The Opera Populaire

Been buying books but have yet to read most of them. Will read them back in Indo. But I rented "Da Vinci Code" on Fri, just to find out what all the controvesy is about. Finished it by Sat morning. I did sleep 6 hours in between, too! Haha it's been donkey years since I last do that. I have always been a speed reader. When I was a kid, I finish one book per day and re-read them at least three times.

On the whole, the "Da Vinci Code" has the making of a blockbuster all right. The plot is tremendously exciting and unexpected, though somewhere near the end I find it reeking of those standard Hollywood plot. It also comes across as being very well-researched and factual, perhaps becos I dunno all about cult practices, symbols or art history etc.

This is precisely where the controvesy occurs, I think. As the line between reality and fiction blurs, some readers may get confused and swallow everything it said whole without attempting further research to establish fact from fiction. I prayed very hard before reading it so that God will guide me in His truth. I am pleased to say that He has protected me. Sadly someone told me this week that some Christians had their faith shaken by this book. Which is quite shocking becos perhaps if u just treat it as a work of fiction it's pretty fine. But I guess there are some fiction that are so-well crafted you can't help but wonder if the things inside are true. I used to be terribly disappointed when I found out that my idol, Sherlock Holmes, is nothing more than a fictional character.

I am aware that I have no basis for saying wat the book claims is not true, not being particularly familiar with church history. Although I do find that the arguments put forth in the book is not exactly convincing. Perhaps you can even go so far as to accuse me of trying to protect my own agenda blindly: my faith and everything it stands for. While I cannot buy whatever the book is saying, I am not knowledgeable enough to refute it with facts and arguments, so was wondering if anybody wanna jump into a sorta discussion via the comments site abt this matter? So that I can learn a bit more.

By the way think Campus Crusade is organising a talk on the "Da Vinci Code" some time soon. Will pop by since I am free.