A moment of literary criticism and The Da Vinci Code.

Like many people, I wondered for years what the fuss about The Da Vinci Code could possibly be. After all, isn't this a work of fiction? Who cares if it's a tad inaccurate if people think it's a fun read? And why, I often asked, are people taking this fictional account SO seriously?

After following various posts on Ben Witherington's site about The Da Vinci Code, and, perhaps more importantly, after being challenged by the teens in the youth groups I work with at my church, I finally read the book.

And now I get it. This book raised the hairs on the back of my neck, and not because of its theology or its vehement anti-Catholicism - though both certainly got my attention - but because of the deceitful game I believe this work plays with a well-established and respected form of literature. Since many writers visit this blog, I'd like to pause from humor for a moment and start a conversation about The Da Vinci Code not on its theological terms, but on its literary terms.

Now, I like a good adventure tale as much as anyone. Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler...bring 'em on. And, much like these excellent adventure authors, Dan Brown paces his tale brilliantly, peppering it at well-chosen moments with convincing "historical" background.

Plot twist after plot twist kept me hanging by my fingernails, forcing me to suffer through reams of "historical" background before I could find out what happens at the next plot twist. But unlike most adventure novels, it wasn't the plot twists that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

I believe that the debate about The Da Vinci Code should not first be a debate about theology, but instead a debate about how we define fact and fiction. Historical fiction, by every definition I've ever heard, sets a fictional story inside well-researched and accurately presented history. The Da Vinci Code, rampant in historical inaccuracy,* hardly lives up to this genre. And yet, book review after book review refers to The Da Vinci Code as "historical fiction," which not only belittles the hard-working authors who so carefully pen their tales amid real historical fact, but lends credibility to The Da Vinci Code by its association with this genre.

While we could easily write The Da Vinci Code off as pure fiction, Brown cleverly ekes out just enough fact to make his "historical" background appear accurate and, more cleverly, convinces many of his readers that he is, indeed, portraying well-researched historical fact. In other words, The Da Vinci Code is written as though it were a card-carrying member of the genre of historical fiction making those reams of historical background believable to the unsuspecting reader.

And if you think for a second that The Da Vinci Code is not believable, then please join me at our next teen group discussion at St. Patrick's here in Scottsdale, Arizona. You will meet a generation of kids from our public high schools who are reading The Da Vinci Code as an example of historical fiction, and they believe it to be an accurate rendition of historical fact, not fiction.

That's what raises the hair on the back of my neck.


*The historical inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code are well-documented. For more information, see:
- The Da Vinci Code's Top Ten Errors – Novopress
- Cracking The Da Vinci Code - CBS2 Chicago
- Hollywood Heresy - The New Yorker
- The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes

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Since writing this post, a number of people have responded with some excellent resources:

My brother recommends Janet Batchler's blog. Blatcher writes about the power of fiction to influence a society's beliefs. See her excellent post on The Da Vinci Code at The Power of presupposition, Part 2.

Bonnie Wren provided in-depth documentation of the historical inaccuracies from various Catholic sources - and it is Catholicism that is most under attack in this book:

Dismantling The Da Vinci Code, by Sandra Miesel

Da Duh Vinci Code, also by Sandra Miesel

Interpreting the Da Vinci Code: Perspectives from a Church Historian, by Amanda D. Quantz

And last, Paul Boyer recommends an extensive explication at The Da Vinci Opportunity, Section 1: How the Popularity of The Da Vinci Code Book
and Movie Can Be Helpful to Christians and Others, by Mark Roberts


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