The Dan Brown Enigma (22 page)

There are also bad reader reviews of the book on Amazon, with people calling it ‘turgid pap’, ‘an awful book’ and ‘inaccurate, insubstantial and preposterous’.

‘As a piece of literature it fails on every count. The characters are emotionless automata which could be bested by any high school English assignment. The plot and background are preposterous and inaccurate from start to finish. The alleged historical significance is the biggest fiction in the book, right after Robert Langdon’s so-called “expertise”. The overall result is a piece of insubstantial and preposterous fluff barely worth using to prop up the leg of a wobbly table.’
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But the positive comments far outweigh the bad reviews. Indeed, with millions of readers worldwide, the book certainly meets the mark for entertainment value.

To see how well it reflects the world around it, we need to look at how Dan Brown researched it and created the world in which Robert Langdon lives, one that is familiar to all of us and yet strangely different.

In January 2001, when Heidi Lange had taken on Brown and they were in the process of negotiating with Pocket Books, Lange suggested to Brown that he put together several book proposals so they could negotiate a multiple book deal. Brown put together a 56-page synopsis for
The Da Vinci Code
. ‘I remember trying hard to make the synopsis exciting and cinematic,’ Brown said. ‘I had already written a similar synopsis of
Angels & Demons
in hopes of selling the novel to Hollywood, but that had never happened.’
[237]

The synopsis included a partial bibliography that would give the novel authority and allow Brown to create the world that Robert Langdon inhabits. The bibliography listed seven books, including
The Templar Revelation
,
The Hiram Key
and
The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
. ‘Much of the research for the novel came from conversations, research trips, online sources and essentially sources that are hard to cite,’ Brown said in his witness statement.

While Brown has said that he tries to blend fact with fiction, he also tries to anchor his books in a realistic and recognisable world. ‘In the final version of
The Da Vinci Code
I used
The Vitruvian Man
as a model for the opening murder scene (placing a dead character on the Louvre floor in the same body position as Leonardo da Vinci’s
The Vitruvian Man
),’ he said, referring to the drawing most people would probably know by sight if not by name. ‘The murder is still set in the Louvre, but I was having problems making this work, and I thought
The Vitruvian Man
would be a far better murder victim.’

Brown peppers his stories with academic lectures by the protagonist, in order to provide information for the reader as well as a grounding in reality. Brown tells us these lectures require ‘a firm grasp of specifics. Invariably, when I am preparing to write one of these academic lectures, I ask Blythe to collect and compile as much information as possible on the lecture topic.
The Da Vinci Code
includes lots of lectures – some long, some short – on topics such as Opus Dei, the
Mona Lisa
, goddess worship and suppression of the feminine, symbology, Fibonacci, hidden meanings in paintings and other art, and Rosslyn.’
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Three chapters in
The Da Vinci Code
provide the reader with academic lectures on the Templars, the Priory and the Holy Grail. ‘Chapter 55 deals with Christianity, Constantine and the Bible,’ said Brown in his witness statement. ‘Chapter 58 deals with lost history, Jesus’ marriage and the Grail as bloodline.’

The sources for these lectures, which Langdon gives in the book, come from the many books that Brown used to research his novel, such as
The Hiram Key
and
The Templar Revelation
. Chapter 58 sees Langdon telling Sophie about his ideas on the origins of Christianity, Constantine and the Bible. ‘I was already familiar with much of this information, particularly that about Constantine, the Council of Nicea, and the surrounding politics,’ said Brown. ‘In general terms I have been aware of Constantine’s role in the origin of the Bible as we know it for many years. In addition, I researched the topic while preparing the content of
Angels & Demons
. But I read a lot more about the topic while writing
The Da Vinci Code
.’
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Blythe helped her husband research his novels and
The Da Vinci Code
in particular. Part of that was the Constantine document that she prepared for him. The chapter about Constantine is crucial to the book and talks about how Constantine had copies of the Bible made that did not include the Gospels of Mary or of Philip ‘which both allude to Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Jesus and her important role in his Church. The Gospels of Philip and Mary both come from the Gnostic Gospels and I recall seeing them in many sources,’ Brown explained, citing sources such as
The Templar Revelation
,
The Goddess in the Gospels
and
The Gnostic Gospels.

Blythe’s document came from a variety of different sources and texts. Brown needed support for the hypothesis he was trying to create, which would provide that sense of realism and reflect the world in which Langdon lived. ‘I would usually take a document like this, read it, consider it, and blend it in my mind with all the other material that I had read on the topic,’ Brown explained. He would cross-reference other notes and source material before writing a draft that would eventually become a chapter or section of the book. He would go through several drafts before he felt the section was complete and would quite likely refer to the source material again before final completion.

Chapter 58 sees Langdon and Teabing showing Sophie the bloodline theory and the secret imagery in Da Vinci’s painting of
The Last Supper
. ‘I prepared the lecture parts of these chapters in the same general way as I prepared the lecture in Chapter 55,’ Brown explained. ‘A document that I would very likely have looked at while writing such chapters is entitled
Langdon Reveals to Sophie
. The first part of the document deals with the history of the Knights Templar and it goes on to give an explanation for what they were looking for under the Temple of Solomon. A lot of this information (including some of the text), I believe, had come from
The Hiram Key
. The document then goes on to look at the Priory of Sion, San Graal, and marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

‘All of the research books are different pieces of history in theory. Often the books reach the same conclusions – just in a different way. Blythe likes to mark or underline where she finds common links, as it helps her piece the big picture together. Our studies into the origins of the Christian movement and the ancient mysteries continue to this day. Our research and Blythe’s note-taking is a continual process.’
[240]

While research is crucial for Brown to provide the fact and authenticity he seeks, the other key to creating a realistic feel to the book is ensuring his locations are accurate. One could say that this is Brown’s biggest trademark. Many readers used
Angels & Demons
as a guidebook to the locations in the Vatican and across Rome for walking in the footsteps of the characters. The same is also true of
The Da Vinci Code
– location is key.

Some of the detail of the locations came from online sources or guidebooks and photos, but there is no substitute for going to that location and experiencing it. ‘In the case of
The Da Vinci Code
, Blythe and I spent a year or so travelling and conducting research during the writing of
The Da Vinci Code
.’

Indeed, Brown states that the locations are often as important to him as the symbols, codes and art in telling the story. ‘Locations not only make the read more enjoyable (in my opinion), they add to the credibility of the ideas put forward. They also give the character of Robert Langdon a further opportunity to “teach” readers. Most people are unaware of the pagan origins of the Pantheon, for example, or the existence of demons’ holes in some churches.’

The Louvre in Paris figures heavily in
The Da Vinci Code
and that’s because Brown wanted to pay homage to the museum building as a work of art in its own right. He spent a lot of time researching I.M. Pei, the man who designed the famous Louvre Pyramid. Brown’s research on this architect was done online at
greatbuildings.com
. Here he was able to download the Computer Assisted Drawings of the Louvre pyramid and other famous buildings. ‘I became very frustrated that my inexpensive computer was too weak to fully display these spatial models without crashing. Nonetheless, I could scroll through the rendered frames slowly, and I became very excited about the internet as a tool for researching the architecture of the buildings that I would be writing about.’

Other sites that Brown featured in his novel include St Sulpice, Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey which, ‘I either visited myself, researched on the internet or used guidebooks,’ he said. ‘One useful research source was
Fodor’s Guide to Paris 2001
, which particularly has information on the Louvre, St Sulpice, and Notre Dame.’

One of the key locations in the book is Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. The chapel is famous for its links to the Templars and for its symbols, so it was a must for Brown to include. It is where Sophie discovers her history and heritage, as well as being reunited with her grandmother and brother. Brown’s major sources of information on Rosslyn were the book
The Hiram Key
and the Rosslyn Chapel’s website.
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At the very end of the novel Brown brings the reader full circle to the final resting place of the Grail. ‘It seemed more appropriate to me that Mary Magdalene would be returned by the Priory to France. The symbolism of the inverted angel at the Louvre – a chalice – appealed to me, so I returned the focus to the Louvre, where the thriller began.’

Another key element that Brown uses to provide a veil of reality in his novel is information on Leonardo da Vinci. ‘An artist, inventor, mathematician, alchemist, he was a man centuries ahead of his time. Perhaps the greatest scientist the world had ever seen,’ Brown said in his witness statement. ‘Da Vinci faced the challenge of being a modem man of reason born into an age of religious fervour; an era when science was synonymous with heresy.’

Crucial to Brown’s story is the idea that Da Vinci saw proof of a divine Creator in all of nature’s miracles. ‘The ratio PHl is a perfect example of this. Leonardo da Vinci employed this “Golden Ratio” in much of his religious artwork,’ explained Brown. ‘His philosophy was one in which science and religion lived in harmony. As I have said, I have a fascination with the interplay between science and religion, and I think that’s one of the reasons I became so quickly engrossed in Leonardo da Vinci as a topic. He is perhaps the perfect subject for me, given my love of codes, science, religion, art and secrecy.’
[242]

Art also features very heavily in the book, helping to give the story authenticity and a basis in reality. ‘From the moment I started conceiving
The Da Vinci Code
, it was a certainty that art would feature significantly,’ Brown wrote in his witness statement. ‘Langdon is not merely a symbologist, he is an art historian.’

But
The Da Vinci Code
remains a novel, a work of fiction and should be taken as such. ‘While the book’s characters and their actions are obviously not real, the artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel all exist (for example, Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, the Gnostic Gospels, Hieros Gamos, etc.),’ Brown wrote in his witness statement. ‘These real elements are interpreted and debated by fictional characters.

‘If you read the “Fact” page at the beginning of the novel, you will see it clearly states that the descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in the novel are accurate. The “Fact” page makes no statement whatsoever about any of the ancient theories discussed by fictional characters. Interpreting those ideas is left to the reader. My hope in writing this novel was that the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion, and history.’
[243]

The Da Vinci Code
easily meets the first two principles of good thriller writing but falls down on the third: the idea of it not having to be written to a formula to be good. Indeed, Brown admits in his witness statement that
The Da Vinci Code
is written to a formula without actually using the word. ‘As with my earlier books, there is a lot in
The Da Vinci Code
that is familiar – a murder, a chase through foreign locations, the action taking place all in 24 hours, a code, a ticking clock, strong male and female characters and a love interest.’

Explaining this in his witness statement he goes on to say that the ‘book also builds on what I saw as the great leaps forward I made in
Angels & Demons
. Again, it is thriller as academic lecture, there is plenty of hidden information, symbology, codes and treasure hunts. And even more so than in
Angels & Demons,
the reader is accelerated through the book – I used short chapters, ideally with some form of cliffhanger at the end of each one.’

This brings us to the next principle: is it an adventure? From the reader comments in this chapter we can see that it is. Phrases like ‘breathless chase’ or ‘for someone with a sense of adventure’ prove that it is an adventure. Indeed, the story moves at the high-octane pace that is the hallmark of such great thriller writers as Alistair MacLean, Dick Francis, Robert Ludlum and Fredrick Forsyth. Brown has learned his craft well.

The final Curzon Group principle says that thrillers should be written in a stylish and witty way. The comments and reviews included in this chapter are only a smattering of what’s out there on
The Da Vinci Code
. But whether the book is stylish and witty is up to the reader.

By 2007 there was no sign of Brown’s much anticipated fifth book. A few hints had been dropped. It was to be called
The Solomon Key
and Brown was going to take on the Freemasons. The book was to be set in Washington DC. Initially, Brown had doubts about setting the book there, as he felt the American capital might lack the grandeur of Rome or Paris. ‘In fact, the more I researched about Washington’s architecture and its history, the more I’m starting to think it may surpass Rome in its secret history.’
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