Needles to say , it is a famous novel.
I don't have to write the story on this blog, because everyone knows at least plot.
I have just finish reading the novel. At first I was trying to read in English, but the story is too complicated, and sometimes French words made me confuse, so I gave up English one , and change to Japanese one:).
I enjoyed reading, but somehow I couldn't understand... I think it is because of the value of religion. Many people have some problem like me in Japan, I guess. In foreign country when I am asked what is my religion, it is hard to answer always.
On new year's day I go to syrines, on chiristmas day I go to chapel, but we have one event which is called "hichi go san" in temple, many people have a wedding party in charch. I went to the Catholic kindergarten and Protestant university. But I am Not a christian. When I die someday, my family would have a Buddist style ceremony.
When I talk about religion with foreiner, I care always. Because I know for many people the religion is most part of their life. THE DA VINCI CODE is very interesting to me as a novel, but found difficult attitude of religion.
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2 comments:
I was wondering what you would think when you finished the book! Wow -- huge CONGRATULATIONS for trying to finish it in either French or English! You're like a FEMALE Leonardo DaVinci!
I find myself in the same situation that you do. When asked what religion I am it is very hard for me to answer. I have intense faith in nature and my fellow humans and a strong binding spirituality with the Tao (or the way) of the universe, but I don't belong to any particular church. So maybe this made it easier to enjoy the book as a fictional adventure novel which highlights a GREAT "Renaissance Man" like Leonardo DaVinci.
Even though it is a work of fiction, the book also brings up another interesting point that perhaps women were much more historically important and valued in real-life than some of the bible stories indicate. Bible stories have been changed so much over thousands of years, and ideas get lost in translation all the time. The book also indicates that ideas were perhaps hidden or changed on purpose to help one religious faction become more powerful -- and that's something even certain scholars in real-life have wondered about.
In the U.S., sometimes belonging to a religion is like loving a baseball team. So if you cheer for the "wrong" team (even for only a short time) then there's something "wrong" with you LOL! But not everyone is like this, thankfully. I have a lot of friends in the U.S. who are very religious (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish) who also take pieces of other faiths and incorporate them into their lives. They also love the story of DaVinci Code because they know it's a work of fiction and they love that even a fictional book can raise historical questions for them to think about.
I think one of the biggest differences I see living here in Japan is much less religious *dogma*. Dogma is defined as "authoritative statements and doctrines on matters of morality and faith set by a church indicating absolute truths." Here in Japan I get the sense that morals and personal faith are defined MORE from the individual family structure and overall interconnected social structure instead of relying on one overall religious institution to choose what is moral. It seems like the religious institutions I've seen here are more of a spiritual "guide", is this true for your experience too?
What I love the most is that people are actually talking about things that matter to them, though! Thank you for your post, it really helps me understand how difficult it is to translate and comprehend different concepts of faith and fiction.
I still can't wait to see the movie!
>REY
Wow, it is a very long comment, isn't it? Thank you! I can't wait the movie, too.
Since I was a kid, I was told many times about hermony with the other people by my parents my teachers. It isn't a special education here, since a long long time ago, it has been thought a great deal of our life.It might be the sense you mentioned.
Some people may think it wrongly something different from others, even though it has been getting less than before. Especially old people are very conservative.
I am not sure it is same meaning which you mentioned , but if it yes, as you think, we have a somthing like a spiritual "guide".
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