Mystery of a Shrinking Violet

Robert Langdon is an American teacher and writer, an expert in symbolism and art. While visiting France to speak before The American University of Paris, he’s wakened in his hotel room late at night and summoned to the Louvre Museum by the French Judicial Police. The museum’s esteemed curator, Jacques Saunière, has been murdered in the Grand Gallery, where many of the Louvre’s masterpieces reside, particularly the Mona Lisa. Langdon had been scheduled to meet with the victim earlier in the evening, but Saunière had missed their appointment. At first Langdon believes he’s been called in for his expert opinion of the mysterious pagan symbols and coded messages left behind by the murder victim before he died, but Langdon soon learns he himself is the prime suspect. He and Sophie Neveu, a young police cryptographer, flee the scene to investigate on their own. This decision sends them on a rapid-paced journey through Paris and eventually out of the country, as they piece together the elaborate puzzle left behind by the murder victim, a puzzle that could potentially break open a mystery, related to Grail legend, that has plagued the Vatican for centuries.

This is a mystery thriller, full of suspense and puzzles that will keep you turning the pages. The plot moves quickly, driven more by its puzzle than by characters or writing, yet the characterization is strong, and provides a large part of the mystery.

I rarely find a book that I simply cannot put down, but this one kept me reading straight through until I finished. It gripped me with questions that have stayed with me since.

Notes (for those who’ve read the book already):

I won’t go into whether I think the historical background is accurate or not, because I don’t think that matters to the casual fiction reader, though the intrigue of the novel certainly piques one’s curiosity. I have researched the “Facts” Dan Brown lists as such in the beginning of the novel, and know that Opus Dei exists and it appears there was at some time a real organization called Priory of Sion (though not much evidence exists, as far as I could tell just scratching the surface of this topic), as well as a real historic secret society called the Knights Templar (we all knew about that one, didn’t we?) I’ve also done some past reading about the Gospel of Mary Magdalen, though I haven’t read the actual gospel attributed to her.

I’m including links below to sites where perhaps some questions can be answered for those who’ve already read The Da Vinci Code and have lingering curiosity. I don’t guarantee their veracity, but provide them here simply as a means for other readers of this book to help quench their thirst for knowledge. It’s best to keep in mind the difference betweeen historical fact and theory, and religious belief. They’re sometimes presented as separate things, and sometimes blended. I also want to make clear that in my opinion a legitimate work of fiction should never be referred to as a “hoax,” and The Da Vinci Code is a novel, purported to be nothing more than that by its author.

I had read some bits about the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi, and Gnosticism in the past, and some of the theories in Brown’s novel jogged my memory of those readings, such as that offered regarding the beginnings of Tarot, and some conjectures about the early history of Christianity and the bloodline of Mary Magdalen.

I suggest that, if you plan to read The Da Vinci Code, you delay reading the linked information until afterward, to ensure nothing spoils the mystery for you.

On Gnosticism and/or Mary Magdalen:
http://www.meta-religion.com/Esoterism/Gnosticism/gnosticism2.htm
http://groups.msn.com/GnosticTheOtherSide/termsingnosicism.msnw
http://www.halexandria.org/dward269.htm
http://jonathanscorner.com/writings/grail/grail (I hesitate to include this one since it appears to make accusations about the intent of the author of Da Vinci Code, but it also provides a perhaps valuable perspective.)
http://www.1gnostic.com/readlist.htm
http://www.magdalene.org/contents.htm
http://www.gnosis.org/
http://www.gnostic.org/
http://www.magdalene.org/articles.htm
http://magdalene.wise1.com/
http://magdalene.wise1.com/tarot
http://shell.amigo.net/~ma3/BVRaves
http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic.htm

On the Knights Templar and Priory of Sion (variously pro or con the accuracy of Brown’s novel):
http://www.ordotempli.org/priory_of_sion.htm
http://www.cesnur.org/2004/mi_davinci_en.htm
http://www.pharo.com/secret_societies/priory_of_sion/articles/sops_02_the_historical_claims.asp
http://home.graffiti.net/prioryofsion/cocteau
http://www.ignatius.com/books/davincihoax/pressroom/mieselinterview.htm
http://altreligion.about.com/library/bl_priory.htm
http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/prioryofsion
http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/poseur3 (This document makes some interesting connections, reminiscent of those made in Brown’s novel.)

On Leonardo da Vinci:
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/bio/l/leonardo/biograph
http://www.mos.org/leonardo/bio
http://www.pharo.com/wild_talents/leonardo_da_vinci/articles/wtlv_03a_leonardo_the_man.asp

It’s interesting to note that one of the earliest known Tarot decks, the Visconti-Sforza, is believed to have been first printed during da Vinci’s lifetime, and that he worked for the Sforza family of Milan around that time. (Link provided only for visual sample of cards.)
http://www.astroamerica.com/t-vis

The Merovingians
http://www.ordotempli.org/the_merovingians.htm
http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/id152
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/texte/atx2_01.htm
http://www.bartleby.com/67/franki01
http://www.halexandria.org/dward230.htm
http://www.americanmason.com/lightmain.ihtml?ID=21

Dan Brown’s website:
http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/reviews

Books on related topics (I have not read these yet):

Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln (Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are also authors of Dead Sea Scrolls Deception).

The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail by Margaret Starbird. (Reviews can be found here http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/woman-alabaster-jar/ and http://facultyofchristianity.com/1879181037.)

The Underground Stream, Esoteric Tarot Revealed by Christine Payne-Towler and Tina Rosa. (Dan Brown’s novel quoted a passage from the Nag Hammadi that I’ve also seen quoted in an excerpt from this book regarding Mary Magdalen’s discipleship, her closeness to Jesus, and her alleged standing as one of his original apostles.)

Some of the same authors have also written books on the Knights Templar and related legend/history. It’s my understanding that Christine Payne-Towler is a member of the modern-day Knights Templar as well as a bishop of the Gnostic Church of St. Mary Magdalen. More book suggestions can be found here: http://facultyofchristianity.com/Gnosticism_Magdalene

Last edited 07-27-2004.

I’ll continue adding links that I consider helpful, as I find them. By helpful I mean what appear to me to be valid belief, theory or study of the relevant questions (rather than mere accusations), whether they support the lore given in Brown’s novel or not.