Foucault’s Pendulum

by Umberto Eco, William Weaver (Translator)

International bestselling and award-winning author Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is "an intellectual adventure story, as sensational, thrilling, and packed with arcana as Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Count of Monte Cristo" (The Washington Post Book World).

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.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Classics, Literature, Italian Literature, Thriller

623 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 1988

About the author

Umberto Eco was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, a historical mystery combining semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory, as well as Foucault's Pendulum, his 1988 novel which touches on similar themes.

Eco wrote prolifically throughout his life, with his output including children's books, translations from French and English, in addition to a twice-monthly newspaper column "La Bustina di Minerva" (Minerva's Matchbook) in the magazine L'Espresso beginning in 1985, with his last column (a critical appraisal of the Romantic paintings of Francesco Hayez) appearing 27 January 2016. At the time of his death, he was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bologna, where he taught for much of his life. In the 21st century, he has continued to gain recognition for his 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism", where Eco lists fourteen general properties he believes comprise fascist ideologies.

Reviews

[Miroslav Mlinarček · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Elem, na svetu postoje kreteni, budale, glupaci i ludaci."
"Ko preostaje?"
"Vi i ja, na primer. Ili, bez uvrede, bar ja. Ali kad bolje razmislim, svako od nas spada u neku od ovih kategorija. Svako od nas je ponekad kreten, budala, glupak ili ludak. Da kažemo da je normalan onaj čovek kod koga su srazmerno pomešani svi ovi sastavni činioci, odnosno idealni tipovi."

[Pavle Pešić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drugo čitanje. Prvi put kada sam pročitao bio sam oduševljen, sada mi je bilo previše sporo.

[omilojevic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ovu knjigu je jako teško oceniti. Sama ideja je dobro zamišljena i privukla me je u toj meri da sam poželela da je pročitam. Međutim, knjiga sadrži preobilje činjenica vezanih za okultizam i tajna društva koje morate da ispratite i povežete. Naravno, to može da bude zanimljivo zaluđenicima za datu temu, ali nekoga sa delimičnim interesovanjem ovolika masa podataka guši i u kombinaciji sa beskrajnim dijalozima briše sećanje na događaj koji bi trebalo da bude u centru romana. (Naklon do poda za autora koji je sigurno godinama prikupljao građu za ovo delo).
Još jedna stvar koja mi je zasmetala jesu nedostaci u prevodu. U knjizi postoje delovi teksta na latinskom, francuskom, španskom, nemačkom, engleskom... koji nisu prevedeni, tako da je upotreba Google Translate-a obavezna, nekada i više puta u okviru jednog poglavlja, što ubija čar čitanja knjige. Mislim da bi fusnota sa prevodom teksta bila više nego dobrodošla.

[Tijana Branković · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kao da sam pročitala enciklopediju gde svaki termin moraš da tražiš u drugoj enciklopediji. Ako te zanima. Ali te uglavnom ne zanima. U suštini sve ovo je moglo da se ispriča na 50 strana. Onda bi priča bila prosečno ok - možda.