Foucault's Pendulum

published	2007 by Harvest Books
first published	1989
binding	Paperback
isbn	015603297X (isbn13: 9780156032971)
pages	640
description	Bored with their work, three Milanese editors cook up "the Plan," a hoax that connects the medieval Knights Templar with other occult groups...more [close] Bored with their work, three Milanese editors cook up "the Plan," a hoax that connects the medieval Knights Templar with other occult groups from ancient to modern times. This produces a map indicating the geographical point from which all the powers of the earth can be controlled—a point located in Paris, France, at Foucault’s Pendulum. But in a fateful turn the joke becomes all too real, and when occult groups, including Satanists, get wind of the Plan, they go so far as to kill one of the editors in their quest to gain control of the earth. Orchestrating these and other diverse characters into his multilayered semiotic adventure, Eco has created a superb cerebral entertainment.
date added	12-22-06 edit book

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Tim rated it:

03/16/07

Read in November, 2006

If asked, the easiest way to describe Foucault’s Pendulum is to say that it’s a distillation of every conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard into a single novel. I’ve seen many people describe it as the “thinking man’s” Da Vinci Code. Having attempted Angel’s and Demon’s years ago and giving it up after only two chapters – based on Brown’s fumbling with novelization, plotting, pacing, characterization, and even English grammar – I have to conclude that this is an extremely d...more If asked, the easiest way to describe Foucault’s Pendulum is to say that it’s a distillation of every conspiracy theory you’ve ever heard into a single novel. I’ve seen many people describe it as the “thinking man’s” Da Vinci Code. Having attempted Angel’s and Demon’s years ago and giving it up after only two chapters – based on Brown’s fumbling with novelization, plotting, pacing, characterization, and even English grammar – I have to conclude that this is an extremely demeaning analogy for Umberto.

Unlike Brown, Eco’s use of language is deep and rich and filled with allusion. His grasp of the subject is nothing short of unparalleled, and no one could claim that he doesn’t have a unique approach for blending fact, myth, and fiction together in a volatile blend of exposition.

While the plot may in fact be similar to Brown’s Code, the complexity of Eco’s work is nearly mind boggling in scope. As he attempts to weave conspiracy theory on top of conspiracy theory, you can’t help but notice the care he takes in molding presumed fact into fiction and back into fact again. It’s a dance that Eco is particularly adept with, even when he gets long winded.

And, unfortunately, he does get long winded. In fact, I put this book aside for a good six months (or more) because somewhere around page 300 he decided the best course to disclose a myriad of theories was through a one hundred-page exchange of dialogue that was nothing short of Faulkner-esque in its execution. If his editor had put his foot down and demanded a smoother, more plot-driven mechanism for this information, it might have resulted in one of the all-time great suspense novels (“thinking man” or otherwise).

Even with this cumbersome problem, Eco still manages to provide characters you feel for, locations you can see, and a constantly morphing villainy that keeps the reader guessing in a way that reminds me of Arturo Pérez-Reverte. To say that it’s the conspiracy theory novel to end all conspiracy theory novels might be a stretch, but with Eco’s background it would take a Herculean effort to beat his work.

As it stands, Foucault’s Pendulum will no doubt keep making the reading lists of intellectuals, college students, and conspiracy theorists, even though Eco’s use of vibrant backgrounds and complicated characterizations should appeal to even the summer reader. If someone were interested in Eco, I’d probably recommend they read the Name of the Rose first, before deciding if this is a book they’re interested in tackling. ...less

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Will rated it:

(review of isbn 0345368754)

05/03/08

bookshelves: dethpakt

Read in April, 2008

Imagine three sarcastic, over-educated editors who work at a vanity publisher. Owing to their occupation, they naturally end up reading an abundance of books about ridiculously grand conspiracy theories and occult societies - the Freemasons, the Templars, the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati (Bavarian and otherwise), and so on. So they start to play a sort of free-association game: Let's connect all these things, using the same half-mad logic as the authors of these books, into one grand design. Th...more Imagine three sarcastic, over-educated editors who work at a vanity publisher. Owing to their occupation, they naturally end up reading an abundance of books about ridiculously grand conspiracy theories and occult societies - the Freemasons, the Templars, the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati (Bavarian and otherwise), and so on. So they start to play a sort of free-association game: Let's connect all these things, using the same half-mad logic as the authors of these books, into one grand design. Thus The Plan is born.

But they're too good at it. The Plan starts to get away from them. After so long immersed in the dream-logic of conspiracy theories you can form seemingly-natural (and ominous) connections between any pair of things. So when strange and ominous things do happen, when the pieces seem to start falling into place, is it just coincidence? Are the things they thought they were making up real?

Yes, as others have said, you'll get more out of this book if you know multiple languages, have a dictionary handy, have some background in the occult, etc. Considering that the author and the protagonists are all polyglot intellectuals with doctorates in literature and/or medieval history, it'll naturally help you if you are similarly educated. But I don't think that's necessary to enjoy the book overall. It is wry and intellectual but at its heart it's a detective thriller: A friend goes missing and Our Hero needs to find out why. And he finds a lot more than he bargained for.

Some notes for readers: this book follows the pattern "Our Hero, just before the Final Confrontation, takes a moment to flash back to all the circumstances leading him to this moment." So you start out right near the end. You will be confused and overwhelmed. Press on, dear reader. All the important things will be explained. Don't worry too much if you don't know everything about Kabbalah or Socialism in Italy in the 1960s - they are not vital to the story. But reading about them does add to the enjoyment.

In fact, I think that might be one of my favorite things about this book: the sheer breadth of the references and allusions - medieval history to James Joyce to the Beatles. I could probably spend a couple of months plugging everything I didn't understand from my first reading into Wikipedia and seeing what I find out.

Which I plan to do. On my second reading....less

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40 rated it:

01/10/08

bookshelves: the-really-really-good

Eco once said that author Dan Brown (Angels & Demons, DaVinci Code, etc) might have very well been one of the characters he created in Focault's Pendulum. Eco uses Focault's pendulum to showcase the absurdity in overanalyzing ancient legends or secret socities and in the process creates an intellectual and dizzying tale that stands in direct contrast to the Dan Brown's of the world writing for the pop culture masses.

The work is a discourse in secret socities (Templar Knights, Freemasons...more Eco once said that author Dan Brown (Angels & Demons, DaVinci Code, etc) might have very well been one of the characters he created in Focault's Pendulum. Eco uses Focault's pendulum to showcase the absurdity in overanalyzing ancient legends or secret socities and in the process creates an intellectual and dizzying tale that stands in direct contrast to the Dan Brown's of the world writing for the pop culture masses.

The work is a discourse in secret socities (Templar Knights, Freemasons, Jesuits, Rosicrucians, etc), religons, polictical revolutions, and the basic tensions of confronting and conquering one's fear.

But unlike most conspiracy works, we are let in on the secret from the begining....that namely, the main characters do not believe the story they are creating-and they are essentially creating this story to mock those who have tried to dedicate their lives to the concepts of world domination through the occult.

Specific plot details are difficult to relay since there are really 2 stories one encounters when reading this. The 1st story is those of the men in the book and their interactions and personal growth, and the second is the actual "plan" those characters create in massive and at times very perplexing detail.

The "plan" itself is simply a fictional plan for world domination which will explain most of the secret socities throughout history and their efforts to control the earth. It's created by the main protaginists in the story to mock others who so easily believe such things and to make profits off the sale of the "plan" in book form.

But nothing about the "plan" remains simple-for the reader we get a massive-and I mean massive amount of information from the mythology and reality of all cultures...and for the characters creating the "plan" becomes an obessision which threatens their existence.

This is one book that I don't mind re-reading or researching specific facts or people further....because it only lends to the incredible depth of the work.

When Eco writes he expects you to put a little effort into your reading....and if you do, you'll find it welll well worth it (even if you do miss a reference here and there.)...less

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Anthea rated it:

04/29/08

bookshelves: nonfantasy_fiction

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: conspiracy nerds and occult geeks (yay!)

"Suddenly it all seemed to come together: satanic and
Moorish rites in the Temple of Jerusalem, African
witchcraft for the subproletarians in the Brazilian
Northeast, the message of Provins with its hundred and
twenty years, and the hundred and twenty years of the
Rosicrucians.

"I felt like a walking blender mixing strange concoctions
of different liquers. Or maybe I had caused some kind of
short circuit, tripping over a varicolored tangle of
wires that had been e...more

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Corrie rated it:

04/04/08

Read in March, 2008

I best way to sum up what I thought about this book is just to say that I didn't enjoy reading it. It seemed more like a chore that I had to finish than something I was doing because I wanted to.

I don't have the greatest vocabulary, but I certainly wouldn't say that it sucks. That's what I felt like though. I've read books where I've come across a word or two or three that I didn't know and had to look up. Not a big deal. In fact, I usually enjoy learning new words. In this case, if I ...more

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John rated it: (review of isbn 0345368754)

08/02/07

Read in January, 2007
recommends it for: Conspiracy readers

Several cultures, science, centuries of world events and conspiracy theories collide into a whacko's wet dream in Foucault's Pendulum. Three friends play at conspiracy theory, in their hyper-cynical "The Plan" game, and gradually lose themselves in it. Is their invention truer than they knew? Have they stumbled onto great truth? And the greatest question of the novel: can you keep up for five hundred pages of this? Because with a veritable bibliography of sources dropped into th...more

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Meghan is currently reading it

03/17/08

bookshelves: currently-reading, own

recommends it for: Anyone interested in the Templars or who'd like a smarter The Da Vinci Code

Supposedly the "thinking man's" Da Vinci Code. We shall see. Already though I need a dictionary though, so that is a step up (and I liked the Da Vinci Code).

***

(02/22/08) I just noticed that this book was published in 1989. So way before Brown and all the current Templar hoopla. I'm about 2/3 into it (having taken a 3 month break) and it's pretty good. It's like a bunch of sub-stories within the main thriller. I'm not so much enjoying his time in Brazil. It's a lot of radicalis...more

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Aleksandr rated it:

05/02/08

Dan Brown is a hack. This work from Eco is one of he more accessible works (Name of the Rose is quite enjoyable as well), and is the gold standard for all conspiracy novels. It is quite amusing to wander through Barnes & Noble, wading past writers trying to ride the "Da Vinci Code" coat-tails by hewing to the following formula: 1. Search the Bible for an obscure artifact or passage. When in doubt, go with Mary Magdalene or the Spear of Destiny. The Arc is verboten ever since Spielb...more

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Maurean rated it:

03/17/08

Read in June, 2005

*whew!* Well, after nearly two weeks of struggle, this very morning I have finished the final chapters of this tombe, and unfortunately, I am still struggling with my final thoughts of it.

Publisher's Weekly said that it is ..."Dense, packed with meaning, often startlingly provocative, the novel is a mixture of metaphysical meditation, detective story, computer handbook, introduction to physics and philosophy, historical survey, mathematical puzzle, compendium of religious and cultural ...more

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Adam rated it:

04/22/08

recommends it for: academics

This is one for the intellectually stimulated reader, one whose imagination is steeped in concepts and the intrigue of conspiracy and all the unseen chess moves of historical fact/myth/legend.

it is a rich read. Umberto, Professor of Semiotics, influenced by James Joyce, creates a story about three man in a publishing company whose task it is to compile crackpot manuscripts for a collection on sects, conspiracies and secret societies. Either from boredom, or the love of putting creative piece...more

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Jun-Dai rated it:

09/17/07

Read in January, 2003

I was lucky enough to read this book around the same time I discovered the Wikipedia. Every morning I would read about 10-15 pages during my commute, and I would assemble a small army of post-it notes on the pages with references that I didn't understand, and in-between tasks at work I'd look them all up and fill out the post-it notes and then re-read those pages on the way back home with all of the context I'd picked up during the day.

It's a shame William Weaver didn't have the Wikipedia...more

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Davin rated it: (review of isbn 0345368754)

03/06/07

Read in July, 1997
recommends it for: conspiracy buffs, burned out philosophy majors

For a long time this was my stock answer to "What is your favorite book?"

I read it book twice, once in high school and then again the summer after I finished college. As a high schooler I was most into the wealth of knowledge Eco drops about secret societies and historical conspiracies. Well, that and the fact that I was reading a "serious" book. (I was a little pretentious then). After college the book became an interesting portrait of the will to knowledge/power (al...more

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Jen rated it:

02/01/08

Read in February, 2008
recommended to Jen by: I found it at a pub.
recommends it for: Fans of religion/occult/hermetic tradition, patient people

It took me a long time to get through this one (with a dictionary and wikipedia at my side), as is typical in my experience with Eco. Like "The Name of the Rose", "Foucault's Pendulum" is an almost-frustrating read; chapters of heavy hermetic tradition, occult lore, Jewish mysticism, and bombardment of religious sects interspersed between an almost Agatha Christie-esque 'who-dunnit', mysterious storyline. Perhaps that is a tool Eco employs to guarantee his readers continuou...more

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Will rated it:

04/12/08

Read in April, 2008

In terms of subject matter, I can see why people compare this to the Da Vinci Code -- but that's it. Other than the topics discussed, this is a giant, meandering novel of ideas, but not really of great characters or emotive resonance. Eco is obviously down with the hardcore research, but he doesn't appear to be sufficiently down with emotive literature.

Maybe it's me, though, and my distrust of stories that use the climax in the very beginning just to build suspense. For instance, "...more

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Cj rated it:

04/15/08

bookshelves: world

I have read Foucault's Pendulum many times, and continue to find it a joy.

A small press in the back alley's of an Italian town specializes in printing the books of "loony" authors, in an elaborate scheme to extract as much cash from the authors as possible.

One segment of these authors are rudely referred to as "the diabolicals", and their conspiracy theories, magic, illuminati, and alien books usually fall into predictable patterns the publisher has seen a bazillion t...more

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Philip rated it: (review of isbn 0151327653)

05/15/07

This is without doubt my favorite book of the last 20 years. I re-read it every couple of years, but I no longer suggest it to friends. Too many people see me reading it and I have been so enthusiastic about it, they gave it a try but couldn't make it past the first hundred or so pages which are thick with historical and literary references.

It is a roller coaster ride through historical patterns, filled with wonder and human longing and error. Eco sets up the idea of patterns early, findi...more

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Andy rated it: (review of isbn 0345368754)

06/10/07

Read in May, 2007
recommends it for: Very patient Eco fans (is there any other kind?)

This book is a conundrum to me. I liked the story of three book editors accidentally enmeshing themselves in the world of conspiracy theory. I liked the philosophical discussion of why we believe in things like Great Global Conspiracies. I even thought some of the history was interesting.

But LORD, did Eco need an editor. In parts of this book, the signal-to-noise ratio is distressingly low as Eco's talking heads sit and discuss the intricacies of Templar and Rosicrucian history for pag...more

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William rated it:

05/05/08

We had awakened their lust, offering them a secret that couldn't have been emptier, because not only did we not know it ourselves, but, even better, we knew that it was false.

Whilst other novels can postulate conspiracy theories, Eco's takes a distinctive approach. Instead of presenting us with a theory and asking us to believe it, his novel criticises such approaches, as well as the people who write and read them.

It's a stark warning about human credulity, about the ease with whi...more

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Argent rated it:

02/19/08

Read in January, 1994

The thinking person's Dan Brown.

A couple of bored editors at a vanity press make a game of imagining what would happen if all of the lunatic ideas and conspiracy theories in the manuscripts they receive were true, only to find their lives (and their sanity) in jeopardy when they realize they may not be the only ones.

I'm no longer as dazzled by this erudite, irreverent spin on paranoid conspiracy theories as I was when I first read it, but it remains worthwhile. Endlessly clever, ...more

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Sarah marked it as to-read

05/15/07

bookshelves: to-read

So funny about this one. I was at Coffee Cat the other day reading with Shaun. Shaun took off for a minute to use el bano, and while he was gone the barista dude sauntered over and said, "So it's reading hour over here, huh? You got yourselves a little SSR going on?" I was startled (having been engrossed in my book for over an hour) and said something dumb like, "Yes, I haven't heard that acronym since second grade." Ok I didn't actually say that but it would have been a...more

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avg rating (this edition): 3.91 (2455 ratings)
number of reviews: 347

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other editions

[close] Foucault's Pendulum (Mass Market Paperback)
isbn: 0345368754

[close] Foucault's Pendulum (Hardcover)
isbn: 0151327653

[close] Foucault's Pendulum (Picador Books)
isbn: 0330314971

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quote

"Idiot. Above her head was the only stable point in the cosmos, the only refuge from the damnation of the panta rei, and she guessed it was the Pendulum's business. A moment later the couple went off -- he, trained on some textbook that had blunted his capacity for wonder, she, inert and insensitive to the thrill of the infinite, both oblivious of the awesomeness of their encounter -- their first and last encounter -- with the One, the Ein-Sof, the Ineffable. How could you fail to kneel down before this altar of certitude?" more quotes »