The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
From Amazon: While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.
Challenges and Bans:
- Blasphemy and religious offense: The most common reason for the bans is that the book’s storyline is perceived as an attack on the divinity of Jesus Christ and other core Christian beliefs.
- Fictional claims presented as fact: The controversy was amplified because the author included a “Fact Page” at the beginning of the book that presented fictional claims as if they were historical truths.
- Negative portrayal of religious organizations: The book also portrayed the Catholic Church as having been involved in a two-thousand-year conspiracy and depicted the Opus Dei as a sinister organization, which drew strong criticism from many Catholics.
- Historical inaccuracies: Critics also pointed to numerous inaccuracies in the book’s descriptions of art, architecture, and historical events, which they felt were used to spread false information.
The FICTIONAL plot contains what many religious groups consider to be blasphemous claims about Christianity, such as the idea that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and had children. Some say the narrative presents these ideas as factual. It is considered to be an insult to religion in sone areas, leading to bans in places like Lebanon, Egypt, and some Indian states as well as limited areas in the U.S.