CNN reports that the top cardinal of the Catholic Church, and a likely successor to Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has challenged the popular Da Vinci Code as “full of cheap lies.”
The Cardinal was said to be particularly “sad” that even Catholic bookstores, including the bookstore at the Gemelli Hospital where the Pope had been a patient, were selling The Da Vinci Code “for purely economic reasons.”
A little late
Did this guy just now get around to reading it? It’s been on a wait list for a year and a half at my library. And has he not heard the old saw about there’s nothing more appealing than something forbidden?
My 11 y.o.’s piano teacher just recommended it to me this week for stuff it’s got about music.
Re:A little late
Doesn’t the second sentence answer the first?
And has he not heard the old saw about there’s nothing more appealing than something forbidden?
The Church and religions in general forbis a lot of stuff, that’s kinda part of their whole deal.
While I’m no fan of the book …
… in question, it is fiction, so who cares if it is full of “cheap lies?” I love fiction full of cheap lies – it makes non-fiction a little easier to handle.
I’d read it but…
I gave up crappy fiction for Lent.
Actually I have it in both English and Spanish.
Da Vinci Code
It is not as scientific or accurate as the “Law and Order” television show. It has good guys (people who appreciate art), bad guys (deranged murders), and an exotic locations (Paris and Scotland). It is a scavenger hunt that just as easily could have been just as well placed in China, the Old West, or even Outer Space. Ignore the theology and simply enjoy the page turner. There are a number of items that are unbelievable in the book- including the good guys figuring out of a password to a modern bank vault on the second try. Get real. The book is a good read and a wonderful thriller, but it is not for believers in modern theology, forensic logic or European history. It plays “Fast and Loose” with numbers as well. But I enjoyed it very much.
Sales
Well, if they were afraid of sales slumping on the book, the good Cardinal has given it a few extra weeks of life. That, and no doubt, he’s upped the price for the movie rights.
Re:Sales
Tom Hanks will star.
Re:Sales
I have this sudden vision of Tom with a bad italian accent, looking like Fr. Guido Sarducci. I think I’d even pay to see that!
Re:Sales
I was hoping we could hold out for Paul Ruebens.
Re: an agenda by Dan Brown
People are obviously free to read or not read what they consider enlightening. Dan Brown is free to write what he wants as fiction, be it truthful or not. I have skimmed the book to get a sense of where the author is comimg from.I have read several reviews both positive and negative about the book.I think he has an agenda that does not favor catholic teaching about who Jesus Christ is, or what he did when he was alive on earth. Jesus was human and alike us in all ways, except sin( which is a paraphrase of a quote on the subject). Maybe those who read Dan Brown are looking for ways that portray the Catholic faith as something less than desirable, truthful.
Maybe the readers of this “bestseller” could be lacking in faith of what is the truth about Jesus Christ, now and forever. So those who want to read Dan Brown, go ahead and read him-I just think we have sunk to new lows if this type of reading is considered “good” or “worthwhile” literature. Greg
Re:A little late
Greg you are so right. Isn’t it to bad that the organization that purports to be about goodness and mercy or some higher agenda are actually a bunch of jealous naysayers. Who knows if the theology and history is correct? Who cares? Is God, Allah, Yawheh (sp?) or the world really harmed by people thinking about them in different terms. I have listened to Catholic Theologians and Critics (who reveal at the end of the interview that they are in fact Catholic) discuss the book, posing as civil and unbiased but sounding like something out of the Middle Ages or the Inquistion. Gee, did this hit a nerve with me, do you think?