Whether or not "The Da Vinci Code" is a good book is, of course, a matter of opinion. What amazes me, as well as many others, judging from reviews posted here, is how badly written it is. I am not here writing about errors of fact, of which I could care less. Or whether or not it is suspenseful (which I found it not to be) or interesting (which I found it mildly to be). I'm writing about how BADLY written the book is. Bad grammar, terrible syntax, blocked metaphors, absurd similes, etc. etc. etc. For those of us for whom part of the pleasure of reading is in the author's use of language, this is a TERRIBLE book. I do not demand that every book I read be a timeless work of elegant and graceful prose, but there ARE minimum standards. And this book, time and again, failed to meet them.

I am AMAZED at this book's popularity. While it is true that there is lots of fascinating historical detail, the flat, implausible characters, unbelievably cliched dialog, the goofy plot coincidences and Deus ex machina's, and the INCREDIBLY BAD WRITING (bullets that "sail" over people's heads? PUH-LEEEZE. Every page had at least one howler, it seemed.) all combine to form one really bad novel. I had to force myself to finish this book because I figured there had to be an incredibly exciting climax for this drivel to have impressed so many people. I was wrong. If you thought this was a great thriller, well, all I can say is that you have worlds of delight ahead of you when you read a genuinely well-written, taut thriller. Try Robert Harris and continue upward you've reached the heights with Le Carre and Alan Furst.