Re: "Da Vinci" Debunking

> Totally trivial example of the badness: the male protagonist is a
> Harvard professor of art who can't read French.
>
> Harold Hungerford

Hmm.  In the NYT article this protagonist is said to be "a professor
of 'symbology.'"


DW writes:
> The book, I understand, made great use of a book called "Holy Blood,
> Holy Grail," one of a series out of which the BBC has made special
> programs.  I have HBHG, though I haven't picked it up for 10+ years.
> It was a hoot.  Very sincere.

Yes, all of the accounts I have read of the book mention this, including
the NYT article of today, which says:
       Much of the "Da Vinci Code" scaffolding of conspiracies
       was constructed in an earlier best seller, "Holy Blood,
       Holy Grail," published in the 1980's.  It relies on a file
       of documents found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
       that has since been exposed as one man's hoax.

I gather that "Holy Blood" has ridden back into bestsellerdom on
"Da Vinci"'s coattails, for I think I saw it on the paperback NYT
bestseller list last Sunday.

The notion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a thing going seems to
pop up a lot.  A local enthusiast named Margaret Starbird wrote a
book on this subject entitled "The Woman With the Alabastar Jar."
When she came to talk about it to a group of Honors students some
years ago, I made the mistake of challenging some of her assertions.
She did not take this at all well---indeed, she got very emotional
about it.  Worse still, the next day the student who had invited her
sent me a long letter reprimanding me for my rudeness in making a
guest on campus feel uncomfortable.  (I hope Prof. Butrica isn't
listening in.  Normally, I'm not rude when students are about.
Honest!)

I hope this message makes it out.  We seem to be having e-problems
here today.

David Lupher
Classics Dept.
Univ. of Puget Sound


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