Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Foucault's Pendulum
Book Review: A very unusual, deep book
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book without an unabridged dictionary, and had no problems with it. I think the problem that some people have with Eco is that he is a very educated man, and if I'm not mistaken, he's also a university professor. I'm sure that this may make his works hard to understand sometimes, but what I like about him is that he treats his audience like they have intelligence. He doesn't dumb down his works because he doesn't feel the need to, though I'm sure it would make him more understood if he did.Having said that, I found this book to be very unusual. The characters are radically different than the ones in The Name of the Rose, which is the only other book of his I've read so far. Although all of these men are highly educated, they all have different, unique personalities. I also like how this book addresses the issue of the Knights Templar, and how there are so many people out there that seem to have "a theory" on what the Knights were doing, or what they had "discovered". I wouldn't be surprised if Holy Blood, Holy Grail was an influence, but while those authors call their "discoveries" fact, Eco at least has the good sense to call his work fiction. The Knights Templar has long been an interest of mine, and I think it helps somewhat to know a little about the Templars, but for the most part Eco has presented much of what he's talking about in the course of the book, as the characters discover new information to create their theory--which, of course, they claim is made up, but unfortunately others take them seriously.
I can't help but notice how the Knight's Templar fanatics (you know, the ones that claim they're carrying on the tradition) in his tale take everything so darn seriously. One of them even states, "These men know more about us than we do ourselves." I don't know about anyone else, but to me that signals there's a problem--that these fanatics really don't know anything about what they claim to uphold. I was wondering if Eco was making a subtle commentary about these people and their claims that their discoveries are "Fact" when they should more likely be categorized in the realm of "Fiction". At the end of the book Eco seems to claim, or is claiming, that there are no mysteries in the "mystery societies". I guess the real mystery then is why these things still exist.
This book is about more than the Knights Templar, though. It seems to bring in just about a little bit of everything. If I recall correctly, it even has some of the Kabbalah in it, as well as the ideas behind lei lines and the use of secret codes.
This book mixes humor in many unexpected places. I thought this book was going to be serious all the way through, but couldn't help but notice that it had me laughing in a number of places. It also goes into the lives of the characters fairly deeply, especially the main character, and I found these characters fairly well fleshed out.
I would have liked it if the chapters that had excerpts from other books be translated. I haven't a clue what most of them are, or what they say. I can't honestly say it detracted from my enjoyment of the book enough for it to be considered an issue, but I suppose my curiosity had the better of me and I wondered what those excerpts said. I can't really comment on how important they would be for my understanding of the book, but since I feel like I understood it very well, the excerpts may not be all that important.
I remember when I read this book it had a very profound impact on me, but for the life of me I don't remember what it was. This probably is due to the fact that the impact was very subtle, but profound. I know it's pretty much changed my life in a spiritual sense in a very permanent way.
I don't think this book is for everyone--a friend of mine was very unimpressed with it--but I would have to say that it was a very enjoyeable book for me. I like deep plots, and this book has a very deep one.
Book Review: A warning to readers
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was worth the effort and very impressive; a real page turner. However: the author begins with his main story on page 1. It is not until pg. 373 that he returns to the main story, and not until pg. 572 that he catches up to the present. (641 pgs total) There are about 400 pages of incredibly detailed ramblings about the middle ages. It's actually readable but at times i just had to skip some of the excessively boring "padding" of this novel.Book Review: A waste of time
Summary: 1 Stars
A friend gave me this book, along with the comment that it gets better after the first 50 pages. I've now made it through 112 pages. From the beginning I have been impressed with the translator. He or she has an incredible grasp of the English language, and I hope the grasp of Italian is just as incredible. He/she has an amazing skill for taking a word or idea in Italian and translating it into an obscure English word that will be understood by few English speakers. Thus a book that is slow paced and unintriguing is given yet another obstacle.
It is possible that the book does have an incredible ending. I'll never know. No matter what the ending, the pain of getting to it cannot be worth the time and agony of getting there.
Book Review: A waste of time translating it into English (or at least "American")
Summary: 5 Stars
Many reviewers confessed to being baffled by the book even though they possessed college degrees. This just goes to show 1) they'll give degrees to anyone these days and 2) intellectual curiosity (as opposed to mere curiosity) is no longer considered a prerequisite to admission to a university. To enjoy this book, one need not possess a Ph.D in medieval literature; one need merely be intelligent and intellectually curious. I assume those repelled by this masterpiece of skeptical debunkery found American Idol more accessible. I had always thought that Churchill's famous comment on the successful Trinity explosion, "The idiot child has the matches now," was meant metaphorically, about mankind's lack of wisdom to handle nuclear weapons; I'm starting to believe that it was meant more literally, that the pathetically uneducated and uneducable Americans (led now by a man who says "nucular") now had the power to incinerate the planet.Book Review: ADVICE FOR THE READERS THAT GET INTIMIDATED BY THE BOOK
Summary: 5 Stars
This book has it all! Mystery, thriller, suspense, world history, masons, world conspiracy, voodoo, magic, computers trying to reproduce the true name of God, jewish mysticism , druids of the forests, underground tunels that connect strategic points of the planet, publishers and writers, knights of the temple, action all around the world through the past 2 milenia. YOU NAME IT. Centuries of conspiracy and battle for the domination of the world , unspeakable secrets passed upon generation to generation from a few chosen ones, build up until the last climactic pages of the book. ADVICE:
The book is really worth for its money and it will keep you awake for a few days. You will refuse to close the book until you reach the end. In the beginning you will not understand a thing, what is going on, who are these people, what are they trying to do. Never mind, just carry on. Eco meant the book to be this way! Enjoy the book and if you dont understand some historical remarks never mind, just continue, dont stumble upon the little details and the dates, get the big picture. You will have plenty of time to think about it after you have finished but the main thing is to go entirely through the book and finish it. It will leave you with your mouth open. Dont let yourself think :I cant understand this, I am an idiot therefore I will not continue. No, just finish the book , at the end you will be rewarded as is the case with all of Ecos books. After all there is no such thing as "I dont understand the book", there is only "I didnt let myself free enough to understand it".
Eco writes his books this way, they are only meant for the strong of spirit, people with perseverance that are willing to strugle in order to reach the ultimate truth that only the very few have mastered. His novels are deliberately cryptic but only to the point that they discourage the faint of hurt. For the few strong men that are willing to engage into the battle, all the mysteries and the hypes reveil themselfs at the end,like the petals of a rose in the spring. This is the REWARD, something central on Eco's novels.
IN ORDER TO PROVE MY POINT ECO HIMSELF ADMITTED that he included the first hundred pages of pure history in the "Name of the Rose" just to discourage the readers that would not have the strenght to continue with the book. That was the PRICE! that the readers have to pay in order to reach the monastery up in the mountains that the story takes place. His editor suggested that he should completely remove this big part of the book but Eco denied!
Going back to the PENDULUM, You should never forget that this book is a really mystery book. Not only for the heros of the book but also for you , the reader. There were times that I felt that I was involved in this world conspiracy and I may be in danger like the hero of the book. That is the trully amazing element of Eco. It gets the reader involved. And at the end you will have a completely different point of view about the world.
Eco has said that the ultimate mystery book is the one that the READER is himself the killer!
I definetely recommend the book, it will not dissapoint you.