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Da Vinci Code

This document contains a plot summary of Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" in 3 chapters. The summary outlines the key events: Jacques Saunière is killed while protecting a secret about the Holy Grail; his dying message leads professor Robert Langdon and police cryptographer Sophie Neveu on a pursuit to uncover the secret; they learn the Grail is documents proving Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. Their friend Sir Leigh Teabing betrays them and aims to use the secret to damage the Catholic church.

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Mihaela Câmpan
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
68 views19 pages

Da Vinci Code

This document contains a plot summary of Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" in 3 chapters. The summary outlines the key events: Jacques Saunière is killed while protecting a secret about the Holy Grail; his dying message leads professor Robert Langdon and police cryptographer Sophie Neveu on a pursuit to uncover the secret; they learn the Grail is documents proving Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. Their friend Sir Leigh Teabing betrays them and aims to use the secret to damage the Catholic church.

Uploaded by

Mihaela Câmpan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Colegiul Național „Avram Iancu”

Lucrare de atestare a
competențelor lingvistice

Elev: Prof.Coordonator:

Clasa:a XII-a Intensiv Engleza

An scolar 2015-1016
Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

Colegiul Național „Avram Iancu”

Lucrare de atestare a
competențelor lingvistice

Prof.Coordonator:
Elev:

Clasa:a XII-a Intensiv Engleza

An scolar 2015-1016

An scolar 2015-1016
Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

Table of Contents
Foreword 2

CHAPTER I..........................................................................................................2
Plot summary 2

CHAPTER II........................................................................................................2
The Holy Grail 2

Secret of the Holy Grail In The Da Vinci Code 2

Opus Dei and the Catholic Church 2

The opus Dei and monk 2

Opus Dei and crime 2

Opus Dei and corporal morification 2

Opus Dei and woman 2

Rosa Line 2

Priory of Sion 2

CHAPTER III.......................................................................................................2
Childhood and Early Life 2

Writing Career 2

Trivia 2

Conclusion 2

Bibliography..........................................................................................................2

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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

Foreword
I believe a good and interesting novel can influence our mind and our kind of
thinking.Dan Brown is an author of simbolistic novels.The fact Dan Brown include sisymbolysm
in his novel creates so many disputs and attract people,but the interesting part is Dan Brown use
the symbolism to explaine different situation from Bible.

In my opinion I think to took about religion,worships,veneration,God, is something


delicated because every people in tihs word has his opinion about God and veneration and what
to do to obtain „eternal life”.I have choose this theme because for me, an eighteend years old
teenager,is something interesting to know how is God in perspective of the other people,also an
another fact how determinated to choose this theme is that: I like so much symbolism,conspiracy
and cryptology.

In the first chapter ,I present a plot sumary of novel. Dan Brown is inspirated from
the real life people to create his characters,for exemples the protagonist, Robert Langdon is
named after John Langdon, the artist who created the ambigrams. In a few words I can say the
novel „Da Vinci Code” is about the tow worships: Opus Dei and Priory of Sion who fight ,in
Brow’s vision, for Holy Grail.Holy Grail is consideratet in novel a truth who confirm the Jesus
was just a human. Jacques Saunière hav a „keystone” ,an intem crucial for discovery the Holy
Grail. Saunière  is killed by Silal, who is working on behalf of someone he knows only as the
Teacher,and who wishes to discover the location of the "keystone". After Saunière's body is
discovered in the pose of the Vitruvian Man, the police summon Harvard Professor Robert
Langdon, to help the police decode the cryptic message Saunière left during the final minutes of
his life. A police cryptographer, Sophie Neveu, secretly explains to Langdon that she is
Saunière's estranged granddaughter, and that Fache thinks Langdon is the murderer, because her
grandfather's message said "PS Find Robert Langdon", which she says Fache had erased prior to
Langdon's arrival.Roberd and Sophie can to escape from museum and decode the cryptic
message Saunière.They try to descover the Holy Grail but in the final descover that Neveu is a
descendant of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.

In The second chapter present the information about Holy Grail,Opus Dei,Rosa Line
and Priory of Sion because that is the pricipales things arouns the actions progress.If we know
something information about this things we can make an ideea about this novel and the mode
how hei s made.

The last chapter presents the biography of the man who created „Da Vinci Code”, Dan
Brow .I have presented his life from childhood , teenage years and until he started his career as
an writer.

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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

CHAPTER I
Plot summary

Louvre curator and Priory of Sion Grand Master Jacques Saunière is fatally shot one


night at the museum by an albino Catholic monk named Silas, who is working on behalf of
someone he knows only as the Teacher, who wishes to discover the location of the "keystone",
an item crucial to the search for the Holy Grail. After Saunière's body is discovered in the pose
of the Vitruvian Man, the police summon Harvard Professor Robert Langdon, who is in town on
business. Police Captain Bezu Fache tells him that he was summoned to help the police decode
the cryptic message Saunière left during the final minutes of his life. The message includes
a Fibonacci sequence out of order. Langdon explains to Fache that Saunière was a leading
authority on the subject of goddess artwork and that the pentacle Saunière drew in his own blood
represents an allusion to the goddess and not "devil worship", as Fache says.

A police cryptographer, Sophie Neveu, secretly explains to Langdon that she is


Saunière's estranged granddaughter, and that Fache thinks Langdon is the murderer, because her
grandfather's message said "PS Find Robert Langdon", which she says Fache had erased prior to
Langdon's arrival. Neveu is troubled by memories of her grandfather's involvement in a secret
pagan group. However, she understands that her grandfather intended Langdon to decipher the
code, which she and Langdon find leads them to a safe deposit box at the Paris branch of the
Depository Bank of Zurich. Neveu and Langdon escape from the police and visit the bank. In the
safe deposit box they find the keystone: a cryptex, a cylindrical, hand-held vault with five
concentric, rotating dials labeled with letters. When these are lined up correctly, they unlock the
device. If the cryptex is forced open, an enclosed vial of vinegar ruptures and dissolves the
message inside the cryptex, which was written on papyrus. The box containing the cryptex
contains clues to its password. Langdon and Neveu take the keystone to the house of Langdon's
friend, Sir Leigh Teabing, an expert on the Holy Grail. There, Teabing explains that the Grail is
not a cup, but a tomb containing the bones of Mary Magdalene. The trio then flees the country on
Teabing's private plane, on which they conclude that the proper combination of letters spell out
Neveu's given name, "SOFIA." Opening the cryptex, they discover a smaller cryptex inside it,
along with another riddle that ultimately leads the group to the tomb of Isaac
Newton in Westminster Abbey.

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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

During the flight to Britain, Neveu reveals the source of her estrangement from her
grandfather, ten years earlier. Arriving home unexpectedly from university, Neveu clandestinely
witnesses a spring fertility rite conducted in the secret basement of her grandfather's country
estate. From her hiding place, she is shocked to see her grandfather having sex with a woman at
the center of a ritual attended by men and women who are wearing masks and chanting praise to
the goddess. She flees the house and breaks off all contact with Saunière. Langdon explains that
what she witnessed was an ancient ceremony known as Hieros gamos or "sacred marriage".

By the time they arrive at Westminster Abbey, Teabing is revealed to be the Teacher
for whom Silas is working. Teabing wishes to use the Holy Grail, which he believes is a series of
documents establishing that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and bore children, in order to
ruin the Vatican. He compels Langdon at gunpoint to solve the second cryptex's password, which
Langdon realizes is "APPLE." Langdon secretly opens the cryptex and removes its contents
before destroying it in front of Teabing. Teabing is arrested by Fache, who by now knows that
Langdon was innocent. Bishop Aringarosa, realizing that Silas has been used to murder innocent
people, rushes to help the police find him. When the police find Silas hiding in an Opus
Dei Center, he assumes that they are there to kill him, and he rushes out, accidentally shooting
Bishop Aringarosa. Bishop Aringarosa survives but is informed that Silas was found dead later
from a bullet wound.

The final message inside the second keystone leads Neveu and Langdon to Rosslyn
Chapel, whose docent turns out to be Neveu's long-lost brother, whom Neveu had been told died
as a child in the car accident that killed her parents. The guardian of Rosslyn Chapel, Marie
Chauvel Saint Clair, is Neveu's long-lost grandmother. It is revealed that Neveu is a descendant
of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. The Priory of Sion hid her identity to protect her from
possible threats to her life.

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CHAPTER II

In a few word I decide to describe the main parts of the book because I want to sustain
my opinion about this novel. I believe if you know this knowledge about this topics you can
understand this kind of judgment easier.

The Holy Grail


The Holy Grail is a dish, plate, stone, or cup that is part of an important theme of 
Arthurian literature. According to legend, it has special powers, and is designed to provide
happiness, eternal youth and food in infinite abundance. A grail, wondrous but not explicitly
holy, first appears in Perceval le Gallois, an unfinished romance by Chrétien de Troyes. It is a
processional salver used to serve at a feast. Chrétien's story attracted many continuators,
translators and interpreters in the later 12th and early 13th centuries, including Wolfram von
Eschenbach, who perceived the grail as a great precious stone that fell from the sky. The Grail
legend became interwoven with legends of the Holy Chalice. The connection with Joseph of
Arimathea and with vessels associated with the Last Supper and crucifixion of Jesus dates
from Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie(late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the Grail
from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his
followers to Great Britain. Building upon this theme,
later writers recounted how Joseph used the Grail to
catch Christ's blood while interring him and how he
founded a line of guardians to keep it safe in Britain.
The legend may combine Christian lore with a Celtic
myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers.

The Grail was considered a bowl or dish when first described by Chrétien de
Troyes. Hélinand of Froidmont described a grail as a "wide and deep saucer" (scutella lata et
aliquantulum profunda); other authors had their own ideas. Robert de Boron portrayed it as the
vessel of the Last Supper. The Welsh romance Peredurhad no Grail per se, presenting the hero
instead with a platter containing his kinsman's bloody, severed head. In Parzival, Wolfram von
Eschenbach, citing the authority of a certain (probably fictional) Kyot the Provençal, claimed the
Grail was a stone (called lapis exillis) that fell from Heaven, and had been the sanctuary of the

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neutral angels who took neither side during Lucifer's rebellion. The authors of the Vulgate
Cycle used the Grail as a symbol of divine grace. Galahad, illegitimate son
of Lancelot and Elaine, the world's greatest knight and the Grail Bearer at the castle of Corbenic,
is destined to achieve the Grail, his spiritual purity making him a greater warrior than even his
illustrious father. Galahad and the interpretation of the Grail involving him were picked up in the
15th century by Sir Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur, and remain popular today. According
to the Catholic Encyclopedia, after the cycle of Grail romances was well established,
late medieval writers came up with a false etymology for sangréal, an alternative name for “Holy
Grail”. In Old French, san graal or san gréal means “Holy Grail” and sang réalmeans “royal
blood”; later writers played on this pun. Since then, “Sang real” is sometimes employed to lend a
medievalising air in referring to the Holy Grail. This connection with royal blood bore fruit in a
modern bestseller linking many historical conspiracy theories.

Secret of the Holy Grail In The Da Vinci Code


In the novel Leigh Teabing explains to Sophie Neveu that the figure at the right hand
of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci's painting of "The Last Supper" is not the apostle John, but
actually Mary Magdalene. Leigh Teabing says that the absence of a chalice in Leonardo's
painting means Leonardo knew that Mary Magdalene was the actual Holy Gral and the bearer of
Jesus' blood. Leigh Teabing goes on to explain that this idea is supported by the shape of the
letter "V" that is formed by the bodily positions of Jesus and Mary, as "V" is the symbol for
the sacred feminine. The absence of the Apostle John in the painting is explained by knowing
that John is also referred to as "the Disciple Jesus loved", code for Mary Magdalene. The book
also notes that the color scheme of their garments
are inverted: Jesus wears a red tunic with royal
blue cloak; Mary Magdalene wears the opposite.

According to the novel, the secrets of the Holy


Grail, as kept by the Priory of Sion are as
follows:

 The Holy Grail is not a physical chalice, but a woman, namely


Mary Magdalene, who carried the bloodline of Christ.

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 The Old French expression for the Holy Grail, San gréal, actually


is a play on Sang réal, which literally means "royal blood" in Old French.

 The Grail relics consist of the documents that testify to the


bloodline, as well as the actual bones of Mary Magdalene.

 The Grail relics of Mary Magdalene were hidden by the Priory of


Sion in a secret crypt, perhaps beneath Rosslyn Chapel.

 The Church has suppressed the truth about Mary Magdalene and
the Jesus bloodline for 2000 years. This is principally because they fear the power of the sacred
feminine in and of it self and because this would challenge the primacy of Saint Peter as an
apostle.

 Mary Magdalene was of royal descent (through the Jewish House


of Benjamin) and was the wife of Jesus, of the House of David. That she was a prostitute
was slander invented by the Church to obscure their true relationship. At the time of
the Crucifixion, she was pregnant. After the Crucifixion, she fled to Gaul, where she was
sheltered by the Jews of Marseille. She gave birth to a daughter, named Sarah. The bloodline of
Jesus and Mary Magdalene became the Merovingian dynasty of France.

 The existence of the bloodline was the secret that was contained in
the documents discovered by the Crusaders after they conquered Jerusalem in 1099
(see Kingdom of Jerusalem). The Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar were organized to
keep the secret.

The secrets of the Grail are connected, according to the novel, to Leonardo da
Vinci's work as follows:

 Leonardo was a member of the Priory of Sion and knew the secret
of the Grail. The secret is in fact revealed in The Last Supper, in which no actual chalice is
present at the table. The figure seated next to Christ is not a man, but a woman, his wife Mary
Magdalene. Most reproductions of the work are from a later alteration that obscured her obvious
female characteristics.

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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

 The androgyny of the Mona Lisa reflects the sacred union of male


and female implied in the holy union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Such parity between the
cosmic forces of masculine and feminine has long been a deep threat to the established power of
the Church. The name Mona Lisa is actually an anagram for "Amon L'Isa", referring to the father
and mother gods of Ancient Egyptian religion (namely Amun and Isis).

Opus Dei and the Catholic Church


Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus
Dei (Latin:Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Roman Catholic
Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path
to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the
governance of a prelate (bishop) elected by specific members and appointed by the Pope.Opus
Dei is Latin for Work of God; hence the organization is often referred to by members and
supporters as the Work.

Founded in Spain in 1928 by the Catholic saint and priest Josemaría Escrivá, Opus Dei
was given final Catholic Church approval in 1950 byPope Pius XII.In 1982, by decision of  Pope
John Paul II, the Catholic Church made it into apersonal prelature that is, the jurisdiction of its
own bishop covers the persons in Opus Dei wherever they are, rather than geographical

dioceses.

The opus Dei and monk

Throughout The Da Vinci Code , Opus Dei members are


presented as monks (or, rather, caricatures of monks). Like all
Catholics, Opus Dei members have great appreciation for
monks, but in fact there are no monks in Opus Dei. Opus Dei is
a Catholic institution for lay people and diocesan priests, not a
monastic order. Opus Dei’s approach to living the faith does not
involve withdrawing from the world like those called to the monastic life. Rather, Opus Dei
helps people grow closer to God in and through their ordinary secular activities. “Numerary”
members of Opus Dei – a minority – choose a vocation of celibacy in order to be available to
organize the activities of Opus Dei. They do not, however, take vows, wear robes, sleep on straw
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mats, spend all their time in prayer and corporal mortification, or in any other way live like The
Da Vinci Code ’s depiction of its monk character. In contrast to those called to the monastic life,
numeraries have regular secular professional work. In fact, The Da Vinci Code gets Opus Dei’s
nature 180 degrees backwards. Monastic orders are for people who have a vocation to seek
holiness by withdrawing from the secular world; Opus Dei is for people who have a vocation to
live their Christian faith in the middle of secular society.

Opus Dei and crime

In The Da Vinci Code , Opus Dei members are falsely depicted murdering, lying,
drugging people, and otherwise acting unethically, thinking that it is justified for the sake of
God, the Church, or Opus Dei. Opus Dei is a Catholic institution and adheres to Catholic
doctrine, which clearly condemns immoral behavior, including murder, lying, stealing, and
generally injuring people. The Catholic Church teaches that one should never do evil, even for a
good purpose Opus Dei’s mission is to help people integrate their faith and the activities of their
daily life, and so its spiritual education and counseling help members to be more ethical rather
than less so. Opus Dei members, like everyone else, sometimes do things wrong, but this is an
aberration from what Opus Dei is promoting rather than a manifestation of it.Besides attributing
criminal activity to Opus Dei, The Da Vinci Code also falsely depicts Opus Dei as being focused
on gaining wealth and power.

Opus Dei and corporal morification

The Da Vinci Codemakes it appear that Opus Dei members practice bloody
mortifications. In fact, though history indicates that some Catholic saints have done so, Opus Dei
members do not do this.The Catholic Church advises people to practice mortification. The
mystery of Jesus Christ’s Passion shows that voluntary sacrifice has a transcendent value and can
bring spiritual benefits to others. Voluntary sacrifice also brings personal spiritual benefits,
enabling one to resist the inclination to sin. For these reasons, the Church prescribes fasting on
certain days and recommends that the faithful practice other sorts of mortification as well.
Mortification is by no means the centerpiece of the Christian life, but nobody can grow closer to
God without it: “There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, n. 2015).In the area of mortification, Opus Dei emphasizes small sacrifices
rather than extraordinary ones, in keeping with its spirit of integrating faith with secular life. For
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example, Opus Dei members try to make small sacrifices such as persevering at their work when
tired, occasionally passing up some small pleasure, or giving help to those in need. Some Opus
Dei members also make limited use of the cilice and discipline, types of mortification that have
always had a place in the Catholic tradition because of their symbolic reference to Christ’s
Passion. The Church teaches that people should take reasonable care of their physical health, and
anyone with experience in this matter knows that these practices do not injure one’s health in any
way. The Da Vinci Code ’s description of the cilice and discipline is greatly exaggerated and
distorted: it is simply not possible to injure oneself with them as the novel depicts. Moreover,
their use is motivated by love of God and desire to unite oneself with Jesus Christ, not guilt, self-
hatred or self-punishment.

Opus Dei and woman

The Da Vinci Code says about Opus Dei’s U.S. headquarters: “Men enter the building
through the main doors on Lexington Avenue. Women enter through a side street.” This is
inaccurate. People, whether male or female, use the doors leading to whichever section of the
building they are visiting. The building is divided into separate sections, for the straightforward
reason that one section includes a residence for celibate women and another for celibate men.
But these sections are not sex-restricted, and it is the women’s not the men’s section that fronts
on Lexington Avenue, the opposite of what is said in the book. (Note: The book sometimes also
inaccurately calls the building Opus Dei’s “world headquarters”).

The Da Vinci Code also suggests that women Opus Dei members are “forced to clean
the men’s residence halls for no pay” and are otherwise accorded lower status than men.

This is not true. Opus Dei, like the Church in general, teaches that women and men are
of equal dignity and value, and all of its practices are in accord with that belief. Women
members of Opus Dei can be found in all sorts of professions, those which society views as
prestigious and those which society today tends to undervalue, such as homemaking or domestic
work. Opus Dei teaches that any kind of honest work done with love of God is of equal
value.Some women numerary members of Opus Dei have freely chosen to make a profession of
taking care of Opus Dei’s centers, both women’s and men’s. They also run conference centers
where activities of cultural and spiritual formation are held. These women are professionally

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trained and are paid for their services, which include


interior decorating, catering and other highly skilled
work. The millions of people who attend retreats or
other spiritual formation activities at Opus Dei
centers can attest to their professionalism. The Da
Vinci Code ’s insinuation that their work lacks dignity
and value is demeaning to these women.

Rosa Line
Rose Line is a fictional name given to the Paris
Meridian and to the sunlight line defining the exact time
of Easter on the Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice, marked by a
brass strip on the floor of the church, where the two are
conflated, by Dan Brown in his 2003 novel The Da Vinci
Code. Brown based this on material found in the Priory of
Sion documents of the 1960s, where neither the Zero
Meridian or the sunlight line in St Sulpice are called Rose
Line.

Priory of Sion
The 1967 Priory of Sion  document Au Pays de la Reine Blanche states that "Rennes-
les-Bains is located precisely on the Zero Meridian, which connects Saint-Sulpice in Paris"
adding that "the parish of Rennes-les-Bains guards the heart of Roseline", in this context being a
reference to Saint Roseline de Villeneuve. Au Pays de la Reine Blanche also referred to "the line
of the Zero Meridian, that is to say the red line, in English: 'Rose-line'". Later in 1978, Pierre
Plantard also referred to the "red line of the meridian, the 'Rose-Line'...since Roseline, the
Abbess of the 'Celle aux Arcs', celebrates her feast day on 17 January... and her legend is well
worth a read".

The document entitled Le Serpent Rouge - Notes sur Saint-Germain-des-Près et Saint-


Sulpice de Paris[7] conflates the Paris Meridian with a gnomon in the Parisian church of Saint-

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Sulpice marked in the floor with a brass line, which it calls the "Red Serpent".Philippe de
Chérisey in his document Stone and Paper recounted a story that a Roseline was also the name
of his acquaintance: "there was a Roseline I knew who died on 6 August 1967, on the Feast of
the Transfiguration, when leaving the zero meridian by car. Another document by Philippe de
Chérisey entitled Circuit, in Chapter VII, adds the detail that Roseline was killed in a car
accident whilst working as a double on the Television film La beauté sur la terre (1968),a film
that also starred Philippe de Chérisey under his stage name of Amédée. The story about Roseline
in Circuit also involves an imaginary character named Charlot who appears frequently
throughout Circuit and both characters are patently imaginary beings appearing in one of
Philippe de Chérisey's surrealist compositions.

Chapter XIII of Circuit is devoted to the Zero Meridian, with de


Chérisey claiming it was established by Till
Eulenspiegel (before Jean Picard), listing key sites that it passes
through (in a fictional work attributed to Abbé François-Pierre
Cauneille). In this chapter Roseline is called 'Fisher Woman',
preferring herself to be known as "Di O Nysos, DON" ("dondon"
is French slang for "fat woman"), an other worldly being who
organises funerals for the dead who are still living in her new Citroen 2CV (the make of car she
was killed in).

CHAPTER III
Childhood and Early Life

Dan Brown was born in Exeter, New Hampshire to Richard G. Brown, a mathematics
teacher, and Connie Brown, a music professor. He was the eldest of the three children and was
raised as an Episcopalian.
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Since young, Brown was comfortable dealing with multiple disciplines, which the
world assumed to be poles apart from each other. Growing up in a household where science and
religion coexisted peacefully, Brown got the taste of best of both the worlds. While the
foundation of science rested on proofs, claims, equations and codes, religion relied on faith
alone.

Educationally, Brown completed his formal education from Philips Exeter Academy
after which he enrolled himself at the Amherst College. At the college, Brown was an active
student. He was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity and was also a writing student of visiting
novelist Alan Lelchuk. He sang at the Amherst Glee Club and also played squash.

In 1985, Brown went to Seville Spain, to do an art history course from the University
of Seville. He completed his graduation from Amherst College, Massachusetts in 1986.

Writing Career
A chance reading of the novel ‘The Doomsday Conspiracy’ by Sidney Sheldon
changed the course of Dan Brown’s life completely. Inspired by the simplicity of the prose and
the efficiency with which the storyline was dealt with, Brown resorted to switching to a writing
career.

To pursue writing professionally, Brown started working on ‘Digital Fortress’, his


first thrilled-based novel. He centred it at Seville, a place where he had spent a year in 1985. He
quit teaching in 1996. Two years henceforth, in 1998 ‘Digital Fortress’ was released.

Meanwhile, Brown came up with two humor books as well, ‘187 Men to Avoid: A
Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman’ and ‘The Bald Book’. While the former was
published under the pseudonym ‘Danielle Brown’, the latter was officially credited to his wife.

Following years, i.e. in 2000 and 2001, Brown released his next two books, ‘Angels &
Demons’ and ‘Deception Point’. It was in Angels & Demons that Brown first introduced the lead
character of Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbology expert. Both his books did medium business,
selling lesser than 10, 000 copies each.

It was Brown’s fourth novel that unleashed the success story of the author to never-
experienced-before heights. ‘The Da Vinci Code’ not only outdid its predecessors, but went on to
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feature at the topmost position in the New York Times Best Seller list during its first week of
release in 2003. It sold 81 million copies worldwide as of 2009.

Such was the feat of the novel that it pushed sales of Brown's earlier books as well. In
2004, all four of his books featured on the New York Times list in the same week.

Like ‘Angels & Demons’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’, Robert Langdon was the central
character for Brown’s next novel, ‘The Lost Symbol’. Published in 2009, the book sold over one
million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, prompting the
printing of 600,000 hardcover copies in addition to the five million first printing.

Released in 2013, ‘Inferno’ is the latest book from the camp of Dan Brown. Like its
predecessors, the book also has Robert Langdon as the protagonist. ‘Inferno’ raced to the top
spot at the book charts in the US and the UK, selling 580,000 copies in its first two weeks alone.

Trivia
Interestingly, writing was not the first career option for this outstanding writer, who
initially took to music and songwriting as the preferred vocational option.

The treasure hunt games played as a child during Christmas and holidays devised by
his father lead him to inculcate the same in the books written by him so much so that Chapter 23
of the ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was inspired by one of his childhood treasure hunts.

Characters in his books are often inspired from real life people. For instance, the
protagonist, Robert Langdon is named after John Langdon, the artist who created the ambigrams
used for the Angels & Demons CD and novel. Editor Jonas Faukman is named after the writer’s
real life editor Jason Kaufman.

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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

Conclusion

„The Da Vinici Code” is a special and interesting novel who create so many disputs

and controversy.For me this novel is like an another good book,very well and of corse a book

who brings me so many knowledges about different worship,simbolysm and cryptology.I don’t

know if the fact „Jesus Christ was just a simple man or not ” is truth but Dan Brown support the

human side of Jesus Christ ,and that created a little war between people who beleve that and no.

Of corse the church showed her revolt about this novel.I don’t know why people must to fight

for God's authenticity

Bibliography
 The
according to the French
researcher Franck Marie (Rennes-
le-Château: Etude critique, SRES, 1978, p. 202.) is a pseudonym for Pierre Plantard, and was
produced by „Everything
Pantard's colleague, Philippe de Cherisey;
is possible.The John Saul,just
impossible Janice Glaholm, Rennes-le-
takes longer.”
Château, A Bibliography (Mercurious Press, 1985, p. 3).
Dan Brown
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Colegiul National „Avram Iancu”

 Richard Andrews, Paul Schellenberger, The Tomb of God: The


Body of Jesus and the Solution to a 2,000-Year-Old Mystery, Time Warner Paperbacks, 1997, p.
258

 Zanganeh, Lila Azam. "Umberto Eco, The Art of Fiction No.


197". The Paris Review. Summer 2008, Number 185. Retrieved 2012-04-27.

 "History vs The Da Vinci Code”

 Pierre Jarnac, Les Mystères de Rennes le Château: Mélanges


Sulfureux, CERT, 1994, p. 11-15

 In Plantard's preface to Henri Boudet,La Vraie Langue Celtique et


le Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains, Éditions Pierre Belfond, 1978

 Lane, Anthony (May 29, 2006). "Heaven Can Wait". The New


Yorker

 The novel „Da Vinci Code”

 http://www.everystudent.ro/davinci2/

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