U.S. News & World Report; 12/22/2003, Vol. 135 Issue 22, p44-49, 6p, 3 Color Photographs
Subjects
FICTION, MYSTERY fiction, RELIGIOUS life, CHURCH history, CHRISTIANITY, LAST Supper in art, GRAIL in art, BIBLICAL commentaries, and BIBLE in literature
Abstract
Discusses the book "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown. Consideration of the multiple plots in the murder mystery and the search for the Holy Grail; How Brown uses facts to support his fictional plot; Indication that he based some of his book on the religious research of others such as Margaret Starbird, author of "The Woman With the Alabaster Jar"; Controversy over the role of Mary Magdalene in the life of Jesus; Comments of Margaret Mitchell, professor of early church history at the University of Chicago Divinity School; Commentary from Richard Leigh, coauthor of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," a non-fiction bestseller; Tendency for Americans to enjoy correcting tradition and interpreting Jesus; Brown's interpretation of Jesus and the Leonardo Da Vinci mural, "The Last Supper".
