Excerpt: 'The Da Vinci Code'

Nov. 3, 2003 -- -- In "The Da Vinci Code," Dan Brown tells the tale of a Harvard symbologist who is called upon to help solve a murder after police find a baffling coded message near the body of an elderly curator at the Louvre. The investigation leads to a trail of clues that are hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.

The novel has been controversial because it raises the question of whether Jesus was married by referencing an alternative interpretation of "The Last Supper" that has Mary Magdalene — not St. John — sitting to the right of Jesus in the painting.

Here is an excerpt of "The Da Vinci Code," by Dan Brown:

1

Robert Langdon awoke slowly.

A telephone was ringing in the darkness — a tinny, unfamiliar ring. He fumbled for the bedside lamp and turned it on. Squinting at his surroundings he saw a plush Renaissance bedroom with Louis XVI furniture, hand-frescoed walls, and a colossal mahogany four-poster bed.

Where the hell am I?

The jacquard bathrobe hanging on his bedpost bore the monogram:

HOTEL RITZ PARIS.

Slowly, the fog began to lift.

Langdon picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Monsieur Langdon?" a man's voice said. "I hope I have not awoken you?"

Dazed, Langdon looked at the bedside clock. It was 12:32 A.M. He had been asleep only an hour, but he felt like the dead.

"This is the concierge, monsieur. I apologize for this intrusion, but you have a visitor. He insists it is urgent."

Langdon still felt fuzzy. A visitor? His eyes focused now on a crumpled flyer on his bedside table.

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS proudly presentsAn evening with Robert LangdonProfessor of Religious Symbology, Harvard University

Langdon groaned. Tonight's lecture — a slide show about pagan symbolism hidden in the stones of Chartres Cathedral — had probably ruffled some conservative feathers in the audience. Most likely, some religious scholar had trailed him home to pick a fight.

"I'm sorry," Langdon said, "but I'm very tired and—"

"Mais monsieur," the concierge pressed, lowering his voice to an urgent whisper. "Your guest is an important man."