Why The Da Vinci Code Sells

I am going to be speaking on Jesus and the Da Vinci Code this Sunday. Most of my message will be spent responding to the claims the author, Dan Brown, makes about Christianity in this novel. Yet, while thinking about those things, another, more mundane question crossed my mind: why is this book so successful?

The Da Vinci Code has sold over 60 million copies and been translated into 44 different languages. Those figures are staggering. While total sales of books are difficult to determine, many believe this is the bestselling fiction written for adults of all time.

About a year ago, I read the book. I thought it was interesting. It has mystery, intrigue, romance, drama, and conspiracy. Throw in a few Nancy Drew-like clues that readers can try to figure out, and it is a fun read. However, there are many books that are a fun read, many of which are better written. So, why does this book continue to dominate the bestseller lists while other books come and go?

If I believed in demonic conspiracies, then I might be tempted to think that The Da Vinci Code is the work of some satanic plot to destroy the church. The truth is, that could be part of the equation. Call me a whacko fundamentalist conspiricist, but I do believe that much of what we see take place on the earthly stage is the outworking of a great spiritual conflict. I have no doubt that Satan is at work in The Da Vinci Code just as I believe he is at work in the oppression of Christians through tyrannical regimes throughout the world. However, I don't think the book's success is due to some demonic spell or that its author is the antichrist or anything of the sort. I think the success of the book can be attributed to far less sinister realities.

Here is why I think the book is so successful.

1. People love conspiracies and the idea that the whole Christian faith is part of some grand sinister plot for the church and religious to achieve power is the greatest conspiracy of them all. In comparison, this conspiracy makes The Manchurian Candidate seem like Sponge Bob episode.

2. Closely related to point 1 is that fallen humans will cling to anything, no matter how farfetched and fanciful, rather than submit to the truth about God. That is the point of Romans 1. Unless the Holy Spirit works in a person's heart, that person will supress the truth in unrighteousness. Dan Brown has written for some what appears to be a compelling excuse to reject Christianity.

3. People love to find dirt on leaders, public figures, and institutions. Gossip sells. Tabloids sell. Reading The Da Vinci Code is like reading The National Inquirer with the whole church and all of western history on the cover caught in a compromising pose. The exploits of Brad and Jennifer are snoozers compared to this exposé.

4. People like to learn while they read stories. This, I believe, is one of the most interesting reasons for its success. In an article entitled "Da Vinci Code's Last Secret: How Did It Succeed?", Arthur Spiegelman says:

They say his was a formula that mixed clumsy, forgettable sentences with breakneck pacing, lectures on art, history and religion, sinister
conspiracies, evil villains, puzzles and cliffhanger chapter endings to
produce literary gold.

While some like novelist Salman Rushdie called the book "typewriting" and others, like critic Laura Miller, called it "cheesy," book industry professionals refuse to sneer, saying this was far from a case of good things happening to a bad book.

It was instead a case, they said, of all a reader's wants appearing to be conveniently located in a single book, especially the desire to learn something.

There is a lesson in this. People want to learn, but they want to learn in stories. Modern (or, postmodern, if you prefer) people are not going to read linear text and gather the facts. They prefer to learn in narratives, in stories.

One might argue that what the reader learns from Dan Brown is wrong. After all, he makes errors in just about every discipline--art, history, and theology. But that is beside the point. The point is, people want to learn and they are going to do it in the context of story.

The challenge for us as Christians is to get the true story out. I am a linear thinker, but if we are going to communicate effectively with our contemporary culture, then we must learn to cast the truth in stories. Noted author Eugene Peterson has written a great deal on the power and subversiveness of stories. I think he is right. Just ask Dan Brown.

Thank you, James Sutton, for your editorial comments!