I read this book shortly after it came out and all the initial hubbub was going around. I since decided that I needed a refresher on what the story was prior to viewing the movie in the theater this coming weekend.

First off, let me state that I attended a Catholic school for 9 years and then public for 3 before going to college. I was an altar boy (no funny business occured) for 2 years as well so I'm well versed in Catholic beliefs.

Overall I thought Dan Brown did an excellent job with this book. I really enjoy mysteries and puzzle/clue driven storylines. Needless to say I loved National Treasure with Nicholas Cage & am getting my TiVo set up for a Season Pass of the upcoming reality show Treasure Hunters. I believe Mr. Brown did a good job of telling a fictional story, albeit one that probably can have some truths in it, hence the public outcry by the Catholic Church & even Opus Dei.

Religion is a very touchy subject but if one were to read this book and/or see the movie and view it as merely a work of fiction to be read/watched for entertainment instead of etched in stone fact, then I see no reason to not enjoy this novel. I found myself reading the book in front of a PC on numerous occasssions to look up the actual paintings and buildings described in the book to see just exactly what symbology was being described. I was surprised to see that everything described was in fact part of the paintings...and maybe that's just a coincidence or it could be purposely put there by the artist, we'll never now.

Conspiracy theorists love topics like this and I'm sure they had a field day with this book. I on the otherhand enjoyed getting a written visual of all the famous books, paintings, architecture, scenery, etc. from Europe and the Renaissance times. Heck, I even have more of an urge again now to visit the Louvre because of this book and I even took an art history class in college that dealt with most of the works discussed in the book.

I think what I most enjoyed about this book was the character development that took place throughout. From clever wit to stunning revelations of past events in the characters histories I honestly believed in these characters. Symbologists, cryptogrophers, and those with similar interests amaze me in the way they can pick out hidden meanings and clues in everyday objects. The characters in this book felt real to me and sensitive subject material made the read even more fascinating.

Now, I can only sit back & wait for the movie to be released in a few days...and hope that my wife hurries up and finishes the book so we can see the theatrical version ASAP.

(As a Star Wars side note, I stopped reading Shatterpoint for a week or so as I decided I had to re-read this book for the movie. Hopefully I'll get back into SP quickly, though so far the beginning of it utterly bored me.)