da vinci code

[lily of valley]

HEY GUYS,
I have just finished reading The Da Vinci Code by D.brown. I like to discuss it with you. I do not really know what to say!!! 1. Is it a kind of DISORIENTATION that welled up in my breast??? Maybe or maybe not.
" Sophie felt a new wave of disorientation as she stood in the silence……"
what did u feel while reading the novel and after u finished??
2. to me, this novel is like a dictionary on symbols that is why I enjoyed reading it. Do u feel the same??
" the Sang real is my favorite mistress." Chapter 58.
3. for those who read the Bible , do u think the Bible is patriarchal ?? if yea, give me some example from the bible .if nay, tell me why?
4. is it true that "Genesis was the beginning of the end for the goddesses" ?? chapter56.
In any religion when presenting the creator as a male , does such an image kill or eliminate the female creator????
5. is the biblical image of woman / female that of a whore / evil /destruction?? I do not think so coz the bible provides us with 2 / dual images of woman ; the fallen one sometimes representing evil , destruction …. and the futuristic bride of Christ. Both images are symbols in the end . we should not read biblical imagery , symbols or metaphors literally . what appears like a woman image or sign signifies sth different.
" metaphors are a way to help our minds process the unprocessiblr."chapter82.
6. " by communing with woman , man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God."
" historically , intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God. The ancients believed that the male was spiritually incomplete until he had carnal knowledge of the sacred feminine…." Chapter 74.

Do u agree guys ?? do these quotations remind u of the song of songs by Solomon???

7. " perhaps in a very real sense , a great institution is the tomb of the founder." do u agree???
I do not know who said this quotation . if u can tell me I am really thankful.


I am looking forward to read your answers .





I felt a funeral in my brain ,
And mourners , to and fro ,
Kept treading till it seemed
That sense was breaking through. Emily .

[PeterL]

You shouldn't take the Da Vinci Code seriously. It is a simple work of fiction that was designed to sell well, not to teach.

If you want to learn about symbols, Umberto Eco is the author that you should read, both his fiction and his non-fiction. Contrast "Foucault's Pendulum" and the "Da Vinci Code".

[stlukesguild]

I have just finished reading The Da Vinci Code... what did u feel while reading the novel and after u finished??

SLG- Disappointment. The work is a poorly written rehash of ideas that others have explored in a much more interesting manner. It's popularity seems to stem in part from the manner in which it plays upon a supposed conspiracy of the Catholic/Christian Church to suppress certain bits of knowledge. What it really seems to take advantage of, however, is the average reader's unfamiliarity with church history, Biblical studies, etc... which are there for anyone interested in seeking them out. If I want an alternative Biblical history I will check out Robert Grave's King Jesus, Milton's Paradise Lost, Pär Lagerkvist's Barabas, Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, the writings of Josephus and other Gnostic and Apocryphal writings.

2. to me, this novel is like a dictionary on symbols that is why I enjoyed reading it. Do u feel the same??

SLG- Yes... a book laden with obscure symbols, mythology, legend, history can be a pleasure. An intellectual puzzle and a challenge. This is what you might find in Dante or Blake's epics. The problem with The DaVinci Codeis that these symbols, etc... are just not used to a truly interesting end. Along the same line you might want to check our Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum or Lawrence Norfolk's Lempriere's Dictionary.

3. for those who read the Bible , do u think the Bible is patriarchal ?

SLG- It's probably as Patriarchal as any book written in time it was. It is impossible to make any sweeping statement about the Bible considering the fact that it is the product of numerous writers over a period of considerable time... which have been edited and re-edited. If this is a real concern, you might wish to check into the great critic, Harold Bloom's The Book of J which explores those Biblical writings historically ascribed by critics and historians to the so-called "J Author". Bloom is especially struck by the strength of the female figures and the repeated theme of the failings of male leaders, which leads him to the audacious supposition that the "J Author" (who composed much of the central narratives of Genesis, Exodus, and parts of several other books) was a woman living in the court of an Israel in decline... after David and Solomon.

4. is it true that "Genesis was the beginning of the end for the goddesses"?

SLG- I always suspect that Brown's concern with "goddesses" and the feminine in religion to be rather ingenuous... a way to gain empathy from the large population of female readers. Undoubtedly, the Hebrews, Islam and Christianity have had their share of mysogynists. It is also a definite fact that the Hebrews (and then the Christians) set themselves up contrary to religions which followed various goddesses (whether these be Ishtar, Isis, Aphrodite, or Juno)... but then again... they equally set themselves up contrary to any other 'gods'... as the belief was in a single god who was the God. While the terminology of "God the Father..." suggests a male creator, and earlier believers thought along such terms, I don't think that one can imagine an all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God as being limitted by gender... race... nationality... or any human concepts or limitations.

5. is the biblical image of woman / female that of a whore / evil /destruction?

SLG- See no. 3 (above). Yes... there are misogynists in any institution or religion... and there are female biblical characters who are portrayed negatively... But there are also strong biblical female characters... and weak/evil male characters.

6. " by communing with woman , man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God." " historically , intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God. The ancients believed that the male was spiritually incomplete until he had carnal knowledge of the sacred feminine…." Chapter 74.

Do u agree guys ?? do these quotations remind u of the song of songs by Solomon???


SLG- Not an original idea. Didn't William Blake declare, "The nakedness of woman is the work of God"? I've recently been reading a new translation of Gilgamesh and exploring the historical background of the culture. I was fascinated with the blatant spiritual/sexual link envisioned with the worship of Isis. Similar beliefs existed with the early Hebrews, and one can certainly see an echo of this in the writings of St. Theresa (to say nothing of Bernini's famous sculpture of the "Ecstasy of St. Theresa":

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/teresasmall.jpg

You might also look into San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross), whose Night of the Dark Soul and Spiritual Canticle surely equate sexual longing with spritual longing. A similar expression is conveyed by J.S. Bach in his cantata no. 140: "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" in which the impatient brides and the bridegroom (christ) sing an almost erotic duet ("Wenn kommst du, mein Herr/", "Ich komme..." or "When do you come, my lord?" I come...")

Certainly religious leaders in the Judeo/Christian tradition sought to bind sexuality to marriage, while others were fearful of it outright. The attempt to allgorizeThe Song of Solomon into a duet between the church and Christ was one attempt to avoid any eroticism by denying the sexual content that is central to the work. The existence and survival of the Song of Solomon is proof that the coeixistence of eroticism and spirituality was not something completely disallowed in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

7. " perhaps in a very real sense , a great institution is the tomb of the founder." do u agree?

SLG- I would assume that every institution... by the very nature of institutions... will grow... change... and eventually evolve into something quite removed from what the founders imagined. I doubt that Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin etc... would recognize much of what the government of the United States has evolved into. The Roman Empire of Caligula and Commodus was certainly not what the founders of the Roman Republic had envisioned. I don't imagine that the Church (or rather we should say "churches") are any different.

[lily of valley]

Hey stlukesguild,
Thank u for your patience for answering all my questions. your answers are what I really expect from literature's lovers. I read many threads in this forum on the da Vinci code. Most scholars look exasperate. Well, it is fiction in the end. This novel triggers many questions as u noticed. It makes one read and search more on many topics.

I still have another question guys; "according to Jewish custom , celibacy was condemned." Page 265. IS THIS TRUE??

[miss tenderness]

despite the fact if I agree or disagree with what Dan's writes,I do find him interesting to be
read for.