The Da Vinci Code [antikvár]

PrefaceA Journey of DiscoveryIt is a phenomenon.The success of the worldwide bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, took even its accomplished author by surprise. Dan Brown, already the successful author of the novels Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons, and Deception Point, nonetheless, confessed, "I never imagined so many people would be enjoying it this much."1Since it was first released in 2003, Brown's book has sold more than thirty-six million copies and has been translated into forty-four languages and counting.2 It has spawned its own industry of sorts, including a special illustrated edition (with 160 illustrations interspersed with the text), guides on how to read the book, rebuttals, parodies, and an ABC television documentary.3 Sony's Columbia Pictures paid six million dollars for the movie rights in 2003 and quickly lined up Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Akiva Goldsman (the Oscar-winning director/producer/writer trio responsible for A Beautiful Mind). Superstar Tom Hanks was cast in late 2004 to portray the lead character, Robert Langdon, opposite Audrey Tatou (Amelie) as cryptographer Sophie Neveu.The plot of the novel revolves around the murder of the elderly curator of the Louvre, in Paris. Because the victim is surrounded with baffling clues and ciphers, Harvard symbolo-gist Robert Langdon is called in to solve the riddle. Langdon's investigation unites him with French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and together they uncover the late curator's involvement in a secret society whose members included Leonardo da Vinci, among others. Their inquiry into a murder quickly becomes a quest to expose an ancient conspiracy and discover a shocking and priceless religious relic, suppressed for centuries.