I liked the way Dan Brown tied past events and places, and presented them with entirely different meanings from what they have once stood for. I liked the pace of the book, and the creativity .. up until the last 10 or 15 pages. I agree with one of the posts here (though not pertaining to the exact book) -- "Whoops i've written a great book and now i need to finish it quick!" (Curly)
So maybe the book stirred a lot of controversy, especially with the Catholic Church and Opus Dei (I almost became a member, by the way), but it paved the way for other more interesting and worthwhile endeavors. Have you heard about the Da Vinci Code tours in Europe (or just France, I think)? Apparently, with the success of the book, a lot of people now see the "usual" paintings and places in a different light. And isn't that what a work of FICTION should do -- to change the reader's (in this case) consciousness?