"The DaVinci Code"

Dan Brown wrote one helluva book. But, from what I hear, he wrote it several times and called each something different, so I may not be reading any of the others. Regardless, this book rocked. It's no wonder it's been the buzz of the world for years now, and I'll say that, if you haven't already, this is one book you must not miss.

Robert Langdon is a bookworm that loves symbols in the world, but most of all he loves symbols of pagan religion hidden in Christianity. Sophie Neveu is a dame who loves messing with codes. When they're brought together after the murder of her grandfather, Jacques Sauniere, a bad-ass at the Louvre, all Hell breaks loose. Suddenly they find themselves in search of the Holy Grail, hoping to find it before the Church does, who wants to destroy it. But what is the Grail? And why does the Church want it bad enough to murder for it? And why use a big, naked albino in a robe? Regardless, they find themselves on the run, unable to go to the police, racing against the clock in both France and England, to solve the riddle of the Grail, and the murder of an old man.

Great book. What's even better is I got to see them filming a scene from it for the upcoming movie. Many people were disappointed in the choosing of Tom Hanks as the lead. I guess I didn't have much of a problem with it since I'd already known about it before reading the book. That's usually the case, if you read the book before a movie you've often imagined someone completely different from the actor eventually chosen for the role, but if you read the book after the movie you tend to simply imagine the actor.

So, will I go see the movie? Probably. The book kept me wrapped up in it from beginning to end. He was able to keep the pace up and the mystery thick, all the while teaching you a few things in the process. I like books like that.

Here's a shot of Tom Hanks outside Westminster Abbey. None of these are good shots b/c I had to use the digital zoom on my little camera, but I think you get the picture. You can, however, click on these to enlarge them a bit if you want.







And here's a shot of him and little Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard), the director of this film.







Finally, here's a shot of Jean Reno, one of my favorite actors. He'll be playing Bezu Fache, the Bull.