Elizabeth Kostova Quotes

It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. I genuinely believe that 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels And Demons' are, by far, Brown's best works.

Conspiracies fascinate me. When I visited the Rozabal shrine in Srinagar before writing my first book, I remember thinking that the person enshrined there was no ordinary mortal. History is rife with mysteries, and that visit ignited a fire to unveil some of them.

The best book I read this year was 'The Da Vinci Code.'

My sincere hope is that 'The Da Vinci Code,' in addition to entertaining people, will serve as an open door to begin their own explorations.

'The Da Vinci Code' is the most popular book of our times.

There's just so many great stories in the past that you can know a little bit about, but you can't know it all, and that's where imagination can work.

Dan Brown is a character from 'Foucault's Pendulum!' I invented him. He shares my characters' fascinations - the world conspiracy of Rosicrucians, Masons, and Jesuits. The role of the Knights Templar. The hermetic secret. The principle that everything is connected. I suspect Dan Brown might not even exist.

I like the stories with the historical themes.

I didn't know anything about Opus Die except from pop culture, like Dan Brown novels, which I knew wasn't really knowing anything about Opus Die.

Any history buffs, people who like religion, suspense and mystery mixed with history, or anyone who likes 'The Da Vinci Code,' needs to read Ken Follett.

I don't think many people will re-read 'The Da Vinci Code.'

We've all faced the charge that our novels are history lite, and to some extent, that's true. Yet for some, historical fiction is a way into reading history proper.

First, a confession: I liked 'The Da Vinci Code.' This news is even more of a surprise to me than it might be to those who, years ago, heard me quip that I quit reading it because 'the moment the albino assassin came through the door, I left.'

'The Da Vinci Code' and films of that nature are the ones that I really enjoy because you are learning and working out riddles as you go along.

I really enjoyed reading 'The Da Vinci Code,' but from a literary standpoint, the book did not live up to the hype.

When I was working on a Victorian-era novel, to get in the mood, I read several historical novels set in approximately the same period and place, and really enjoyed the detective novels of John Dickson Carr.

Carter Hall is a cross between Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon from 'Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons.'

A sure sign of a lunatic is that sooner or later, he brings up the Templars.

I enjoy the research element. There are so many stories from the past that interest me, that I want to learn more about, just as an interested person. And if I'm going to learn, if I'm going to research, it's probably going to lead me to writing a novel.

I've always been drawn to writing historical characters. The best stories are the ones you find in history.

While I was drawn to the Renaissance, my first (unpublished) novels took place in modern times. When the subject of alchemy started creeping into my stories, an astute mentor observed that the bits about alchemy might fit better in another time frame. When I finally decided to weave the pieces about the medieval science into historical settings, a successful novel began to emerge. (And I dusted off that art history book, and put it to use once again.)

You have a tendency, Hastings, to prefer the least likely. That, no doubt, is from reading too many detective stories.

It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of this fact than I am.

Here are the folks that are involved in this New World Order: The United Nations [....] the World Council of Churches [.....] the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderbergers [.....] the International Monetary Fund [.....] the Club of Rome, the communists, the socialists, the National Education Association [.....] the NOW organisation, the ACLU, the Masonic Lodge.

Historical fiction of course is particularly research-heavy. The details of everyday life are there to trip you up. Things that we take for granted, indeed, hardly think about, can lead to tremendous mistakes.