The da Vinci Code (1 cent)

I finally read Dan Brown's absolute blockbuster bestseller on the airplane yesterday, and I was not disappointed. But that is only because I really was not expecting much. As to the premises of the Grail, the Templars, Mary Magdalene and the bloodline of Jesus and all that, nothing was new to me because I have been reading about that stuff for several years now. I certainly can understand how it can interest newcomers to these tales, and that that would account for much of the success of the book. As to the overall plot line, however, I thought it far fetched. As to the writing, I found it adequate, but not much better than that. Like other fads, once it catches on, it catches on.

I thought about the books that I have read or partially read that touch on the subject, and here is my bibliography for all of you to follow, should you choose.

Graham Hancock's "The Sign and the Seal"
Picknett and Prince's "The Templar Revelation"
Knight and Lomas' "The Hiram Key"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Jesus Conspiracy"
Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "The Messianic Legacy"
Baignet and Leigh's "The Temple and the Lodge"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Original Jesus"
Picknett and Prince's "Turin Shroud"
Gardner's "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"
Barber's "The Trial of the Templars"
Wagner's "Freemasonry Interpreted"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
Goodrich's "The Holy Grail"
Ridley's "The Freemasons"

This will give you a start, before you move on to the Velikovsky books, books about the Sphinx and the Pyramids, and the remainder of the Hancock books.