At 10:58 AM -0700 4/27/06, Onaree Berard wrote:
Just curious, when did Dan Brown claim to DaVinci Code was true.
He has repeatedly asserted that although the main characters and the
specific plot involving them are fictitious, the background "history"
is true (not only the marriage and offspring of Mary Magdalene and
Jesus, but the two millennia long competing conspiracies to cover up
and to preserve this "knowledge", including the "Priory of Sion",
the supposed clues in artwork, etc.)
I listened to the unabridged audio book and it seemed like an author
who took some facts, some legends, a few other theories.... tweeked to
taste and shook well to create an interesting *story*.
He explicitly claims -- in both interviews and also in text published
in the book with the text of the novel -- as "facts" things that are
not only not facts, but demonstrably untrue, and generally by various
means actively encourages people to believe that what is presented in
the novel as history/facts are indeed history/facts.
I couldn't figure out why so many people were trying to prove/debunk it.
Because so many other people are believing things are true based on
having read it in a novel.
To me it was like trying to prove/debunk Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes.
If everyone treated it like it was Tarzan -- or rather, if everyone
treated it like it was Star Wars -- no one would bother trying to
debunk it. But people aren't treating it like Star Wars, they're
treating it like a history book, with the sole exception of the
immediate plot and its main characters. That is, things Brown
presents in the novel as "history" many people are believing as
history. They're using a novel as if it were a source of reliable
historical information. Thus, the need for debunking, to clearly
demonstrate that novels are novels, not reliable history books.
Now, Brown would be blameless in this -- like George Lucus is
blameless for those few who really think there is a galaxy far, far
away where Ewoks lived -- if he didn't himself actively encourage
people to misuse his novel by claiming the "history" in it really is
true.
Sharon
--
Sharon Krossa, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Resources for Scottish history, names, clothing, language & more:
Medieval Scotland - http://MedievalScotland.org/
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