the da vinci code

I finally got to read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code after waiting on my library's hold list for months (starting out as the 10th person in line). It lived up to the hype for the most part, with brilliant multi-layered riddles grounded in historical evidence that makes you want to look stuff up. The book is centered around the idea of the sacred feminine and the theory that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, which has been suppressed by the Church but surfaces secretively in art and music. I was utterly fascinated by the analyses of the symbolism in relation to Mary Magdalene in several of Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings (such as this). I've already had some exposure to the Magdalene-as-Holy-Grail theory from playing Gabriel Knight 3 (which based its research on the same book), so I'm fairly familiar with the basics of the book, but not some of the other clues that the author presented, which were very interesting as well. It makes me want to fire up and play GK3 all over again.

One of my favorite parts of the book is a conversation between the main character, Langdon, and his publisher, Faukman, about his book on the Magdalene-Grail theory:

Faukman was still shaking his head. "But with all these books written about it, why isn't this theory more widely known?"

"These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time."

Faukman's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail."

"I was referring to the Bible."

Faukman cringed. "I knew that."

And there was another sort-of Harry Potter reference that was very intriguing. The 8th Grand Master of the Priory of Sion (sercret society which kept the secret of the Grail) is listed as Nicolas Flamel, who was in the position from 1398-1418. The time period seems to coincide with the other Nicolas Flamel, who created the philosopher's stone. I'll have to look him up some time.