Beyond the Da Vinci Code: From the Rose Line to the Bloodline

by Sangeet Duchane, Amy Ray (Designer)

The truth behind a work of fiction that incited a movement to disprove it.

As controversial as it was popular, The Da Vinci Code sparked an intrigue that spanned religious, cultural, mathematical and literary domains.

Was Jesus married? Did Leonardo da Vinci bury “clues” to the truth of the bloodline in his art? Is there a secret organization that protects the whereabouts of the Holy Grail?

Proving that a number of the novel’s most radical claims are historically sound, and exposing the spurious nature of others, Sangeet Duchane compares the early and modern Church, analyzes Dan Brown’s use of symbols, explores origins of the Grail myth, and ends with a tour through the significant locales of the novel as well as a reflection on the reasons it has touched so many and the meaning of modern myth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2005

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the follow-up books to Dan Brown's novel. The author is a former attorney in USA now turned theologian. Her book is beautifully produced with photographs of works of art on every page on high quality paper in my hard-book copy. Her analysis of the main elements of the Da Vinci Code is clear and persuasive. She does not attempt to debunk the novel as a work of fiction but points out that it is largely not factual or based on earlier claims and books which were inaccurate or even fraudulent. As always in these cases, I am sure that there is another book which will attempt to refute her case but that is for another day. Certainly worth reading once you have read the Da Vinci Code (the film was not so clear about the so-called evidence behind the tale!)

[Kelsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I surprisingly found this to be a fascinating read. I say 'surprisingly' because I thought this would be a book that basically picked a part 'The Da Vinci Code' which I mean it kinda did but what I liked about this book is that it did a deep-dive further into the ancient history of Christianity.
For the record, I'm agnostic; I'm open minded when it comes to religion, I feel there's no proof either way, and I felt this book had a pretty agnostic view point. It essentially said 'there's basically no proof either way if Jesus did this, if Jesus did that, etc etc. but here's some points to consider that might back up claims that he did x, y & z'.
I have read The Da Vinci Code and I enjoyed it for what it was, a fictional novel. I wasn't one of those people who took every word Dan Brown said as gospel (see what I did there? So proud right now). I think most of us didn't read too much into Da Vinci Code to be honest, I feel a small few got a little too hyped up at the thought of Jesus spawning a child, well Mary Magdalene spawning a child with Jesus' help. I think Brown made a lot of 'claims' mainly to gain publicity and controversy around his book, because all publicity is good publicity, right?
I enjoyed Duchane's breakdown of Christian history, it was fascinating to read. I guess it is fun to speculate who Jesus really was and if indeed there is some sort of Holy Grail, but the trusth is, I don't think we'll ever know, maybe we are never to know. Going THAT far back in history, you can't really take every document as truth. It's all just guess work mostly.
I shelved this book as 'feminism' because honestly I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Mary Magdalene, the way she was treated throughout history was shocking or how women in general were treated (shocker, I know, but it's still depressing to read that things could have been different for women if we weren't blamed for the whole coaxing Adam to eat an apple thing or whatever). Magdalene's history made me kind of sad, how she was essentially part of the Jesus crew but slowly throughout history she was being removed as someone special in Jesus' life. I don't know, her 'story' is just kind of hits different, there's a sadness to it that I can't explain. But Duchane definitely treated her with the respect she deserved (if indeed she even existed).
This book also has lots of beautiful artwork throughout which I enjoyed looking at, especially Leonardo's work. I learnt a lot about him actually which I wasn't expecting, like, okay maybe this one is obvious but I seriously didn't know that Leonardo's surname isn't 'da Vinci' and he shouldn't be refered to by just his surname as it wouldn't make sense. So from now on, I'm refering to him as Leonardo, we're on first name terms only now.
Overall Sangeet Duchane basically says 'we don't know what happened to Jesus and his crew, what's the truth and what isn't, but my God isn't it fascinating and fun to speculate on? Also #JusticeForMagdalene'.

[Rodeweeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all we need to remember that Dan Brown only wrote a novel. It sometimes seems like the author of this book forgets that and take on the novel itself. However, it does also become clear that she is more interested to take on the books where Brown got his ideas from - Holy Blood, Holy Grail mostly. I am a big fan of Dan Brown (well I'm a fan of anyone who questions traditions and the 'way it has always been done'). Therefor I really enjoyed the conclusions the author came to in the end - without spoiling too much, it was very liberal (of course I'll be pleased with that).