Rating: 
Summary: Interesting history, mediocre novel
Review: Eco writes fiction like an academic, not like a novelist. I suspect he wrote this novel with only one hand, using the other to constantly pat himself on the back for his "cleverness." There is a smugness to the author's voice (not the narrator's, the author's). I attribute this to Eco's writing rather than the translator's, because William Weaver has written translations of Italo Calvino that positively sing. What people respond to in "Foucault's Pendulum" - the secret histories, the breadth (though not depth) of knowledge - is interesting in and of itself. But this novel is not. You see how short it falls when compared to other novels with similar themes. "The Cornish Trilogy" by Robertson Davies is a wittier, more entertaining story of eccentric academics drunk on ideas. "Aegypt" by John Crowley beautifully conveys the past's many mysteries and how, unseen, they surround us in the present. "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon is the pinnacle story about the need to, and fear of, seeing connections everywhere. These books all contain characters and scenes that are wonders to experience. Beyond it's learned exposition (which, admittedly, is impressive), "Foucault's Pendulum" has too few of fiction's basic pleasures to recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious, intelligent, but tough
Review: I've just finished Foucault's Pendulum, after reading on and off for about six months. Certainly I agree with the cross-section of opinions already listed. However, for me the biggest draw-card for this book was it's humour. So often I was more than just chuckling inside at the subtle and not-so-subtle humour that Eco uses to lampoon his various secret societies. But of course, as Eco drew me into the story, it turns out that the joke was on me! Having finished the book, I went back and spent several hours skimming it from cover to cover, and picked up on a whole lot of stuff I didn't fully appreciate on first reading. Also, by that stage I had out my two volume dictionary! Yes, I got sucked into it too. Several people I know had read The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. From what they told me about it, Foucault's Pendulum could be interpreted as a direct parody of the three authors of that book. I am now reading it to test my theory. As others have said, this is a tough read. However, I loved the first chapter, and it is Eco's descriptive yet highly intellectual style that kept me going through this minefield of pedantic knowledge. Finally, when I finished the book I really felt as though I'd finished a great journey. It was tough to get to the end, but worth the effort. I actually saw the book in a new light, and, until I'd finished it I would have had a lot of trouble telling people what it was actually "about".
Rating:
Summary: A Trying Read
Review: Eco's obvious genius wore thin on this reader. I finished the book--but only because I refused to be beaten by its heavy-handed approach to miscellany. Hard to believe it's an international best seller!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the faint of mind
Review: Exemplified by reader reviews, the sheer scope of Eco's hybrid of the Fortean and the Academic can be intimidating to some, inspiring to others. The book seems more like the written equivalent of a Curiousity Cabinet of hermetic lore, with decorative detective-story filigrees. The characters are, intentionally, merely carriers: of information, of emotion, of secrets. They are not larger-than-life novellistic figures, because History itself (the real protagonist of the novel) would overshadow such largesse instantly, and that is why the book works so well, yet so deviously. It's not an easy concept for the average reader to grasp, but one that rewards deeply and significantly. Those who prefer a more traditional approach to storytelling, to history, to character-development, to simple and comfortable narratives, will be understandably vexed and perplexed. But those who have always thought outside the box will probably place this treasure next to "The Glass Bead Game", "Flatland", "Godel, Escher, Bach", and other such wonders of modern literature.
Rating:
Summary: Knowlege versus information
Review: In an age of unending information, all knowlege is lost. Wisdom dies, with that the truth. Eco here (as ever) achieves a clever overuse of 'facts' and grinds our perceptions into an unreality. Amazing arrays of connections are made and quite hard to leave aside, inside and outside of the story. Remarkable plots.
Rating:
Summary: Complications in language are the basis of mystery
Review: Beyond being an enthralling mystery, Foucault's Pendulum also explores the variations in language and meaning. We have three editors who create a dazzling tale; a tale that stretches though thousands of years of history, full of mystery magic and intrigue. But in reality, the whole thing was based on an random interpretation of events, picked to be clever and by computer, not based necessarily on truth. I think that Eco is seeking to shed light on the notion that we find mysteries all over this world, because mystery satisfies our sense of wonder. Language is mysterious because it is intricate. A single cryptic page can be a shopping list or review of a world wide masterplan. Eco's book is fabulous for its intricacy and its ability to drag the reader down the same path as the editors, a path where the lines between fact and fiction blur.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is ***?
Review: This book is challenging to read as well as to absorb. In many ways it is a novel version of Frazer's "Golden Bough," utilizing a dizzying array of scientific, mythological, historical, theological, and hallucinatory references. Maybe Eco was trying to construct a literary mandala. Unfortunately, the characters were a little too detached and a sense of reality and believability was never really achieved for me. The book's 120 chapters read more like disparate essays than a cohesive thread. Perhaps we are beckoned to uncover Eco's hidden code in the text, but I, like Casaubon, am ready for something simply beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Slow moving and tedious
Review: Although I was impressed by the author's intellect and encyclopedic knowledge of diverse topics, the characters and narrative were less than engrossing. The storyline progressed at a snail's pace as I kept waiting for an interesting plotline to develop. Although I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the Knights Templar, I find most history text books more engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing what Eco inspires others to write...
Review: I am once again amazed at how intelligent people sound after reading a well written book. I'm not going to spout any big words pretending to be some quasi-literary scholar. Its a good book. Read it. You'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating yet overdrawn novel
Review: Eco is a brilliant storyteller, and this novel conveys very powerfully how some people are drawn into a spiral of insanity and destruction by their fascination with the possibility of achieving arcane knowledge. Well written and at some points hilariously funny, the book succeeds as a rationalist's take on occultism. But Eco should have stuck to that story. The intermittent allusions to Belbo's childhood in fascist Italy and the main character's university days are interesting in their own right but do not always fit well into the novel and at times rendered it disjointed and tedious. In the end we get a novel that tries to cover too much ground but gets to raise some wonderful points about humanity's benighted quests for ultimate meaning.
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