Aug.15th,17 

This summer I was very disconsolate that i had to read a book and then write an essay on it. I thought this summer  was going to be a relaxing because it is the freshman year of highschool. When I realized that it will be anything but that, I decided to choose a book using the lexile system. Whilst using the lexile system, finding an interesting book with a lexile score similar to my own was very challenging. After hours of looking I decided to just look for a book on my own because using that system was doing me no good. I looked inside of my mother’s bookcase because I know she has plenty of amazing books that i have never heard of before. Buckle your seatbelt because you, whoever is reading this right now, at this amazing time in your life is going to learn about a book that you have most likely seen the movie to in only 2 short pages so here we go.

In my opinion the Da vinci Code was an amazing book. Dan Brown did an excellent job with the pacing and the amount of detail provided in his story. He made his story flow so that it wasn’t so slow that it is boring or too fast that you don’t get a good understanding of what is going on. He gave a good background on each character so that you actually had empathy for them and you could connect easier with them. He didn’t make it immediate but he spread it out along the story so that you actually want to read the story and learn more about each character. 

The Da Vinci Code is about the Holy Grail.  This object was used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and in which Joseph of Arimathea received Christ's blood at the Cross. Quests for it undertaken by medieval knights are described in versions of the Arthurian legends written from the early 13th century onward and this book is about the journey and discovery of this relic. A man named Robert Langdon meets a woman named Sophie Neveu and they both assist each other in solving a murder in Paris’ Louvre museum. Before he died, Jacques Sauniere left many clues and riddles leading to the holy grail and the secret that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene.  AT the end of the story both protagonists realize that the Holy grail was not a cup used to hold the blood of Jesus Christ but an old cult from hindu mythology. Knights from templar never owned the Holy Grail. Da Vinci’s last supper painting is one of the world’s most famous paintings. 

The main character in this story is a Harvard professor and symbologist by the name of Robert Langdon. Robert is the protagonist of the story and has a very honest personality. He wrote many books and and had them published and they all were very successful. In the story it is showed that Mr.Langdon does not believe in any religion which is weird because he studies theology He is a very analytical and logical thinker rather than having a creative mind. He is quick on his feet when it comes to solving and deciphering codes and symbols but is very inept and unskilled when it comes to things like combat or survival situations. 

Sophie Neveu was the protagonist along with Robert Langdon. She is a very talented and capable cryptologist and assists Robert Langdon in the investigation of a murder in the Paris Louvre museum. Ms. Neveu and Mr.Langdon have a very strong and deep connection. In the story, Sophie learns that pagan religions and the Priory valued balance between male and female. Because of her beliefs, her and Robert share the title of protagonist. 

What makes this book so good in my opinion is the connection the characters share. Sophie and Robert are like yin and yang or black and white. Their personalities contrast and go against each other but it makes the duo more dynamic. Sophie is more dominant and masculine and and has a head on approach on things while Robert is more layback and quiet about his ideas. He isn’t as affable as Sophie but he is liked more in the academic world.  

Jurassic Park is a science fiction book that was written by Michael Crichton. This book was published in 1990. In the book, a rich man, John Hammond, wants to bring back dinosaurs using the “magic” of genetics, and create an amusement park for visitors to see the wonder of those dinosaurs. He spends large amounts of money researching his project and hiring the best scientists in the field. He was successful in cloning dinosaurs and was in the final stages of construction for the park. However, the investors of the project were skeptical that the park would work and forced him to invite some visitors to come to make sure that the park was safe. Many people didn’t think that the park would work, but John Hammond was trying to prove it would be a finical and scientific success. As the plot progressed, the book reveals who was right. 

The main characters in this book were John Hammond, Ian Malcom, and Alan Grant. John Hammond was a seventy six year old affluent man who has aspired to build a huge park filled with dinosaurs. All he wants at the moment was his park to succeed. John Hammond was always optimistic it will work and does everything he can to help to help his creation. Ian Malcom was a mathematician who works with the new “chaos theory”. He was quite skeptical of the park from the very beginning. Ian Malcom’s work, as he claims, proves that the park will fail. Alan Grant is a forty one year old paleontologist who is currently conducting an archeological dig in Montana. This site is a former nesting site for dinosaurs. He researches the nesting habits of dinosaurs, and has made many influential finds in his career. A Significant portion of his research was funded by John Hammond. 

I found that this book was mostly easy to read, however, there was some advanced genetics and science related vocabulary as well as scientific names for some dinosaurs. If you are not already pre-disposed to genetics, it would be a harder read that would require some dictionary consultations. Younger readers may also find this book challenging. Overall, with my pre-existing background information in this topic, I found the book to be a generally smooth read. 

 I thoroughly enjoyed both the plot and the subject matter. The plot does a great job keeping readers interested and engaged the whole time. The book can be enjoyed by all audiences, young, old and in between.  The book also did an excellent job incorporating scientific elements such as genetics which is an interesting subject matter that has a lot of potential, and it is explored thoroughly in this book. This book was an exciting read; Michael Crichton packs the book with tons of action while also including plenty of science to make this book an all-around masterpiece. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in science or likes action packed books.