The De Villiers Code

by Tom Eaton

Genres: Satire, Comedy, Humor, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Tom Eaton is an author, screenwriter and columnist based in Cape Town, South Africa. Since establishing himself as a satirist for the Mail&Guardian and writing the bestselling The De Villiers Code, he has worked across media and genres, from print and digital to film and television. His fourth novel will be published by Penguin Random House in 2025.

Reviews

[Rana Yousif · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's cover and title attracted me and encouraged me to read it
However when I started reading it, everything fall apart and bore me to death

In the beginning of it I did not know and wasn't sure of what was really happening..
I thought it was a play or maybe an act going on , it confused me ( my bad )
I guess that was effecteve , I mean the way it was told , it makes the reader interested in the story .

There were lots of boring parts and events, to much description which I found was unnecessary, it really did bore me ... I had to skip some parts or read it without giving of much attention. To be honest, I just wanted to be done with the whole thing without caring much of what was going to happen

It had some funny moments that I started to imagine how it would look like if this book was made into a movie. It reminded me of Pink Panter the movie... The actions and events . I believe it could succeed as a movie rather than a book .

I came out of this book without getting anything ; I did not like the character, nothing was great about it ... Maybe this book is not for me , I just did not get what was the use of it

Now I need a book that would make me embrace and pull myself together
I want to be reminded that there Is still hope for humanity *dramatic background music*

[Morné Volschenk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that it was extremely original, even though it was a blatant comedy spin-off of "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown.

The book has a lot of South African humour and is set in Cape Town, South Africa. Tom Eaton uses many South African phrases and words along with various common-day South African cliché’s and stereotypes to create a very familiar feel to any South African reading it.

But that doesn't mean that not anyone can enjoy this hilarious novel! If you're looking for something fast pace and less serious. This is definitely for you. It has all the makings and hysterical ness of a typical Terry Pratchett novel, the book has many famous one-liners that stay in your head long after reading it, ensuring that you will spontaneously grin for weeks without end.

[Kimberley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly a pretty awful read. Took me literally years to get through it and my only motivation in the end was that it is a short read to try and complete my reading challenge for the year.

I so wanted to like it. Not just because the title includes my married surname but also because I enjoyed The da Vinci code and was looking forward to a parody that would show off a few South Africanisms along the way.

This book was utterly pointless and the flow did not work for me. The idea was there but I would have actually appreciated it more had it been a bit more subtle in its attempt to make a bit of fun at the original book. It kind of felt like the author wasn't sure the reader would get the various attempts at humour so just to be sure they were explained anyway. He also made use of many literary styles to make his points as if showing us he can do it all. At the end I just felt lost and frustrated at the lack of plot. I appreciated the blank chapters as it helped get through the book faster. Weirdly I liked the characters of Langa and Stienie flaws and all, which I'm not sure was intended.

Overall a disappointing execution of what was seemingly a good idea.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a lot of hope for this book and was disappointed on many fronts.

The story is a South African spinoff of Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code. As a fan of Brown’s work, the persistent insults towards his story and writing style became annoying.

Although I did chuckle out loud at numerous points, it wasn’t due to well-constructed humour but simple one-line jokes. The storyline didn’t seem to flow whatsoever; it was held together by the loose skeleton of Dan Brown’s original novel, stereotypical South African sayings, and one liners.

The South African lingo used came across as crass and cringe-worthy and portrayed the characters are hypocritical and dim.

[Norman Visser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally laughed out loud. A lot.

[Danita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful and fun book - I really enjoyed it.

[Franco Forleo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this in a charity shop and thought I’d give it a try in support of local authors. It just wasn’t my kind of read. However, I do wish Tom lots of luck, he has the skills.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor. Very poor. Very, very, very poor.
It seems like Mr. Eaton wants to take a dig at Brown's Da Vinci Code, but finally he digs his own hole. Stupid type of humor, far too many characters, almost all of them dumb or insane, others which appear only once and without any reason, chapters with no content(!!!), an idiotic plot, all of these look like Eaton is pulling the reader's leg.
So he has to be rewarded, and his prize is a big fat ZERO. Unfortunately, we have do give one star to this hotchpotch, at least two more than it deserves...

[Richard Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun satire, if not a little arb.