[Insert "Code" Pun Here]

On May 16, I finished reading the most controversial novel in recent memory (I think), The Da Vinci Code. I figured I really should read the book if I wanted to be able to form worthwhile opinions about it. Once I got past the many and varied historical and theological errors, I found the book a fairly enjoyable read, but I would definitely file it under "pop fiction": moderately entertaining, but of moderate literary quality, at best.

You may recall that my historian friend expressed his indignation that a world-renowned symbologist and art historian would not speak French (among other problems) (see this post). In a similar vein, I (language geek that I am) was dumfounded by this passage from the book:

"It's pentameter!" Teabing blurted, turning to Langdon. "And the verse is in English! La lingua pura!"

Langdon nodded. The Priory, like many European secret societies at odds with the Church, had considered English the only European pure language for centuries. Unlike French, Spanish, and Italian, which were rooted in Latin--the tongue of the Vatican--English was linguistically removed from Rome's propaganda machine, and therefore became a sacred, secret tongue for those brotherhoods educated enough to learn it. (p. 329)

Now, I'm no historical linguist, but the last time I checked, English is "linguistically removed" from Latin the way I'm "genetically removed" from my grandfather. Not only did English borrow directly from Latin to a measurable degree, it borrowed extensively from French (and at least a little bit from Spanish and Italian).

If we're going to talk about a European language that's linguistically removed from Latin, why don't we pick German? German and English share a common linguistic ancestry, but English was much more heavily influenced by the Romance languages than German. And if we're just looking for a "pure" language, why not Hebrew or Greek? The idea that English would make a good "secret language" is absurd; not only is it one of the most "impure" languages around (as Brown uses the word here), but it's also one of the most-widely-spoken languages on the planet today, making it a rather silly choice for a secret language. (end of lecture)

So why did I wait to post about the book until weeks after I read it? Because my primary purpose here is not to discuss TDC by itself, but to compare it to a similar work. (Also, Blogger has been screwy for the past few days.) As I read the book, I found myself thinking that the writing sounded rough and unpolished, especially at the beginning. This led me to wonder what would sound good to me. To that end, I wanted to set out some thoughts and comparisons.

Unfortunately, this post has already gotten a bit long, and my time is short. In the interest of (a) keeping my readers awake and (b) having more worthwhile posts, I shall postpone said discussion for a later time.