Secrets of the Code

by Dan Burstein

Secrets of the Code , a five-month New York Times bestseller, is a sweeping tour, guided by renowned experts, through the many provocative ideas raised in The Da Vinci Code . With excerpts from many original works, all-new material, and interviews with prominent scholars exploring the novel’s underlying themes, Secrets of the Code will satisfy your curiosity, engage your imagination, and provide you with insights to better understand the historical and religious issues of the novel.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Religion, Reference, Christianity, Thriller, Spirituality

610 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Dan Burstein is the world's leading expert on the fiction of Dan Brown. Burstein is also the founder of Millennium Technology Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm that invests in innovative new technology companies.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dan Burstein put together the book that most people who have read The Da Vinci Code has always wanted. A book that breaks down all the issues, history, myths and riddles written about by Dan Brown and attempts to provide the facts.

I thought that this book would be somewhat un-put-downable as I geared up to eat up the truths behind the topics raised by Dan Brown. However, despite being a great idea for a book, it is pretty poorly executed, as the facts don't really seem to emerge, it's more a presentation of the information to hand both for, and against, the ideas presented in The Da Vinci Code! 3 out of 12, a One Star read.

2005 read

[K Stott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have an almost flashbulb memory of reading The DaVinci Code– I was 20, backpacking Europe for six months and staying for a few days with my best friend at her live-in B&B job in London. After Tube delays caused me to miss my discount early morning flight out to Berlin, I headed back into the city and spent the day reading Dan Brown’s thriller. As a lapsed United Church churchgoer, I wasn’t heavily undone by any of the religious conspiracies in the novel, but I was thrilled to be reading the book in London, which features prominently. I was in one of the greatest cities in the world, and I remember not being sad at all about staying inside and reading all day.

Fast-forward 15 years and Secrets of the Code, a fan’s non-fiction compilation companion to The DaVinci Code has been collecting dust on my bookshelves, given to me years ago by friends but since languishing unread. I’ve thought many times about just donating this book to Goodwill without reading it, but that The DaVinci Code memory was too good and I thought I should at least attempt Secrets before I donated. So here we are!

As noted above, this book itself is a fan’s compilation of non-fiction pieces relating to the various ‘mysteries’ that Dan Brown based his novel on. It gives each ‘mystery’ its own section (ie: ‘Who Was Mary Magdalene?’, ‘Was there a Conspiracy to Hide the Gnostic Gospels?’, ‘What Were the Knights Templar Up To?’, etc.), and then gives a) a quick summary of what the DaVinci Code has to say about these topics; and b) some unfiltered critical/academic articles on the same. Unsurprisingly, and as a consequence of being largely excerpts from other critical non-fiction works, it is a fairly disjointed and uneven text. Although Burstein attempts to provide different perspectives (ie: some pro some con on the answers to these ‘mysteries’), he doesn’t weigh in to evaluate the different critical perspectives, and I would’ve appreciated hearing his take. He did all the legwork and likely read much more than what was excerpted here- what conclusions did he come to?

All this being said, I am glad I read Secrets before I donated, as this book has kicked off some Wikipedia searches that make me feel smarter (ie: there are actually other ‘ancient gospels’ found in Egypt in modern times, although what they mean and how they relate to the established gospel is still up for debate) and other reading that I’ve always half wondered about but had never gotten around to actually doing.

[Antonio Rosato · Rating 1 out of 5]

Questo libro è solo un una "corposa" e prolissa raccolta di testi (articoli di giornali e libri, interviste, ecc.) già apparsi su altre testate e un po' ovunque... E forse anche per questo, lo dico senza tanti giri di parole, la sua lettura mi ha molto annoiato e stancato (stavo quasi quasi per lasciar perdere).
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]

[Abhishek Kanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Burstein puts together the book that anyone whose read The Da Vinci Code has always wanted. A book that breaks down all the issues, history, myths and riddles written about by Dan Brown and attempts to provide the facts.

This book is fun with a capital F-U-N. It is, however, a very thick and acedemic book filled with excerpts and articles from published scholars. The Da Vinci Code is fiction, yes. This book makes that very clear. But what the novel did to its audience is simple and healthy. It wet people's appetite for reading, and made them curious about a slew of conspiracy theories as well as Christian history. This book has a smattering of every topic readers might be curious about. Merely this book collected facts from fiction in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. Dan Burstein has indeed edited an extensive far reaching book about the most controversial figure in the Christian history.

Burstein has rounded up some of the sources that Dan Brown used and either reprinted the crux of their works or interviewed them specifically for this book. It gives each ‘mystery’ its own section for example:
1. Who Was Mary Magdalene?
2. Was there a Conspiracy to Hide the Gnostic Gospels?
3. What Were the Knights Templar Up To?
4. Did really Da Vinci hid some secrets in his paintings? etcetera

The author has even included a lenghty excerpt from the notirously un-scholarly "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". Beacuse, well, because its printed, published and read by many people including Dan Brown.

I found this book very interesting and informative although at times it was a bit hard to read, but the book definitely makes one think about everything.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this book is raising more questions than it attempts to answer & I'm really enjoying it. The author's intention to get people thinking about the origins of Christianity and its subsequent evolution is well designed. I look forward to finishing my reading of this book.

[Sammy Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously, I'm a little worn out with the whole Da Vinci Code 'Holy Vessel' controversy. Nevertheless, I still get a little caught up in the concepts surrounding it. Dan Burstein seems to be one of the more credible theorists. I enjoy his work a lot.

[Yana Rosli · Rating 1 out of 5]

what i got from this book is HEADACHE~...

[Jose Gaona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los secretos del código no oculta sus intenciones y no pretende ser más de lo que su modesto título pretende mostrar, a saber, un compendio de datos históricos y hermenéuticos acerca de lo que hay o no de cierto en la gran conspiración presentada en El Código Da Vinci. Por ello, trata de dar respuestas a preguntas como: ¿Qué papel desempeñó María Magdalena en la historia narrada en los Evangelios? ¿Por qué ese halo de desprestigio que la rodea? ¿Estuvo casada María Magdalena con Jesús? ¿Tuvieron descendencia? ¿Es cierto que Jesús le encomendó la tarea de ser la líder de la Iglesia? ¿Huyó hacia Francia? ¿Y qué hay de las primeras comunidades cristianas? ¿Y de los marcionitas y los ebionitas? ¿Qué peso tenía en el primer cristianismo los evangelios gnósticos? ¿Qué interpretaciones cabe hacer hoy en día de algunos de sus polémicos pasajes? ¿Es cierto que el relato de la vida de Jesús tiene las suficientes similitudes con personajes de otras mitologías como para no dar demasiada validez histórica a los evangelios? ¿Qué cabe decir del emperador Constantino? ¿Existió el Priorato de Sión? ¿Hasta qué punto es creíble la existencia de una línea de filiación que conecte la dinastía merovingia con Jesús de Nazaret? ¿Cómo se hicieron tan ricos los caballeros templarios? ¿Es cierto todo lo que se cuenta del Opus Dei en la novela? ¿Son creíbles las interpretaciones de la obra de Da Vinci? ¿Y qué hay del simbolismo, en general? ¿De qué material de referencia extrajo Brown su información? Estos y otros muchos interrogantes están presentes a lo largo de todo el libro.

(...)

Pero lo que termina de decantar la balanza, más allá del mayor o menor interés de ciertas secciones (algo siempre subjetivo) y de la pluralidad de los contenidos, es la reiteración que se produce en la exposición. A pesar de la ordenación de las temas, los contenidos se encuentran inextricablemente ligados, por lo que estos vienen y van, una y otra vez. Al principio esto favorece la imagen de conjunto, pero tras unas pocas iteraciones se hace molesto y se echa de menos cierta profundización en cada una de las cuestiones abordadas. Este problema se ve agravado por la inexistente sistematización de Burstein y por la participación en lugares distintos de mismos autores a lo largo de la obra. Todo lo cual hace que como obra de divulgación, "Los secretos del código", deje un tanto que desear.

Resto de la reseña aquí.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd book because it is essentially just a printed collection of short pieces that were published previously. That did make it easy to read the parts I was interested in, but it also made it incredibly scattered. Possibly my favorite part was a collection of verifications of claims made in "The Da Vinci Code," despite a rather substantial amount of those claims being inane verifications of the routes characters traveled and the times places they visited would have actually been opened, which is absolutely *not* what anyone reading a book about "the mysteries behind the Da Vinci Code" is interested in, at least in my opinion. What most surprised me, however, was how small the stakes were re: Dan Brown's novel. It's incredibly difficult for me to imagine a (fiction!) book with a similarly "explosive" premise about Christianity published now having remotely the kind of impact that "The Da Vinci Code" did.

[Krzysztof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dość ciekawa pozycja, chociaż oczywiście nie należy jej czytać przed przeczytaniem powieści Dana Browna. Przyznać jednak muszę, że sama książka właściwie pozostawia po sobie więcej pytań niż udziela odpowiedzi. Po części jest tak zapewne dlatego, że Burstein za cel postawił sobie nie obieranie żadnej strony w dyskusji o tym, czy Brown przekręca i nagina pewne fakty czy też nie. Ta pozycja ma jedynie przedstawić argumenty jeden i drugiej strony i decyzję pozostawia czytelnikowi. Oczywiście dostajemy też mnóstwo wskazówek gdzie szukać dalszych informacji na dany temat, jeśli będziemy chcieli dalej zgłębiać te zagadnienia.

[Julia Matthews · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a very long time to finish this book. Takes religious concepts and sections from The Da Vinci Code, then argues for and against with literature from various sources. Due to this it can be very dry as it goes over the same point multiple times and later sections are repetitive to earlier ones. I will say I learned quite a bit and there were some sections that I did truly enjoy (Was Jesus Real?, The Jesus Mysteries, Diverging Views on Mythic Beginning, The “Symbology” of The Da Vinci Code). Likely wouldn’t recommend overall though.

[Graham · Rating 1 out of 5]

My high hopes were dashed early on and I only made it to page 249 and even then I skipped over large parts where opinions took large amounts of space to say nothing. I really wanted to get more information about the many interesting aspects of The Da Vinci code, which, after all, is fiction, a novel, whose purpose is to entertain, not present history. Oh well, I'll continue to read Dan Brown's books for entertainment and continue to have an interest in Da Vinci, art, history and archeology.

[Isabel Luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Compré este libro únicamente xq quedé fascinada con el Código DaVinci. Pero en realidad, es solo bla bla bla de cuestiones históricas y teorías conspiranoícas. No vale el dinero q pagué y mucho menos vale el tiempo que le dediqué.
Son libros como este los q te hacen desear q los viajes en el tiempo se terminen de inventar.

[Deborah Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting info, long & dry in many places, could use additional editing, after having it around for a couple of years I finally got into the flow of it to finish it. I was definitely intrigued by the info.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get my head around, lost interest

[Hugo Basson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting and informative although at times it was a bit hard to read. The book definitely makes one think. I loved it!!

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting book seeks to debunk some of the things in the DA Vinci code, a book that can be somewhat dry at times but well written and thought provoking.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of scholarly articles on The Davinci Code. Interesting and challenging.

[Debi Emerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting compilation of articles about various topics related to "The Da Vinci Code". A bit dry in spots, but mostly very relevant!

[Nivedita Shinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to read, Very technical but enjoyed reading as I am the big fan of Da Vinci code so I have to read this one.

[Ella87 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Würde ich nicht nochmal lesen. Vielleicht mehr für Katholiken als für mich als Protestantin geeignet. Nichtsdestotrotz lese ich Dan Browns Werk immer wieder gerne.

[Cagajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is definitely great

[Karen Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected at the outset. Overly technical and repetitive in places but really got me thinking.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting views that provokes alternatives. Style makes for a slow read.

[Patrick Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book years ago, and picked up a copy more recently. Loved the original research by a team of experts of various topics that were overly dramatized in the fiction book and the movie.

[Katza Verduzco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Es muy aburrido 😒 narra muchas cosas irrelevantes, todo es historia, baya la historia es importante pero no hay necesidad de hacerla tan tediosa. No me gusto otra nada creí que tenía algo que ver con el libro o la película, pero no y terminé más aburrida que otra cosa.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this in July, put it away while on vacation and during the Great Vacation Readup, and now it's finally done. If you read and enjoyed The Da Vinci Code (which I did, two years ago, but it's only a thriller people!), this might pique your interest. Burstein has rounded up some of the sources that Dan Brown used and either reprinted the crux of their works or interviewed them specifically for this book. He then goes and finds a rebuttal for all this kooky stuff. :-)

It's a bit boggy at times, and if you're in a hurry you could get by with just reading the glossary. Had I know about it, I think I might have done just that. Especially regarding the bits I didn't care about at all. I scoured the pages pertaining to the Leonardo debate, and I find the Mary Magdalene arguments to be flat-out fun to observe. I so enjoy taking the piss out of Fundamentalists... heh.

Again, however, I must say: The original book is a NOVEL. And Burstein generally keeps that pretty clearly in sight as he investigates the non-fictional possibilities that spring from Brown's book.

[Keith Brough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun with a capitla F-U-N. It is, however, a very thick and acedemic book filled with excerpts and articles from published scholars. The DaVici COde is fiction. Yes. This book makes that very clear. But what the novel did to its audience is simple and healthy... it wet peoples appetite for reading, and made them curious about a slew of conspiracy theories as well as Christian history. This book has a smattering of every topic readers might be curious about. Interviews with ELain Pagels whose scholarship I don't hightly value is in the book. So are some things I find boring. But the editor has even included a lenghty excerpt from the notirously un-scholarly "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". Beacuse, well, because its printed, published and read by many people...including Dan Brown. So, buy this book and have fun reading it. Skip around or read bits in parts. Its incredibly fun for a scholarly smattering into real historical research.

[Teycordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book back in my high school days. I got curious from the graphic images of the famous painting Monalisa and the last supper of Leonardo da vinci. Did really Leonardo hid some secrets in his paintings? Merely this book collected facts from fiction in Dan Browns da vinci code. Dan Burstein has indeed edited an extensive far reaching book about the most controversial figure in the Christian history.
It starts off with a promising note and urges you to recollect what you learned in the novel. But as the pages wear on it gets increasingly complicated and confusing. I think you'll come to get the full impact only when you had read it more than three or four times. It didn't affect me at all. I won't and never believe that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene.

[Shyam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that Dan Burstein has indeed edited a comprehensive book about the most controversial figure in the Christian history among other things. The book is especially enjoyable for it's extensive collection and distinction of the fact from fiction in Dan Brown's da Vinci Code.
It starts off with a promising note and urges you to recollect what you learned in the novel. But as the pages wear on it gets increasingly complicated and confusing.
I think you'll come to get the full impact only when you had read it more than three or four times.
But the book is not without it's highs. One who thinks of getting to the bottom of the novel won't have his shelf without this book.