Wednesday, November 17, 2004
DA VINCI FEVER
The Telegraph reports on the curiosity seekers invading Rennes-le-Chateau hoping to uncover what Dan Brown didn't. They arrive with digging equipment and dynamite, apparently, and have tunneled under the church and torn up the cemetary.
Until recently the mayor of the village, Jean-Franois L'Huilier, seemed to be winning the battle against fortune-seekers who tried to disinter bodies and dynamite holes in the walls of its 11th-century church looking for relics.
Now, however, Rennes-le-Chateau has become the latest victim of The Da Vinci Code fever. Since its publication 20 months ago, Dan Brown's heady mix of fiction, fact and legend has sold more than nine million copies in 42 languages.
"The world has gone mad," said Mr L'Huilier. "It's a well-written book but it's a novel, not a historical document. It astonishes me that some readers get to the end and think it's true.
"It's a Philistine minority but they come here and stomp all over the place with no respect for anything or anyone. Last year they even tried to tunnel into the church. It was like something out of a prison escape film. They began digging in the night, put the soil in bags and put the bags in the hole which they covered with a layer of earth so nobody would see during the day. It was only when someone noticed the flower beds moving that we discovered what they were up to."
While I was reading this news clip, I happened to glance at the ad over on the right for an Amazon book titled _The Devil's Apocrypha_. The review for this book gives a brief synopsis of the story, including:
An Amazon.com bestseller, The Devil's Apocrypha is a tale that begins in another universe, before creation, and ends with a chilling prophesy. Here is the truth about the origin of God, his journey to our universe, and the battle for heaven. Discover why God manipulated the flesh of our race, the reason for his commandments…and why one being dared to try and stop him.
A new twist on cosmology to entertain us. Oh joy. As the reader who sent the link to the Telegraph article put it, "There is no end to it apparently."
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
