North Of 49

The Davinci Code

(Or should that be The Davinci no code?)

Hype, hype and still more hype.

Well, history is one of my big loves, so I thought I would tackle this,
(as if there needs to be any more written about this subject.)
I am going to do a series of posts, starting with my next one, on the
flaws in the Code.

Why are people so willing to believe in poorly "researched"
publications such as Brown's book? At the least why do people not
check into the background of the material used to justify a position?
And why am I even bothering to touch on this subject, since this is after
all, just a fictional novel?

Well, the first two questions are impossible for me to answer, I'm not a
social psychologist, however as to the last question, I wouldn't have bothered
except for these statements in the opening of Browns book:

"The Priory of Sion - a European secret society founded in 1099 - is
a real organisation. In 1975 Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale discovered
parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous
members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton,
Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo Davinci."

And:

"All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret
rituals in this novel are accurate."

That is what made my blood boil, since there are numerous bits of
history and basic information in his book which are skewed or just
plain false. The documents may be accurate (May, being the
opperative word here) but are they in context? Are/were the documents
genuine? Who were the historical sources?

My next post is going to be little more than a nit - pick.

But it adds to the rest of the information to show the flawed character
of this book as a historically accurate document. It may be good
reading, but as history? Well, let's see.

Stay tuned!

posted by North Of 49 @ 9:55 AM