Leave Dan Brown Alone!

Why are people so upset about "The DaVinci Code?" Could it be that they are overlooking one simple thing? Dave Singleton explains.
One of the hottest selling books in 2003 was "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown. A tale about a Harvard professor of "Symbology" and a French Cryptographer trying to decipher clues regarding the location and the truth behind the mythic Holy Grail, "The DaVinci Code" is still on best seller lists nationwide, and a movie version is in pre-production with a tentative release date of next summer.

And people are upset. According to an article in the New York Times, there are several books coming out that purport to debunk "The DaVinci Code" and some of the claims made in the pages of the book.

Author Dan Brown, before the tale begins, writes that there are certain facts in the book, and that, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

Apparently Mr. Brown would have been better off leaving such a page out of the book entirely, because I believe that the disclaimer is what is leading to the uprising from the religious circles who lament the misinterpretations and allegations that Mr. Brown presents in his book concerning Christianity, Catholicism and the portrayls of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.

There is one thing that everyone seems to be missing, or are intentionally overlooking.

"The DaVinci Code" is a work of fiction.

Most fiction contain some morsel of truth or real life in them, but the plot should be the creation of the author. If some facts are distorted along the way, that is part of the little thing called "artistic freedom."

If someone is going to read a novel, which is how "The DaVinci Code" is classified, and if that individual is going to accept what is within the covers as fact, then there is not much that one can do about that.

Did Dan Brown have an agenda? Possibly. The agenda probably included the ideas of writing a great thriller that people will talk about and will sell a lot of copies. He certainly achieved that.

No one can say that controversy isn’t good for sales. Because Dan Brown has proved that.

I can only hope for the same someday.

By David Singleton
Published: 4/28/2004
 
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