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Description
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
The story starts off with the murder of Jacques Saunière (the Grand Master Of Priory Of Sion) by Silas (acting on behalf of someone known only as The Teacher) to extract the location of the “keystone,” which leads to the Holy Grail and documents which would shake the very foundation of... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters/Important People
- Robert Langdon: A Harvard professor and symbologist
- Jacques Saunière: Louvre Museum curator.
- Sophie Neveu: French cryptographer
- Jacques Sauniere: Louvre Museum's curator
- Sir Leigh Teabing: a knight who spent the rest of his life studying the Holy Grail
- Manuel Aringarosa: Head of Opus Dei; a bishop.
- Leigh Teabing: A friend of Robert's who tries to help them unravel part of the book's mystery.
- Bezu Fache: Head detective investigating the murder of Saunière.
- Bishop Manuel Aringarosa: President-General of Opus Dei
- Silas: an Opus Dei numerary adopted by Manuel Aringarosa
- Lieutenant Jerome Collet: French Judicial police agent
- Andre Vernet: President of the Paris branch of the Depository Bank of Zurich
- Remy Legaludec: Leigh Teabing's butler and manservant
- Sister Sandrine Bieil: Caretaker of Church of Saint-Sulpice
- Marie Chauvel: Chapel curator and head of the Rosslyn Trust
- Young docent: with strawberry blonde hair and Scottish brogue
- Jonas Kaufman: Robert Langdon's editor
- Claude Grouard: Security warden of Louvre Museum
Memorable Quotes
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“The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual - the miter, the altar, the doxology, and communion, the act of "God-eating" - were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions.”
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“History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'”
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“Leigh, you lie entirely too well.”
Robert Langdon -
“Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.”
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“History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books – books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?' By its very nature, history is always a one-sided accoun”
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“British judge man’s civility not by his compassion for his friends, but by his compassion for his enemies.”
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“The blind see what they want to see.”
First Sentence
Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery.
Table of Contents
Series
This is book 2 in the Robert Langdon series.
Authors & Contributors
- Dan Brown (Author)
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