Foucalt's Pendulum

by Umberto; Weaver Eco

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Isen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Foucalt's Pendulum opens with a delirious rant from a drug-addled Italian stumbling his way through a museum in Paris. He hides in a periscope so he can stay behind after hours to witness something that may or may not happen, and uses the pause to tell the reader what brought him there. Cue 650 pages of rambling about various Templar-related conspiracy theories, which the protagonist at once scoffs at and believes in, and occasional asides about the romantic misadventures of some guy called Belbo, who is never really given any screentime but is also somehow the main character.

I don't know what I've just read, and I don't really care to find out.

[Doug Coull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, mind blowing, a thoroughly original triumph of intellectualism, ideas, connections and human nature. This book has literally everything, and I mean everything. Is it fact or fiction, is life a grand mystery or a grand comedy...or both?

Richly developed characters, witty dialog, intricate, tightly woven storyline, keep your dictionary handy.

One of my all-time favorites, I have read it several times and each reading gives me new insight into and ideas about humanity, faith, science, history, mysticism... Highest recommendation.


“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.”
― Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum

“Well, Diotallevi and I are planning a reform in higher education. A School of Comparative Irrelevance, where useless or impossible courses are given. The school's aim is to turn out scholars capable of endlessly increasing the number of unnecessary subjects.”
― Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum

[John Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book somehow both doesn't get enough credit for being foundational to the Da Vinci Code genre (and other similar works) while being entirely too much for a casual reader. If you enjoy that type of conspiracy / history mix, then I'd recommend the audio book because it's easier to tune out when things get too detailed and refocus for the actual plot points.

[Calder Ayres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three men in publishing feed a machine with other people's paper, on the understanding that nothing they invent can matter, and are surprised. I have read it twice, and both times found the second half slower than the trap it is setting, which may well be the point. The fifth star is withheld on the grounds that a novel about the seduction of erudition might be a little less delighted by its own.

[Andreas Rocksén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inte alls lika bra som Rosens namn

[Magdalena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with Lia: a nasty joke. I’m so disappointed because I loved Name of the Rose

[Rain · Rating 2 out of 5]

something about something and conspirancies...

[tracey]

great book to read to feel stupid
probably only understood ½ of the book??
loved lia’s revelation

[Ryan McPenis · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun book that only took me about a calendar year to read. first book in a long while that i've read and thought "am i too stupid for this?"

[Kez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both made me feel intellectually superior, glad I wasn’t a conspiracy nut, and like a complete idiot for being unable to understand the book’s lexiphanic diarrhoea of ideas.

[Anders E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Äntligen klar, den var jobbig. Jag föll i Eccos fälla och försökte förstå alla vinklar och spår och blev på det sättet en del av hans konspiration, lila falsk som den plan Causban, Belbo och Diatevello och blev offer för. Först i slutet säger han ju rakt ut att det finns inget att förstå. Allt är en bluff som slutar i Malkhut, inga mönster bara konsekvenser. Två stjärnor för effort, men inte någon större läsupplevelse, mest arbete.