The Da Vinci Code II

I have finished The Da Vinci Code and liked it a lot. I especially liked the twist at the end, when it turned out who was Langdon’s adversary to find the Grail. While reading, I always had a question in my mind: why is Langdon trying to find the Grail, even if it means the end of his life. It is a very hard question to answer but I think I figured it out.

In the book, a murdered victim leaves a message to Langdon, right before his death. This message has some clues to possibly find the Holy Grail, which is Langdon’s dream. His friend asks him in the book why he is pursuing these clues to find the Grail. Langdon replies saying he’s a historian and he wants to discover all the unsolved mysteries in life. That might be true. As a little boy, I always wondered about the Holy Grail. I saw the movie Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade where he and his father try and find the Grail. Also, I read the book about King Arthur and the Grail and wanted to learn more about it.

Now the question is: what are Langdon’s intentions? Many historians pursue what they want to learn. Langdon is more determined than most historians I’ve read about. In the book we learn that the Grail is supposedly a woman: Mary Magdalene, a companion of Jesus. It says that she was married to Jesus and had his baby, who then becomes the protoplast of a long dynasty in Europe. Finding the Grail could prove or deny this legend. Langdon follows his dream up to risking his life for scientific reasons but he is also driven by his responsibility and care for the people and world. He knows that other people look for the Grail for their selfish, criminal and murderous reasons. He can predict what could happen when Grail gets into such people and how much problems it can bring. He sees himself as the only one that can “save the world.” It is just another James Bond, Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt.

And this is what makes this book good. An old war between good and evil takes all you have to offer and in return puts your life in stake, but the prize is worth doing it. This is what makes this genre so great, popular and successful. The controversial material just adds more spices to the book and does good publicity. I am ready to follow Professor Langdon in his search of mysteries. 

Da Vinci Code I

I’ve recently read an article about all false facts and information Dan Brown put into his The Da Vinci Code book. It was quite interesting to see how the author of the article was criticizing Brown for all the myths and legends he mixed up with some true stories. Having some Bible knowledge I’ve decided to check it for myself. So I have just started reading the book The Da Vinci Code and like it a lot. I bet many of you have read this book and even may have seen the movie but I have done neither. It will be a good research for me to see how fiction and truth are mixed to make this controversial book more interesting.

Dan Brown is known of writing books that bring controversies and a lot of opposition, especially from the Catholic Church. His Angels and Demons was one of them, where he had in a very cool way mixed real, historic facts with his own fiction ideas. In the The Da Vinci Code he takes us to the Masonic world of mysterious rites and symbols. In a twisting way he turns upside down the most important beliefs of the Christian world. He says that Jesus has married Mary Magdalene and their son was a protoplast of a European’s royal dynasty. Quite twisting idea isn’t it. Brown says it in his book like it was an absolute truth, and I guess people with little knowledge of this matter may take it. What is interesting about this genre is that this type of mixing facts and myths make the book “more” real. Some people get offended saying that their religious feelings were hurt, but this is just an action book where all people and organizations are portrayed, but fictional.

Dan Brown is not a documentary writer. He is a good fiction writer that skillfully uses subjects and myths for his bestselling success. You can pinpoint all the flaws and culprits, but that’s not the point. I guess Dan Brown is just getting happier about all of those “detective jobs.” More controversy, more publicity for the book and movie – and that’s what is all about.

Title and Setting of The City Of Ashes

I have started reading the book The City of Ashes and really enjoy it. This is the second book in the series, where The City of Bones is the first book. It’s about a girl named Clary who finds herself in the middle of a secret war going on right under the human’s noses. A group called the Clave, led by Shadowhunters is fighting against demons that Valentine, a former Shadowhunter released onto the earth.

         The title of the book has a dark meaning. Ashes are the leftover powder of something that burned. In the book, character emotions burned but later soothed. In the history of the Clave, some pretty bad things happened, and to hide the evidence, the people burned it. Every time you burn something, there is always something left, ash. There is always some evidence left and that can affect lots of people. Ash could be easily blown away, in that case secrets. In the first book Clary learns that terrible secret but now, secrets are forgotten, blown away, taken over by new ones.  

         The setting takes place in New York City. It is dull but mysterious. No Daniel! New York City isn’t dull! I’m not talking about the human world; I mean the secret world of the Shadowhunters. Their life is only about protecting the world from demons. That might be fun for the first few years, but then the dark times come; when secrets are revealed, betrayals happen, and the people you love are taken away.  The setting is dull because of the background, regular brick houses or old churches. It is also mysterious by the places hidden in those dull houses or churches. For example, a church could be a safe house or a refuge for a Shadowhunter while a brick house could be a quick-stop by armory. You don’t know what it is. Is it just a regular house, or a special Shadowhunter place? The setting is perfect for this book. It is like the ash. Ash is dull, a gray/black powder, yet mysterious. How did this piece of wood become ash?

         Right after you read the book, you feel a different way.   You may feel darkness coming over you. You may feel depressed about the horrible things that happened in this book. You could see people watching you as if you are not human. You might think: is that a church or an armory? Was that a Shadowhunter I just walked by? At the end, you somehow just realize that all of this is just a story.       

Samiha Sayef's blog review: Dreamland

                   I have just read Samiha's  post  about Dreamland (http://samihasdarkrose.blogspot.com/2011/12/dreamland-by-sarah-dessen.html) and I like it. I have also noticed that a few people posted on her wall saying that they want to read the book she is talking about. Right in the beginning, she recommends the book to teenagers who are maturing (ages between 15-18.) I think, I have never recommended a book on my posts before and now, I believe, I should do it. Samiha has a specific style in her postings that I haven’t seen in many people’s blogs. She writes a paragraph about what happens in the book and then another paragraph about her thoughts and opinions. I like how she expresses her feelings: shortly but strongly. When she learns that Rogerson caused Caitlin addiction to smoking and drugs, she immediately felt sad and started to worry for Caitlin. When she talks about abusing her, you can feel that Samiha gets even angry. Then Samiha returns to  the last brutal beating Caitlin received and how Rogerson was arrested. She is surprised that Caitlin tried to help Rogerson and was begging the police to not take him away. At the end, Samiha gives her opinion about Caitlyn and the book overall. She feels shocked and mad, just like me when I read that part. Her strong feelings about that raise my interest about the book. Although from the story I am guessing that this book is more for girls than for boys, I think I would like to read this book. I really enjoyed reading this post and I think I have learned something new as well. Definitely in my posts I should evaluate the entire book I am talking about, recommend for other readers and share my opinion for discussion.

Scorpia

I am currently reading a book Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz. The plot shows a typical protagonist – antagonist conflict, which leads to a change of the main, positive character, Alex Rider, into bad. His father is killed by an assassin and now he wants to kill his father's murderer.  To do this, he joins a worldwide terrorist group Scorpia. Ms. Rothman, who is the head of the Scorpia organization, told Alex false information about his father’s killer. That information changes him dramatically. From an innocent, smart and the non-violent boy he was, he became an angry enemy, who wants bloody revenge on the person who killed his father. The thing is that Alex never met and basically didn't know his father. It surprises me how a boy like him could change so quickly by one piece of false information. How deep are the feelings of the revenge or there is something else behind. Looking for his father’s killer, I think he wants to learn more about his father. To make sure Scorpia could trust him he behaves like he doesn't care who his father was but only about his vendetta.  At first you do not know the truth. Personal grief blinds and makes people obsessed with their mission. Is Alex going to become a gruesome terrorist? Although it is possible, I think he is just trying to find more about his father. Finding who he was may help Alex to find who he wants to be. The conflict between Alex and Scorpia, or between Alex and Ms. Rothman is at the end a conflict between justice and injustice, between good and evil. That conflict has to be resolved first in Alex’s heart. Finding revenge should not be done against the law. Braking law, even in a “good case” is a crime. I hope Alex will stay on the right side.   

The Other Boleyn Girl: Betrayal

History fiction is an interesting genre. You know the basic facts, but do not real people's feelings. A talented author goes much deeper than historians and tries to tell the story from another point of view. A human point. "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory is filled with human emotions, expectations and feelings. These real, human feelings are just as simple as yours and mine, but they changed the history.  
Anne, Mary's sister has just betrayed her. She is trying to seduce the King into marrying her. You can imagine what Mary's feelings are. She is angered just the same as Anne was at the beginning. Her parents on the other hand are happy since their first plan was to make Anne the Queen. Mary does not give up so easily and she is trying to seduce the King as well, still hoping to become the Queen. In this book, there is not even one chapter that doesn't introduce you to a new conflict. For example, one chapter is about the rivalry between Mary and Anne, another chapter is about an unknown person, who poisoned the Cardinal. Later in the book we learned that Henry, the King, desperately needed a heir for the throne. Everyone is looking to fulfill his or her selfish needs. Just as today.
There are no easy answers at the time. People's emotions are running high again and become the reasons for their actions. The people hate Anne because she kicked out the Queen Katherine from her throne. Mary is angry at Anne and hopeful that the King will spot her again. The Boleyn family is both happy by Anne's progress but angry at Mary for just forgetting about the Boleyn family promise. What a exciting story! I love the history fiction. 

The Other Boleyn Girl

I am currently reading The Other Boleyn Girl. Although some might say it's more of a girl book, I think it is a very interesting and intriguing book. It is about two sisters who are going against each other to become the queen of England during Henry the VIII. Dazzled, the narrator and the main character Mary falls in love with him but realizes her family's scheme to make her sister Anne queen. She then goes against her family for love and take fate into her own hands. I remember them making a movie about the book but I didn't see it. I really want to though.
Emotions are running high when Mary fights against Anne to be the queen and love Henry. Mary is very scared of what will happen. She knows that her parents might exile her because she defied them. She knows the king might choose Anne instead of her but she will fight on. Anne along with the family is very disappointed and angered by Mary's betrayal. Mary's father wants to exile Mary and take her Boleyn fame but Anne wants to give her a chance. First Anne was angered but she saw the King also loved Mary as well so she played with Mary, also against her parents. Now, she is devising a plan to get rid of Queen Katherine, the Kings wife so either she or Mary could marry the king. That is just plain evil there. Wealth could lead to horrible things.