The Da Vinci code door Dan Brown

Main characters * Robert Langdon
Robert Langdon was Professor of Religious Symbology at the Harvard University. He stayed in Paris for giving a lecture. Although, he became involved in the Da Vinci Code and it became a adventure he could never have foreseen. Robert Langdon was very smart and also very kind. He looked like a normal man. * Sophie Neveu
Sophie Neveu was a cryptologist and she worked for the Judicial Police in Paris, where she also lived. She was raised by her grandfather, who was killed in the Louvre in the beginning of the book. Just like Robert Langdon, she was very smart. She was attractive and had long burgundy hair. Title (explain) The whole book is about the Da Vinci Code and about how to decipher the code and find the Holy Grail.
Setting (place, time) Place – The story takes place in Paris and later in London. Time – It takes place after the millennium, because that’s been told in the book, so it could take place right now or a few years ago, but not before the year 2000. Summary Robert Langdon had been sleeping in the Ritz Hotel when he was awoken by the concierge of the hotel. The French Judicial Police searched for him. They said they needed Langdon’s expertise because someone was murdered in the Louvre. That someone was Jacques Saunière, curator of the museum. Langdon had an appointment with him earlier that night, but he never showed up. Robert Langdon went with a police officer to the museum and eyed the strange crime scene. Saunière had situated himself into the position of a Vitruvian man and had used his own blood to write with. He had also written with a black-light pen. Bezu Fache, the police captain, showed him what Saunière had written: 13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5
O, Draconian devil! Oh, lame saint! It is the beginning of the Da Vinci Code. Langdon did not know what was going on, but Sophie Neveu came and made things clear to him. They mislead Fache and Neveu told Langdon that Fache hadn’t showed him everything: There was also ‘P.S. Find Robert Langdon’ written on the floor, what made Langdon a suspect. Together they found out that the second and third line were a anagram of ‘Leonardo Da Vinci! The Mona Lisa!’ They went to the Mona Lisa where another line was written on the glass with the black-light pen: So dark the con of man. It was the anagram of Madonna On The Rocks, another painting of Da Vinci. Neveu found a key behind the painting. Now they were fugitives and they escaped the Louvre. On the key were two important things: a sign of the Priory of Sion and ’24 Rue Haxo’ written with the black-light pen. Langdon explained to Neveu that the Priory of Sion was a society that protected the Holy Grail. He was almost sure that Saunière was a member of the Priory. They went to 24 Rue Haxo and saw that a Swiss depository bank was situated at that address. With the key and the code of the first line, which was the Fibonacci sequence in a anagram, they got a wooden box with an inserted rose. The box contained a cryptex. Neveu knew what it was, it was invented by Da Vinci. You can put a secret message in the cryptex and you can only open it if you know the five-numbered keyword. If you try to break it, the bottle of vinegar inside it will break and will destroy the papyrus with the information. Saunière made the cryptex Langdon and Neveu possessed and Langdon thought it was the keystone of the Priory of Sion. The keystone contained the map to find the Holy Grail. The police was still after them and it became more and more difficult to escape from them. Although, they could come away with the box and they went to Leigh Teabing, friend from Langdon. He was sure Teabing could help them finding the keyword. Together with Teabing, his servant Rémy and Silas, an albino monk from Opus Dei who tried to steal the cryptex when they were at Teabing’s, they escaped to London with Teabing’s private jet. Teabing told them the whole story about the Holy Grail. According to the Church, the Holy Grail is the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Although, the true story is that the Holy Grail wasn’t a cup, but a female named Maria Magdalene. She was painted by Da Vinci at the painting ‘The Last Supper’, many people thought it was a man on the painting, but it was Maria Magdalene. According to the Priory, Maria Magdalene was married with Jesus and they even had a child. The box contained another indication for finding the keyword: An ancient word of wisdom frees this scroll
And helps us keep her scatter’d family whole
A headstone praised by templers is the key
And atbash will reveal the truth
The keyword turned out to be SOFIA. Inside the cryptex was another cryptex and a vellum with the words: In London lies a knight a Pope interred. His labor’s fruit a Holy wrath incurred. You see the orb that ought be on his tomb. It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb. They had no idea what the keyword could be, so they decided to go to the Templar Church in London, where the tombs of the Knights Templar were. What they also didn’t know, was that Rémy freed Silas in the limousine when they were in the church. Rémy also worked for Opus Dei, but Teabing didn’t know that. They were trapped in the church and Rémy and Silas stole the cryptex and took Teabing with them as their hostage. The first thing Langdon and Neveu did, was trying to find de keyword. It led to the tomb of Isaac Newton (who had also been a member of the Priory), in the Westminster Abbey. When they came there, a note from the kidnapper laid by the tomb: I have Teabing. Go through Chapter House, out south exit, to public garden. When Langdon and Neveu came there, they were stunned, because Teabing himself stood there, aiming a gun at them. He claimed Langdon to open the cryptex and after that to give it back to him. Although, Langdon opened the cryptex unseen (the keyword was APPLE) and threw the empty cryptex in the air and broke it on the floor. Teabing fell on the floor, because he wanted to save the cryptex. Then the police came in and they arrested Teabing, they already knew Langdon and Neveu were innocent. On the paper in the cryptex was written: The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o’er Her gates. Adorned in masters’ loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skies. Now it wasn’t difficult for Langdon and Neveu for finding their final destination. They went to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. Although there, they couldn’t find the final clue for finding the Holy Grail. Instead, they discovered Neveu’s grandmother and her brother, who lived there. Neveu thought they were dead. Her grandmother told her the entire story about the place where the Holy Grail was and Langdon finally understand why Saunière wanted Neveu to find Langdon (fourth line of first code). Saunière read a manuscript about the Holy Grail written by Langdon. He write about the inverted pyramid and the little pyramid beyond in the Louvre “The miniature structure itself protrudes up though the floor as though it were the tip of an iceberg –the apex of an enormous, pyramidical vault, submerged below like a hidden chamber”. It was there where the Holy Grail found her final rest place. Neveu’s grandmother said telling the truth to the world had never been the Priory’s purpose, they wanted to keep it secret. Let the people keep their faith, because it’s inspiring them, even in today’s world chaos.. Theme Discovering the truth about the Holy Grail with the Da Vinci Code and discovering who was the murderer of Jacques Saunière.
Personal opinion I liked the story afterwards more than when I was reading. It was too long-winded, but there’s one positive about that: it feels good when you have read the very last page of the book.