put it: read it as a mystery thriller, not as a history lesson.

Finally, do keep in mind that I am on neutral ground as to the authenticity of Dan Brown’s claims and do not wish to comment on the truth of it. Though I hope at some point the Grail existed :p

Links: NatGeo | More facts | Dan Brown | Offical website