Re: some spoilers: language and THE DAVINCI CODE

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>

> > "As you know, Bob, a cryptographer is sort of like one who can solve the
> > Jumble in the Newspaper."
>
> Gaaaah.  At least say "Cryptoquotes".  Solving Jumbles can be a useful
skill
> in the cryptographers toolkit, but it is not anywhere near what they
> actually do most of the time.
And here I thought I had a second career possibility. :)

> (SPOILER SPACE FOLLOWS)
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> > [Our expert] is completely flummoxed by something that is clearly
> > backwards writing in English.  It looks "Semitic," he says, incredibly.
>
> Well, see, all he meant was that it was written "backwards", just like
> Semitic is. :)   (: .si citimes ekil tsuj ,"sdrawkcab" nettirw saw ti
> taht saw tnaem eh lla ,see ,lleW
:) :)   It was just another "moment" in the book where... oh, why go on and
on?  The only clever thing about the backwards writing is that it was
slanted to the right, to make it look like left to right cursive.  So that
when you held it up to the mirror, which I did, the writing slanted the
wrong way, but it was perfectly legible as English.  My feeling was that if
they were not going to recognize it,  they could at least have initially
mistaken it for the Voynich Manuscript script.  But I don't think Dan Brown
knew about that, or it would have been too big a digression to include.
Mistaking it for Hebrew, or Aramaic, or Arabic is just too too much.  Unless
there's a script I don't know about.

> But since when was Leonardo able to write English in either
> direction? :)
I never said he did, you scoundrel! :)

> > Read it and tell me what you think... off-line.
>
> Your comments aren't really filling me with a burning desire to
> read this book, Sally. :)
Yeah, I'm sorry, I gave it a trashing.  It's actually full of interesting
premises that are offered in somewhat inexpert ways, and the actual idea, as
it was allegedly upheld throughout history and secret societies, is one that
interests me deeply.  I wouldn't mind talking to somebody about it.  But
preferably off-line.

Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."

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