The Da Vinci code

[vittoria]

My mother says it is imitating U. Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" whereas I am saying it is imitating the Indiana Jones films (I am not saying one excludes the other). Has anyone had the same impression or does anyone think it is inspired by some other book or film?

[rekstout]

It certainly did not put forward anything new, I seems to draw upon many popular myths and stories particularly those put forward in the book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". It was a bit lightweight for me - read it in one night. It was a good thriler but had very little depth I would say - probably explains its popularity.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Agree with Rekstout. It's basically a bog-standard airport thriller with terrible characterisation, a baddie it's possible to spot from his first appearance, and some ludicrous plot devices. For all that, the esoteric knowledge is pretty interesting and for me was the value in the book. Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed it immensely, but it's hardly great literature.

I could certainly see that it's 'Foucault-light' - it did occur when I was reading it, but Eco is superior in virtually every way. (That said, the first chapter of Foucault, when he's stuck inside the museum, is an exercise in frustration! I thought I had a reasonably large vocabulary until I read that!)

[MrIxolite]

It bears little resemblance to any Indiana Jones film in my opinion.

[vittoria]

The similarity is that both Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon are academics, one is an archaelogy prof. and the other prof. of religious ichonology, and both are dragged into a fast and furious adventure.