FF:WA What novel are you currently reading?

not yet

i started reading the de vinci code cause every one said it was good, i'm a catholic but i dont really care/believe ne of it. but seriousl it is so interesting. i studied art last year so some of the paints a recognise what they r talking about and just the detail is amazing! it's like LotR level detail.

 

I have just finished re-reading the Alliance/Merchanter universe series by C.J.Cherryh. Very good collection of books.

 

I saw the ROTS novel for $25 in either Kmart or Target, can't remember which one though.

 

ooooh i went into dymocks today but it wasnt there.

 

I've been to a few K-Mart stores recently and they all seem to have plenty of copies of ROTS and they're a lot cheaper than other places I've seen them in.

 

Finished reading Labrynth of Evil.
WOW.
Can't wait for EpIII so much more.

Started reading the Davinci Code. Anyone hear who knows me in person knows I'm religous...so thought I'd give it a crack.
Good book...bollocks, but good.

 

Welcome back SoE,

Just wondering if you could explain why the Davinci code is bollocks, I assume you mean that some of the facts regarding the church are way off the mark or something.

I am not a religious person at all and I just thought of it as a great piece of fiction, but I have heard several people say it is full of loopholes.

I'm not out to stir up trouble, just looking for your opinion.

 

I haven't read it but from what I've heard, the author never intended for it to be taken as seriously as it has been. A lot of fact was mingled with a lot of rumour/legend that may or may not be true. The sort of stuff that no-one can really prove or disprove which makes for good controversy.

 

yup, much of it was made up, as most books do these days, mixing fact with fiction. I don't mind that one bit, if it increases the enjoyment of the story. It's a good book no doubt, and the movie they are working on now based upon it may be worth waiting for ...

 

Fair enough.

I wasn't under the impession it was all based on facts, but with so little knowledge on religion I could not be sure what was fact and what wasn't.

Still a good read though.

 

(For the record: currently reading 'Danse Macabre', Stephen King's overview of the horror genre. A little dated, but compelling nonetheless).

'Da Vinci' is based essentially on conspiracy theory surrounding known fact of history. Which therefore means the first problem you run into is that by their nature large conspiracies aren't secret, and don't last long.

The other thing that makes 'Da Vinci' compelling is that it hides possible explanations in the sandwich of unrelated facts. There's a lot of material to go through, but to begin with there are these things which don't add up in the story:

1. The Holy Grail legend actually derives from Celtic mythology out of England, right back to Finn McCool and other stories of 'Cauldrons of Plenty'. The Celtic myth was...appropriated by early Catholic missionaries and converted (as Yuletide became Christmas) into the legend as we know it. The Holy Grail predates the arrival of Mary Magdalene/Joseph of Arimathea (if you believe that sort of thing) to France/England. The Grail myth doesn't have its origins in Palestine.

2. The Merovingian kings were supposedly capable of healing people with their hands--but that was a common myth in any number of nations both predating and antedating the Merovingian era. For example, Edward the Confessor, the last king of England before 1066 and the arrival of William the Conqueror, was sainted by the Catholic Church because he, too, had healing hands.

3. I find it a little difficult to imagine devout Catholic knights/missionaries/pilgrims of the pre-medieval to medieval era hauling St. Mary Magdalene's body all over the Mediterranean. To disturb the resting place of a saint would've been seen as sacriligeous at the time--and I doubt very much whether the process of 'enlightenment' was complete by the time the hapless Templars actually found Mary's bones.

4. It's incorrect that the Catholic Church suppressed the female side of religion. It was given room and expression through veneration of Mary...the Virgin Mary, that is, not Mary Magdalene. Medieval Catholic writings regarding the Rosary in particular emphasise the duality of Jesus and Mary, in that both are keys to a person's salvation.

5. Jesus might not have been married--but he was also a rabbi, the equivalent of a teacher, or master, at the time. And a rabbi kept a class, or group, at that time in history--in other words, Christ chose the appropriate social group of the time in which to disseminate his message. And though the author devotes a lot of scoffing to the idea that Christ couldn't have been married, there's no mention of wives to the other twelve disciples, either, in the four gospels.

 

see, that's why i leave the explanations to you, Mr. Director sir

 

I say the book's bollocks because of the factual elements behind it. Utter bollocks...but very cool.

 

Another book I'm reading at the moment, and semi-related to "Star Wars" no less, is "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. It's nonfiction, and basically an examination of mythology throughout the world and some very interesting similarities to every hero-story told in mythology up until now. It's heavy going at times, but even a skim, I think, should be required reading for fantasy/scifi authors and fans alike.

It's related to "Star Wars" in that Campbell's book (and indeed the author himself) was drawn on by George Lucas when he was writing the scripts for the OT (and I think there remain many elements of Campbell's work in the PT, though it's going to take me more time and viewings to find them.) George wanted to use powerful mythological symbols (the dark father, Luke as the Hero) to bolster the story and give it an unconscious appeal.

It's not very hard to find, either--I asked for it at the desk at Dymocks in the city and they readily found it for me in stock.