13 apostles, with 13 letters...what does it mean?
|
This book is a very challenging read. It has very deep meaning to to secret of the painting by Leonardo The Last Supper. It involved an inqusitor, Father Agostino to help solve the riddles provided by the Soothsayer who was there to oppose Leonardo's work.
Leonardo's The Last Supper in this book review some secrets; some believe it was intentionally not drawn towards what it should be as a Christian masterpiece. There were speak of Leonardo's work as evil intention and were left for those who understood his work by solving his 'codes'.
This book also write alot on Mary Magdalene who held a book which was later used by Leonardo to paint The Last Supper.
I find the plot is too deep for me. I was rushing the pages chasing for answers to the codes really. Rate this 2 Stars not my cup of coffee.
|
|
The Secret Supper - Enjoyable but confusing
|
|
All in all a very enjoyable, thought provoking and challenging read! It is very atmospheric and you feel like you are in 1497 Milan. However, I noted a few spelling mistakes that shouldn't have got through the editing process, but that is a minor quibble. Some of the clues were baffling. Maybe it was me but I still don't understand how the number five equated to Benedetto, when the name itself added up to 86. Maybe I missed something. As I said, very enjoyable if sometimes confusing. The author may have been right about Da Vinci? Who knows? If you enjoy this sort of literature - Da Vinci Code like books - I thoroughly recommend it.
|
|
a masterpiece
|
This is a beautifully written thoughtful piece of literature whether you believe the central premise of the Cathar 'heresy' or not. Yes it treads similiar ground to the Da VInci Code as everyone is at pains to point out. It also covers much of the same territory as The Last Templar by Raymond Khouri,The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry, The Expected One by Kathleeen McGowan and many more I have no doubt- all of which have both their fans and their detractors. I like all of them but The Secret Supper is in my humble opinion in a league of its own. It is not a rip roaring adventure. It is teasing and thought provoking. The puzzles are just as fascinating to the reader as they are to the inquistor. I found myself repeatedly looking at the jacket cover of the painting as events unfolded and a bit more of the riddle was unravelled.It was frustrating because it didn't show the whole picture so now I'm going to buy a print of The Last Supper so that I can look at it in more detail.
Da Vinci comes across as a man driven by what he knows to take risks he is well aware could lead to his death but the message is too important, too powerful to keep suppressed for ever. Whether you believe the revelation or not scarcely matters although it is perhaps worth thinking about the fact that through this book ( and the others) the 'legend'/'truth' would seem to be alive and well and thriving in our modern world in a way it could never have done in Da VInci's time- so maybe he achieved what he set out to do?
Either way this is a good read with lots to recommend it in terms of style and imagery and one thing is certain you'll never look at any of Da Vinci's work again in the same light. Enjoy
|
|
|
No comparison with Da Vinci Code, thank goodness!
|
There's been a glut of Da Vinci Code style books of late, for obvious reasons, and most of which I've had no inclination to read. Frankly, I found the original somewhat tedious, and only read to the end in expectation of an interesting denouement. Sadly, there was none, and it's been quite a mystery since why it has become so popular.
Thus this review (my first): profound disagreement with Jana on her comparison between this and the Da Vinci Code: "[The Secret Supper] lacks the dynamism, action, power, real suspense, complex plot, subplots and two-dimensional but larger than life characters of Dan Brown's bestseller." Eh??? For me DVC totally lacked any of the first 6, although I do agree on the 2-D (cardboard cutout) characterisation.
That is not to say this novel is particularly dynamic or action packed. It's not intended to be, being more of an intellectual mystery than a physical one. However, the characters are significantly more three-dimensional (here I agree with Jana - DVC is thoroughly 2-D) and I found the story telling enthralling and well paced. Basically it was a novel I could (and did) get wrapped up in, which was not something I achieved with Dan Brown's book.
I also agree with Jana that it's worth 3.5 stars. As she's given it 3, then I'm giving it 4 to average out! All in all an enjoyable, well above average holiday read. Incidentally, reading the Acknowledgements indicates that Savier started work on the book well before Dan Brown's book came out, so to class this as an offshoot is a little unfair. It's certainly better.
|
|
Good entertainment
|
'The secret supper' is written in the form of a memoir by Agostino Leyre, Dominican and former inquisitor. The events he writes about take place in 1497, when Leonardo da Vinci was finishing his Last Supper mural in the Santa Maria della Grazie convent in Milan. The Last Supper is rumoured to contain a hidden heretical message, and Leyre is sent out to investigate. In Milan, he discovers, nothing is what it seems, and there's a killer on the loose too...
Peopled with a mix of historical and fictional characters, this is the kind of book lots of people enjoy, and I, being no exception to the rule, did indeed very much enjoy this book.
Is there really a message hidden in the Last Supper? It actually doesn't matter to me, what matters is the credibility of the story as a story, and on that score Sierra does an impeccable job. The Renaissance Milan as he describes it feels very authentic and truly comes to life.
Is 'The secret supper' better or worse than 'The Da Vinci code'? Does it matter? One is set in the past, the other in the present. 'The Da Vinci code' is probably faster-paced and contains more action, but then again 'The Secret Supper' in my opinion has better developed characters. I've read both and I've enjoyed both in their own right. Don't let anyone keep you from doing the same.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada