Holy Blood, Holy Grail

Blood/Grail is a hard to read text book

If you are considering buying this book you probably already know what it says. The main premise of the book is not even discussed until page 313 in the paper back edition. Presented as a 450 page research paper it has little entertainment value and is not an easy read. There is no conclusion or proof offered to any of the theories the authors present. Holy Blood, Holy Grail may provoke thought but it is not worth the effort that it takes to read. You can make your own judgment on the content, if you can force yourself to finish reading the text.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Entertaining, Interesting, but Spins Wildly Out of Control

The premise is simple enough: a group of young researchers out to solve the mystery of a mythical treasure discovered by a parish priest about 100 years earlier. Like many folk legends, the tale had a grain of truth, but was ridden with endless interpretations, fantastic theories, and conspiratorial conclusions: that certain statuary and structures had double-meanings, that this treasure, whatever it was, was used to blackmail the Vatican, which, in turn, colluded in keeping the whole story under wraps. As with many rumours, it is difficult to know how these things get started and how it will all end.

While the authors' premise and subsequent quest is interesting and entertaining, the last 1/3 of the book spins widely out of control as the authors seem bent on explaining everything and painting every blank area of the canvas regardless of what color, texture, or style they employ. Thus, research into this mystery treasure ends in theories about how Jesus may have survived crucifixion. The book shows us how it got there, but one is left to wonder why it is necessary to go there. The authors claim to be seeking a simple explanation in the beginning, but end up with anything but as they strain to make everything fit.

This book is entertaining and interesting - definitely not boring! It is important to approach this book with a critical eye. Yes, I agree one must come to one's own conclusions, and I admit there are some things (coincidences if you will) that continue to perplex me. Nevertheless, when attempting to solve such "puzzles", one must not forget that some mysteries are man-made (and thus may have been placed before you for no other reason than to confound you), while others are divine (and thus unsolvable).

Somewhere in between lies the appeal of this book and others like it: whether fiction or non-fiction. There are people who cannot fathom chaos in the midst of the divine, so they rely instead on conspiracy theories of world domination. There are still others who long for a king to set things right... a royal and holy blood line that has been so important to our history up until now. Our own enlightenment leaves room for rationality only, thus denying the divine revelation potential in us all. Therefore, there is no such thing as an accident, or that our own reason can lead us down an absurd path.

Please keep this in mind while reading this book. Yes, everything has a purpose, but that purpose cannot always be deduced by human effort. For some context and a foil to the ideas presented in this book, I recommend the works below, particularly "Circular Ruins" by Borges found in the "Labyrinths" collection.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The original Da Vinci Code!

The amount of meticulous research that went into crafting Holy Blood, Holy Grail is simply breath-taking. This book uses a wealth of historical documents and ancient evidence to support its controversial theories on the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene and I highly recommend it. Also highly recommended are two other fine Grail books, one non-fiction and the other fiction, and both are by Michael Bradley, a renowned Grail expert who served as a researcher for the Da Vinci Code movie. Bradley's Swords at Sunset is a non-fiction work that traces the Grail to North America, while his fictional novel, The Magdalene Mandala is a wonderfully written thriller with a twisting plot that moves at break-neck speed. It also has well drawn characters and in the view of many is superior to the Da Vince Code. For anyone like me with a growing interest in the Grail, do yourself a favour and discover Holy Blood, Holy Grail; Swords at Sunset and The Magdalene Mandala and Love's Eclipse of the Heart. You'll be very glad you did.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An excellent book.

If you have an open mind and are familiar with content then this is a superb book. It was very easy to read and to understand. I thank the writers for enlightening us to other possibilities and yes, you believe what you wish. The key is to explore all the possibilities before forming an opinion.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Fascinating House of Cards

I read this after, of course, The Da Vinci Code, and I was interested to see how much of the premise of that book was lifted whole cloth from this one. I found it mostly very readable and extraordinarily well-researched (if the bibilography is truthful and accurate...I haven't looked at any of those sources yet). The detective work is exciting, and the complex history presented very engagingly. It is, though, an intellectual house of cards: conclusions are based on a chain of hypotheticals. Each 'possibility' is ever more remotely linked to the previous one. The authors' technique of declaring a scenario 'incredible,' and then proceeding to assert its truth, is at first persuasive but finally transparent. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book a great deal and am going on to read related history.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A wonderfully researched book

This book throws light upon the lineage of the Holy Family. It's a very well-researched book and an excellent reference for the royal lineage. I believe that if one stays focussed through the first half of the book which can get very dry at times, one is in for a treat on various perspectives into the truth behind the stories that act as the foundation of Christian faith. Although the authors don't claim any of the perspectives to be true, it gets one thinking about the different possible interpretations of the Christian mythology.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Liked Da Vinci Code? Then don't read this.

I read Da Vinci Code and became really interested in the topic of the Holy Grail and finding out more about it. The thing I liked about the Da Vinci Code was that it was very accessable and easy to read. So I came into this book hoping that it would pick up where Dan Brown left off. I was very disappointed. The first half of the book doesn't even mention the Holy Grail and is very dry and unreadable. This book is very academic and not a pleasure to read at all.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Could it be worse?

One of the silliest conspiracy books out there. If you have read any history ever, or even a little basic logic, the inaccuracies become glaringly and possibly deliberately so, obvious. Poor attempt at venting frustrations.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

too many liberties with religious history...

Theories based on weak deductions... for a religious thriller based on biblical theory of the Holy Grail, I would suggest a new novel titled THE GOAT WITHOUT HORNS.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Far fetched.

Secret societies, ancient cover-ups, hidden secrets.....where does the B.S. end and real historical research begine? For anyone who has no real knoledge of biblical history then this may seem a bit interesting. But the more you learn about all the early forms of christianity, all the lost texts the church destroyed after the Nicene council in 325 under Constantine, the more you will see the authors of this book as just a bunch of conspiracy therists full of it. The Cathers were just some Gnostics in France. They had no seccret info on the holy grail. You know why? Becouse the holy grail is a myth. Yea, historicle Jesus( Yeshem) had to of ued many cups in his days. Yea, maybe he had something going on with Mary. Who knows and who cares. A blood line? Maybe, but so what. If you want to get an idea of what the real Jesus was probobly like then read an author who knows what the hell he's writting about.Professor John Crossan will give you a good look at the life a Jewish peasant based on anthropologic and biblical study. Jesus' death was, according to most biblical scholars, a shock to his followers. You need to also have an understanding of Jewish belief about how they viewed the comming messiah. According to some Jewish sects, Essens, who Jesus may or may not have been one, believed that the messiah was comming very soon. The Essens believed, according to the book of Daniel, they had the time accuretly pin-poined.And,to them, the messiah was to be a ruler on earth, in Israel. Hence, "the comming kingdom of god" and not "going to the kingdom of god." That's why Jesus told so many thet they" would not taist death." So, Jesus is killed by the Romans, Deff NOT the Jews. His followers go back to their ancient texts trying to fing anything they can in the scriptures that would explain why the one they believed to be the messiah was killed instead of leading the people of Israel in triumph against Roman tyrany. So, the New testament is loaded with ancient prophesy that originally had nothing to do with Jesus,all of a sudden being attributed to him. Also, read Bart Ehrman's several books. One of the best New testament historians. You'll find out all about the many contradictions in the New test. Then go read James Kugel, a Harverd prof. who will give scholarly theorys on who wrote the old tesat. and why. Also, read Richard Friedman: who wrote the Bible? and Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman: The Bible unearthed. You'll see how the idea of the Jewish messiah came about, learn of Documentary Hypothesis: the 4 authors of the Torah and what eara they may have been writen in. To sum it all up, the more you know of REAL hostorical and biblical scholarly reasurch, by highly educated reasurchurs with backgrounds in biblical studies, ancient eastern societies, archeology, ancient semetic language....ect, the more the authors of The Holy Blood Holy grail seem like they are way, WAY out of their league, and all the subject matter pointless when you have a firm understanding of the foundation( Old Test) upon which they base their "conspiracy theorys'. All they can do is speculate. To be true, most educated reasurchers speculate. But their's are far more intelligent. This book contains nothing but useless, speculative noncense. Now, please excuse the quality of my spelling. Believe me, I already know how bad it is.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Good

A lot of names and places to keep straight...

very interesting topic ! is it real ?

I reda this book and I also read the Da Vinci Code, I like this book a lot; very good historical background and very good research, facts that cannot be ignored. Is it real ? Not sure, don't know, what I know is that the book is well written and very interesting and easy to read. ths size of the book is not ideal, very small letter (at least the one I bought)

Difficult read

This book was very information dense, heavy with dates and names. I found it difficult to keep track of who was who.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I FIRST READ THIS BOOK 8 YEARS AGO.

a copy of this book was given to me, by a good friend. i loaned it out and never got it back. so i was very happy to find another copy. i will reread it soon.

Not sure why I picked it up...

I pretty much found this to be a waste of money. It is not accurate and not entertaining. If you are looking for a religious fantasy that is very similar read the DuhVinci Code. I wouldn't waste your money on this. It is funny that the DuhVinci Code is based on the same fantasy but the DuhVinci code got more readership.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

If you like reading about the Templars

This book, althought text-like at times, was very well written. It is absorbing and quite educational. Of course, in the end, you must make up your own mind.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wow...Bias is Ridiculous

This book reads like a text often times but if this kind of material interests you, then you will like the reading. Keep in mind that folks come on here to spout their beliefs about faith and Christianity, not the work itself. Like any other research, your bias will often lead your approach to the research and your conclusions. Thus, take each bit of information with a grain of salt. Many people won't accept other truths if it is shot in the face of what they believe. Thus, even if a small minority accepts the research, that alone is not enough to discredit its merits or prove a lack there of.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

difficult

There are interesting parts, but reading is difficult.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

bad writer

i wouldent doubt that this book is good but the writer is not a fan in my book because he is to be sueing Dan Brown like a year after his book comes out this guy is just mad because his book sucked and Dan Browns rocked....and for the one guy that said you guys should be ashamed of yourselves for what you say about gods work you people need to look where to book is in the bookstore FICTION! and guess what the bible is not in the NON-FICTION section so people can have there opinions

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Original research and writing

This is one of the most original and influential non-fiction books of the past 50 years. It has inspired mystery writers Dan Brown and Lewis Perdue, as well as later researchers such as Lawrence Gardner. Written with the excitement and development of a detective story, it is based on solid factual research. Even if you don't accept the authors' conclusions, you will be greatly entertained and will learn about the Cathars, Knights Templar, Freemasonry, the Languedoc area of France, and several other matters. The aspect of the book concerning Christ's life and early Christianity has been over-stressed, for this is but one side of this very rich work. Unhesitatingly recommended!