Do not read this article if you still want to read the book yourself. Warning: it contains details of the novel.
This is another book that got me totally hooked to the extend that I forget Eating, Sleeping and going to the toilet.
Firstly thing about the novel is of course the story line. I must say I followed the evolvement of the story closely and guessed very much into the suspension. Who was the teacher? What is the ultimate secret? Why is the murder concern Sophie's family?
And I have actually suspected Sir Leigh was The Teacher when he showed Sophie and Langdon the vast amount of material he studied for the Holy Grail. I felt he simply knew too much information even as a historian, especially with that zeal. Also, when he tried to bring the Monk Silas with them back to Britan, I somehow felt he wanted to leave no traces for the police to find him and kind of wanted to protect the Monk. And when the Monk and Remy had the fake kidnap of him in the Templer Church, I felt there was something wrong between him and Remy. However there was only one instant I thought I was wrong - that is when the Teacher walked into the Limo to get the Crypx and poisoned Remy as I thought Sir Leigh should still be tied in the backtrunk of the Limo, so he cannot be The Teacher. So I was not so startled to see Sir Leigh appeared in chamber pointing a gun at Sophie and Langdon near the end. My instinct was correct, just that the writer doesn't want to give in so fast. BUT, I was surprised at his plan as revealed by Fache --To make the whole murder looks like done by the Vetican and at the same time achieve to reveal the secret that Priory of Sion was guarding.
I was also not surprised to find Sophie is the offspring of Jesus and Mary, as by the name Princess Sophie. However, the writer again made a little twist to make me think I am wrong in the middle where Longdon was sure that her family name was not one of the royal sername. BUT I was surprised that she still have a grandma and younger brother survived in the last chapter. So I guess the Riddle that his grandfather wrote was again having a double meaning - the location of her suriving family members as well as the location of the real Grail as reveal in the Epilogue. Of course, I wouldn't really believe in that Pyramid.
One thing I felt most shaken about this book is the theory (almost wanted to say "the truth) it proposed that Jesus was a married man and he wanted his wife to carry on his church rather than another man. As said in the book itself "the hard core believer in God will just ignore this as a story. But considering those people who do not have such strong faith in their belief, who has been wondering where has God been when so many disasters have happened. what will they think of God now? Will they turn away from the Church?" According to the End of the Day theory proposed in the book, there will be a catastrophic event happened near the millienium as the zodiac star is changing. But the event has not came. However, I was speculating that is the motivation of the writer if people are really influenced by the ideas in the book, then THIS MAY BE THAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT. Could there be anything more catastrophic if people lose faith in something they believe so dearly for thousands of years? It is no wonder that the Church doesn't like this book. And this make me thinking of the brochure handed out earlier in the year by the NUS christian group.
However after visiting the writer's website, I demolished the conspiracy theory I just constructed. The writer as he wrote in the FAQ has repeated emphasising this is just a NOVEL, a fiction. So the theories are just speculation, guessing to the best. What he aimed to do and have obviously achieved is to get people's attention and interest in the topic of religious history. He didn't draw any conclusion in the Novel. The question is open-ended for people to discuss and explore. He is very happy that the debate has started between the people from both the science and religion sides and nothing is more important than the communication channel that has been established, the conversation that has begun.
He repeated one idea that resounante with my freshman year Biology professor. Both men agree that science and religion are not two conflcting entities. What science could answer is only a small portion of what mankind discovered. No doubt that science has explained many things people previously believed as the work of God, such as natural phenomenon. But when science advances, it still could not explain many things present in our daily life, such as what happened after death. So that is where religion comes in to explain things science could not prove. Ultimately, what we think of Jesus was is not important, but if believing in Religion could make people be better people, then what is the harm of beliving in it?
However problems arise when there are institution which trying to use the power of religion to manipulate people. Just like Silas in the novel who killed people because he was told that they are the enemies of the God and have threatened God. In this aspect, I think Religion is Dangerous. And Religion has proved to be very Powerful when used to unite people. Actually it is not Religion that is so powerful, it is the Belief that so many people shared. Just like during so many Revolutions, be it the Independence of America or Liberation of Chinese by the Communist Party. The people in power is always afraid of a BELIEF that may make them lose power, so they will use their power to eradicate the people who has the BELIEF and frighten other people not to follow that BELIEF.
So I guess another message from the book is that Religion should be a free Belief for everyone. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Islanmic or Jewish. They actually may all trace back to some similar God and they actually all have some common guideline. It is just a matter of degree in the practise. However, I feel people should be free to choose what they believe in and not be forced to obey rules from some institution if they are not willing to.
I must say the exceptional unbias in the writer's writing is very rare. He made the biggest joke by making Sir Leigh, the supporter of releasing the document, the planner behind all the murder. So both the Church and The secret society are innocent. He even shape the character such as the bishop, the assasin Silas in a way that the reader may feel sympathetic to them. Everybody in the story seemed to have a just cause to do what they did.
And last but not the least. The reason why I buy in so much of the writer's theories is because he writes it in such a logical way - the fault of a scientifically trained mind. When I reason the way his characters reasoned, I was totally convinced of the conclusion thee arrived at. The vast amount of research he have done is the best backing of his theories. The tiny details he drawned from the seemingly unconnected object, e.g. Da Vinci's painting, the pyramid at Louvre, The small church in England, etc...Of course I would assume it is not all coming out of his own mind, but to be able to spin a web with the given materials is not a easy task an ordinary man could do.
Deeply respected the writer's brain!
Thanks Pearl for lending me this book. Also looking forward to the Movie version.
I happened to listen to one of the radio broadcasting of the author and found himself is just as witty and funny as the Novel. Not surprising though.
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