Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco REVIEW

I don't know why at one point I started calling the guy Ico. That's just stupid.

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[Splackavellie]

So you’ve finally read it!

I read this book for the first time when I was sixteen and had just the right combination of intellectual arrogance, philosophical interest and youthful naivety to be the perfect target for this novel. As someone that was neck deep into Theosophy, occult philosophy, sociology and flexing my argumentative muscles in online discussions, I was captivated from the very moment Casaubon’s borderline arrogant dismissal of the girl without glasses failing to grasp the majesty of the Pendulum swinging before her eyes, and the bespectacled boy desperately trying (and failing) to impress her with prepared knowledge.

From there on, Belbo took me away to a world of knowledge where facts can be used to convey every message you want. Where intelligent people that lack the creativity to make original content can manipulate the content of others to not only create something new, but shape reality (at least in the eyes of the Très). Or, at the very least, “uncover” a truth that becomes self-evident.

After that, Aglié was introduced as an almost godlike intellectual, whose words captivate not only our three protagonist, but that impressionable sixteen year old too. Until Lia, that is.

Lia is probably my favorite character ever. In a novel filled with genuine geniuses tripping over themselves to find exponentially deeper levels to The Plan, Lia is the only one with the intellectual sobriety to deconstruct everything down to the content of a grocery list. And the ending. Oh my god, the ending. Belbo’s final arc, going through the emotional rollercoaster of finding out his fictional plot was real, the realization that he fell victim to the same fallacies of the Très (with a noose tied around his neck!), and the final heroic stand of a lifelong coward that always hated himself for being one. It was a gut punch like I’d never experienced before, and don’t think I’ve experienced since. It was absolutely perfect. Me gavte la nata indeed, Belbo. You magnificent bastard.

I actually met Eco, once, when he came to Amsterdam to promote The Prague Cemetery. I was dying to ask him if he thought Lia would be able to persuade the Très of their fallacies when they inevitably found her. I chickened our though, so I’ll never have my answer.

Even so, reading Foucault’s Pendulum for the first time genuinely changed my view on the world an influenced my character. It turned me into a lifelong Eco fan and even though I’ve read 30+ books from him, this one remains my absolute favorite. Even after rereading it at least once a year. “Malchoet is Malchoet and that’s that” is still a prevailing sentiment, far into my academic and professional life.

[paulhobson]

I have about a hundred pages of this left to read. It is so immersive, I absolutely love it.

[rachelpark]

Eco was at the peak when he wrote Foucault’s Pendulum. Dullmea has a really nice video/music piece inspired by this book that totally capture’s this idea of always finding a connection if you are obsessed with that

[kosmara]

One of the greatest films never made, a list that includes Stanley Kubrick’s adaption of the Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum...

[GrammaKook]

I read this book in my teens back in the 90’s. As another commenter mentioned, this was such a great age to read Foucault’s Pendulum. It conveyed the mystique of what an academic life could be like in the future to a young person. But looking back in middle age it is now combined with a nostalgia for pre-internet days, when a computer was still just a word processor. I wanted then and I want even more now to go to Pilad’s bar and talk with interesting and intelligent people over whiskies late into the night, figuring out deep mysteries. It’s a kind of Heavenly vision to me that I’ve only experienced glimpses of in real life. But that it another reason that I love this book, over and above it’s amazing presentation of such an important message. The tragedy of ignorance as I think you put it so well.

[christinekeller]

I read this book decades ago and then reread it once and it is one of my all time favorite books! Well done in your review!

[eterimach]

Thanks for the review! It’s one of my very favorite books. Every time I see a pinball machine, I always think of Belbo’s passage, so good!

[yelkhan]

(heavy spoilers)

To me, the book is a complete deconstruction of reality ("nothing means anything!?!") with the last two chapters explaining how to find happiness despite the meaninglessness. It is amazing. Belbo's note on the trumpet is like our lives: finite, though he keeps blowing as though it will last forever, and pointless, because no one hears it over the celebratory gunfire. But he felt such joy and enlightenment in that moment. The final gut punch is Casaubon standing in the field, thinking about his imminent death, and choosing to simply appreciate the beauty of the hills instead of worrying. Even then, he finds meaning in his death, choosing to martyr himself simply to ridicule Tres, just like what Belbo did. Why bother about death if it will come anyway? It's almost like a textbook on life.

That entire penultimate chapter with the war in *** ending is so, so beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the beginning of The Recognitions.

[moonknight]

Tried to read this book. I gave up.
Watched your review ... I'm going to try it again!

THANK YOU. You are amazing. Suscribed.

[pretorious]

My First Eco novel was "Name of the Rose", and I was so impressed I read all of his works. He's a treasure, God Bless Him.

[jdelaplaya]

Very interesting how you spoke about the semiotic nature and how you should know more about that. I read this book over ten years ago but I was reminded of how my strategy developed in order to follow the plot. After realising it would take a lifetime to research all the references I just accepted them, at first quizically and over time, completely. This for me was the genius of the book, you are forced by design to make the same mistakes as the narrator.... and as (I) sat on that
Hillside in Corsica and realized what (I) had done. Great review

[GimmiBill]

Amico complimenti per aver deciso di condividere le tue impressioni su un libro epocale come "il Pendolo"!

[Splackavellie]

I think you would really like The Prague Cemetery. I’ve rarely read a book that could simultaneously made me feel depressed about the fundamentals of human nature, yet make me laugh so much.

It often gets compared to Foucault’s Pendulum because both deal with interwoven conspiracies. To me, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana has always been a far better compliment to Foucault’s Pendulum, though. Not because they share a similar plot (they don’t) or because they’re written in a similar way (they aren’t). To me, Queen Loana shows how deeply autobiographical Belbo’s character was. Its third and final part delve much deeper into the theme of cowardice, the cost of being a coward and the risk (and great cost) of being brave. This was one of the most fascinating aspects of Foucault’s Pendulum to be and it beautifully comes to a close in Queen Loana’s story of the Gorge explaining everything that shaped Yambo’s character (and lifelong regrets).

It got mediocre reviews and is mostly dismissed in Eco’s bibliography, but I love it. It might not carry the weight, both literally and literary, as his other novels, but I consider the third part of Queen Loana to be among the very best things Eco has ever written!

[BookishTexan]

I've tried to read _Foucaul's Pendulum_ at least five times and never made it further than the first 50 pages. Maybe its time for a sixth try.

[b.griffin]

"basically this is very much a very long very complex and very upsetting study of ignorance "

Couldn't agree more. Seems to me the subtext of the collective works of Eco, Nabokov and Orwell is a disgust with a kind of arrogance and ignorance which they see as underlying most of human cruelty, baseness and nastiness. There is a kind of playfulness and irreverence which belies a moral seriousness that then takes some time to really discover.

[BibiAudiofil]

My favorite reading during the summer holiday. I get it every year with me at the seaside. At the beginning is a little bit scary, but you have to carry on the reading and everything is falling in its place after a while.

[gloriaspeicher]

I still have about 150 pages to go. I've been begging all my friends to read it so we could talk about it. What an amazing writer. I like this even better than Name of the Rose which I just re-read prior to reading this. Thank you so much for your comments and perspective. It is wonderful to know there are others who appreciate it so much as well.

[Digiphex]

I read the book while I was in Paris. I went and saw Le Pendule Foucault so I could picture this well. The novel started out very interesting and I could see it as a movie. However, it got lost in a lot of boring dialogue and didn't move into the plot I was eagerly awaiting. Would I show myself as a low brow American reader to wish it was half that length and got into some action and well laid out linear conspiracy?

[cristianm]

I loved how each chapter had a quotation from all kinds of authors.

[tonybennett]

Foucault's Pendulum is a great intellectual entertainment. I think in some ways, that like a pendulum, the book returns you to the starting point, leaving you none the wiser, but it's been a wonderful ride. I read it in two days, so there is no doubt about its compulsive readability.
I have to say that I loved the historical detail in The Name of the Rose, but I realise I may be in the minority.