The Code Vs. Vlad...

Last night I saw the full trailer for The Da Vinci Code . I'm still disappointed that they cast Hanks as Robert Langdon ... but I digress... when I saw the shot of him peering through the glass pyramid of the Louvre, it got me thinking of how incongruous - yet so right - these designs actually are. Francois Mitterand was perhaps truly visionary in commissioning I. M. Pei to design these. The play of light on the panes of glass is magical and they are a breath of fresh air in Paris' already stunning architectural masterpieces.

I was amused by the range of Da Vinci Code tours currently available in both Paris and London . No matter what your opinion of this pseudo-historical thriller - I enjoyed it - the reawakening of popular interest in art and history can only be a positive thing. As I was recently reading The Historian I started to think about the moneymaking possiblities with this story: The Historian tours through, Hungary, Bulgaria and Istanbul?! Though I'm not sure this book will have the same resonance as The Da Vinci Code did. As it's significantly longer and a little more challenging to read (It placed first in a poll of novels most often bought but never read in 2005). It doesn't have the same kind of "breathless" pace of storytelling...it's more a "fireside kind of chat" story. Langdon is a more Hollywood style of character than Paul. Reading both; Da Vinci feels more as though it was written with an eventual screenplay in mind than The Historian.