4,6. Boekverslag door een scholier 2887 woorden 15 mei keer beoordeeld. Thriller & Detective, Roman Eerste uitgave 2003

Transcription

1 Boekverslag door een scholier 2887 woorden 15 mei ,6 57 keer beoordeeld Auteur Genre Dan Brown Thriller & Detective, Roman Eerste uitgave 2003 Vak Engels The Da Vinci Code is a mystery/ detective novel by the American author Dan Brown, also known for the books Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons and Deception Point. The publisher of the book is Doubleday, one of the largest publishers in the world. It was published in My version of the book (a pocket version) has 593 pages and also has a different publisher (Corgi). The novel is based on the premise that there is a conspiracy within the Roman Catholic Church to cover up the true story of Jesus. I found my book in the library when I was looking for a book to do my report on. Because I hadn t read it before and it seemed like an interesting book, I chose it. Another reason for choosing this book was because I had already read two of Dan Brown's other books, Deception Point and Angels and Demons. Before I started reading I had really high expectations of the book, mostly because I found the other books of Brown also very interesting. Since other people also recommended it, my expectations became even higher. After I had read the book, I was pretty much satisfied. The plot of the book was very good, mostly because everything is written so realistic, and because Dan Brown uses so many different places in the book, and also items, which he describes very detailedly. However, there was only one part in the book with which I was really disappointed with: the end. To me it seemed like as if there had to be a sudden end to the book, whereas the other parts of the book were so long, detailed and interesting. Now you have the feeling that for some whatsoever reason the book had to be ended in 2 or 3 pages. Quite disappointing, really. Summary The story starts of with a prologue in the Louvre, where renowned curator Jacques Saunière is murdered by a mysterious albino, of whom we later know his name is Silas. Then the story continues in Paris, at the Ritz hotel, were Harvard Professor Robert Langdon is staying. He is awoken by the concierge, who tells him someone s looking for him. This turns out to be agent Collet, from the French judicial department. He shows him a picture of Jacques Saunière, dead, in a strange position. Langdon is uneasy because he had an appointment with Saunière, but Saunière never showed up. Collet urgently insists Langdon to follow him to meet his capitaine (his boss). Langdon agrees and joins Collet and they head to the museum were Langdon meets Collet's captain, Bezu Fache, better known as the Bull. Bezu Fache shows Langdon the crime scene and Langdon recognises Saunière, however, he is in an Pagina 1 van 5

2 extremely strange position, and naked. There is also on the floor things written by Saunière with his own blood : O, Draconian devil! Oh, lame saint! What wasn t shown by Fache is that there was also P.S. Find Robert Langdon on the floor. Furthermore, Saunière wrote down things with a black-light pen and left all sorts of encoded hidden clues relating to the work of Leonardo Da Vinci: the Da Vinci Code. Langdon is now Fache s prime suspect. But, together with help the help of agent Sophie Neveu, he escapes and later returns to the Louvre to have a better look a the clues left by Saunière. It leads to Da Vinci s Mona Lisa, the Madonna of the Rocks. Llater, they find a key of a locker of the Depository Bank of Zurich. They go there and the locker is opened with the key and the numbers written down by Saunière were actually the entry code: , The locker contained a wooden box (inlaid with a rose) containing a cryptex (see pic.)langdon and Sophie believe that the cryptex contains valuable info about the Holy Grail. Sophie knows these cryptexes all too well, her grandfather used to make them for her. A word has to be filled in to keep the information inside undamaged. If it is tried to break the cryptex with force, it will break and vinegar will destroy the inside information. Now that they have a part of the mystery solved they again have to flee, as the police follow them everywhere. They decide to flee to a close friend of Robert's, Sir Leigh Teabing, an expert on the secret of the Holy Grail. When they have reached Leigh s house, Leigh tells Sophie about the truth about the Prior of Sion and the story of Jesus. He also shows a picture of the Last Supper (also one of Da Vinci s works), in which a woman is hidden -Mary Magdalene. Sophie is also told that the Holy Grail isn t really an item, but the remains of the body of Mary Magdalene herself. But at Leigh s home they are not safe. They notice the police surrounding the house and they have already been attacked by the albino Silas (who had also knocked out Langdon already). The albino was beaten by Teabing, who happened to know his weak spot: his cilice. And so, they flee. They think the Holy Grail is in England somewhere, so they use Leigh s private jet to go there. But in England Teabing is kidnapped. Remy appears to have been a traitor all along. Sophie and Robert want to rescue him, but try to do that by solving the mystery of the cryptex. It leads them to Westminster Abbey, and to the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton, who also happens to be a member of the Priory of Sion. They find a note at the grave of Newton, telling them to meet the kidnapper somewhere in an alley. So they decide to go and meet the kidnapper, but to their great surprise, it s Leigh himself. Apparently, Leigh has been mastermind (The Teacher), who gave Silas his orders, and was responsible for it all (the killings, etc). Leigh demands the cryptex while pointing a gun at Robert and Sophie. Leigh believes that the world should know the truth behind the Holy Grail and also tries to convince Sophie and Robert to join his side, but they don t (Leigh: Robert, are you with me, or against me? ). But, due to a good plan of Roberts (they fake the destruction of the cryptex and it s containing, as Robert already discovered the password of the cryptex and got the papyrus rolls out), Leigh is captured and handed to the police led by Bezu Fache, who discovered that Leigh was the one they were looking for, and Pagina 2 van 5

3 not Robert Langdon. The rolls from the cryptex say: The Holy Grail neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o er Her gates. Adorned in masters loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skies. So Langdon and Sophie believe the Holy Grail is in the Roslin Chapel and so they go there in order to get it. When in Roslin, Sophie has the feeling she s been there before. Langdon and Sophie meet a tour guide who is in possession of a small wooden box (inlaid with a rose) just like Sophie s. Sophie says it s impossible, because this was an unique box made by her granddad. Langdon finds out that the tour guide is actually Sophie s brother who she thought was dead. Shortly after that Sophie meets her grandmother, and she explains the truth to Sophie. She calls her princess, just like her grandfather used to call her. All is explained, and the mystery is almost solved. Several weeks later, Langdon is back at the Ritz, and suddenly realizes something ( could it be ). Maybe he finally knows the truth and the hiding place of the Holy Grail. After a short series of small discoveries, Langdon finally knows were it is: The Louvre itself. He goes there, and when he s certain, he falls down on his knees. He almost thinks he hears a woman s voice the wisdom of the ages.. whispering up from the chasms of the earth. Characters The two most important characters in the book are Robert Langdon, expert on religious symbosl and a professor at Harvard University, and Sophie Neveu, a French police officer and cryptologist. Robert Langdon is a Harvard professor, with much knowledge of symbols. Langdon is the leading character in the book, as he is the one who solves most of the mysteries left behind by for example Jacques Saunière. He is almost involved in every part of the book from the start and eventually solves the long hidden hiding place and the mystery of the Holy Grail. Langdon can physically be seen as a very normal man. Langdon is very smart and has much knowledge of certain subjects. Langdon's main concern in the beginning of the book is solving the mystery of the codex and he wants to know who has the murder of Jacques Saunière on his conscience. Later, Langdon's primary concern is finding the Holy Grail. Furthermore, Langdons character is, for me, by far the most attractive and interesting personage, because he is the one with all the knowledge, and well, for me, he is just the most interesting. Then there is Sophie Neveu, granddaughter of murdered curator Jacques Saunière. She was raised by him until he was killed. She works for the French police and also a cryptologist. Like Robert Langdon, she solves some mysteries and riddles left behind by her granddad. Later on she meets her grandmother and her brother who she thought were dead. The book also says Sophie has long burgundy colored hair. Robert found her attractive : Langdon took her soft palm in his hand and felt himself momentarily fixed in her strong gaze. Her eyes were olive green incisive and clear. Her main concern is to find out who killed her granddad. Actually I don t really think there is a character which I don t like. All characters are very interesting to me, and all are a good contribution to the plot and book in total. It can be said there is some character development because Langdon and Neveu continuously learn more about the secrets of Saunière, and at the end of the book you could say Robert and Langdon are kind of Pagina 3 van 5

4 falling in or have fallen in love ( Sophie leaned forward and kissed him again, but now on the lips ). I think they build up a very strong relationship during the story. Place Most of the story takes place in Paris. Later they fly to England and then go to Scotland, to Roslyn. The story ends where it started: The Louvre, where Langdon finally knows the location of the Holy Grail. The use of narrative space in the story is pretty important. For example, when they needed help to flee from the police, they went to Teabing. He helped them and so they went to England. So the narrative space is quite important for the storyline and plot. Time In the book the events take place now, in the present. This is not really important, but it let s every event happen in the correct order. The only time progression in the story in just the ordinary time progression as it is on the clock. The book has a closed ending; it doesn t seem there is going to be a second part of the book, because everything is quite finished. There are however clear examples of flashback in the story, for example the memory of Sophie about the secret ritual she saw involving her father (the Hieros Gamos). Langdon also has flashbacks-for example about a lecture he gave. Point of view In the book, the point of view is the third person narrative view. This is can be seen from many dialogues. For example, when Langdon, Neveu and Teabing have just escaped from the police, you can read Langdon was pleased he was not driving or Langdon forced a painful smile. When it would have been the first person narrative, Langdon would be the I in the story, and the given examples would be like this: I m pleased I m not driving and I forced a painful smile. The narrator is all-knowing. I believe this point I quite reliable, because it more or less only tells about situations, the way people are behaving and acting, etc. Therefore I also don t have the feeling the reader I manipulated by this point of view, because we are also told about much of the other characters in the book. This way, you can decide for yourself which character you favour, and you have insight in all of the characters. The writing style of the book is very good. There is a good use of dialogues, and the book has a good structure. For the vocabulary of the book you can see that the book is actually more aiming on adult rather than on children. Within the vocabulary, there are lots of specific terms, such as the Priory of Sion, the Holy Grail or Sangreal, and the French language is also used several times ( Vous n êtes pas Américaine? ) Main theme The main theme of the book is to solve the codes and clues left behind by Saunière, and with this find out by who and why he was murdered. ( Jacques Saunière was my grandfather ). I think that the main theme is correctly portrayed. Because Saunière's murder was quite mysterious, most of the things in the book are also. Take as an example, the cryptex, or the clues in left behind in the Louvre. Of course, the title of the book is very related to the main theme. Jacques Saunier left behind a code that had to be solved, relating to the work of Da Vinci: the Da Vinci Code. The book can be compared with the film that has been made of the book. However, the film is not as detailed as the book, and includes things that aren t even in the book, so I like the book way better. Writer Dan Brown was born in Exeter in the USA, June 22nd, 1964, as the oldest of three children. Pagina 4 van 5

5 Brown also attended school in Exeter until he graduated in 1982 he was in the music industry for a certain while. While in Los Angeles, he also met his current wife Blythe Newlon, who he married to in 1997 at a place called Pea Porridge Pont. From 1993 to 1996 Brown was a teacher at his old school Philips Exeter were he taught English. He also taught Spanish at the Lincoln Akerman School. In 1996, Brown quit teaching to become a full-time writer. Digital Fortress was published in Blythe did much of the book's promotion, writing press releases, booking Brown on talk shows, and setting up press interviews. A few months later, Brown and his wife released The Bald Book, another humor book. Brown's fourth book was Deception Point which was published in 2000 right before Angels & Demons. Dan Browns first 4 books had medium success, with fewer than 10,000 copies in each of their first printings. However Browns fifth novel, the Da Vinci Code, became a stunning success, reaching the top of the New York Times best seller list in the first week. More than 60 million copies have been sold worldwide. The book is typical for the author oeuvre. Dan Brown most of the times writes about conspiracies and mysteries. Brown literary history is as follows: Digital Fortress, published in 1998 Angels and Demons, published in 2000 Deception Point, published in 2001 The Da Vinci Code, published in 2003 The Solomon Key (in development) Opinion When I was reading the book, the general feeling I had was more or less curiosity, because page after page I wanted to know what would be next thing to happen. So you could say that the Da Vinci Code is really a page-turner. This is also because there is a lot of mystery and tension in the book, used at the right moments and the right places in the book. The part of the book which impressed me the most was the beginning, when the Louvre curator is shot, because it s really a good scene to start of the book. It s full of tension (for example: The curator looked down and saw the bullet hole in his white linen shirt ), but also it is the cause one of the themes in the book: the murder of Jacques Saunière, which eventually is the reason for the involvement of Robert Langdon, the leading character. However, the ending of the book, as I said before, was not impressive and quite disappointing. It was if the book had to be ended as quick as possible. I would certainly read other books by this author, in fact I have already, and they were also really good, because they re full of tension and mystery. And since I like that kind of books, I would really read them. I would also advise this book to other people, because the book is just great, and I believe I ve given quite some reasons before. Pagina 5 van 5