Angels and Demons: A book and a movie

Loved them BOTH! I think Dan Brown is great. When The DaVinci Code first came out, there was a little Catholic "discussion" - should we read it, should we not read it? Finally, our parish priest stood at the pulpit and said, "Okay, read it, just remember, it's FICTION!" So I did. And then I read Deception Point and Digital Fortress too. But Angels and Demons was my favorite of all. It was such a great combination of mystery and art and architecture and Italy and Catholicism....some of my favorite things! (Aside:There aren't many times that I regret not purchasing something but one of my shopping regrets is that I was in the Savannah airport a few years ago and they had a big beautiful book that was the "Illustrated" version of Angels and Demons. It had pictures and maps and all sorts of great things to examine as you read. But, did I mention it was big? I decided I didn't want to haul a big book around on my trip and that I would pick it up on the return leg, but on my return it was gone - bummer.)

So often the movie that follows a great book is a disappointment - not this time. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie too. It was so fast paced - I couldn't believe when it ended that I had been there for over two hours. The bulk of the story takes place over the course of one evening and it just moves so quickly through each scene that you stay at kind of a high level of intensity throughout. And can we just pause and reflect on what a perfect man Tom Hanks is? He's handsome, witty, rich, sensitive, creative, handsome (again!) - he's pretty much my ideal man, I would throw Ex-Marine over in a heartbeat if Tom Hanks came calling.