Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Loved This Book!
Review: This book is on my personal list of all-time favorites. I loved "Name of the Rose", but "Foucault's Pendulum" is by far the best of Eco's novels (I found his most recent novel, "Island of the Day Before" to be a bit of a disappointment by comparison). The breadth of history, geography, culture, and philosophical thought covered in "Foucault's Pendulum" is amazing. The exciting plot will keep you on the edge of your seat ... particularly, the last 100 pages. In addition to being a clever thinker, Eco has a wonderful sense of humor which is everpresent throughout the entire novel. Although it takes some intellectual commitment at times (particularly through the middle portion), it is well worth the extra time to read/re-read the more challenging portions (for me, these sparked my interest to make some forays in researching historical and cultural areas that were new to me ... which then furthered my appreciation of the novel). Overall, I agree with those who would classify this novel as a literary masterpiece...and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: The greatest secrets are "No secrets"
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. For me, it submits the idea that the secret societies occults a very important secret: that they do not have any real secret! I really enjoyed the mistery, the templar history and the thread of the novel. Since I read this book, I changed my passwords, and as Belbo, I named my computer "Abulafia".
Rating: 
Summary: A chapter, or twenty, too far
Review: I'm sorry but I cant agree with the majority of your reviewers. I found this book too long and without direction. Like his other "grand opus" "The Name of the Rose" it suffers from an over proliferation of detail and in the final analysis is just downright boring. The conclusion seems to have been plucked from thin air and cannot possibly be taken seriously. After the middle 300 pages of waffle I suppose the author was desperate for a climactic ending. (It didn't work!). Don't give up the day job Umberto.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious and extremely boring
Review: The main purpose of this book is to promote the author's phylosophical ideas. He tries to show his erudition. But his Hebrew is poor (I live in Israel) and in one case he makes a mistake with numbers. What remains? The idea that the a conspiracy theory may be self-fulfilling? Endless attempts to find a sense in a random series of historical events? The author's desire to get Nobel Prize?
Rating:
Summary: A study of need to believe
Review: This tour de force by Umberto Eco has at it's heart a study of the need for faith or as he calls it, "the object of desire."The desire for justification leads to an increasingly irrational reality which stems paradoxically from a fantasy. This paradox turns on the need to believe that one's belief is true and this at any cost. As a Professor of Semiotics, one would expect Eco's writing to be full of symbolism and in this the book does not disappoint. It also acts as a very good primer on the history of the Knights Templar and can be recommended as a starting point for any one wishing to study this strange Crusader Order. Heartily endorsed.
Rating:
Summary: starts slow but picks up speed quick, so you cant put it dow
Review: i once asked a freind about masons and what they were, he quickly quoted the theories in this book and handed it to me saying it would pass the time but was complex. well after reading it for an hour or so i was going to put it down and move on, but i gave it anouther chapter, and thank god! it picked up fast so that i could not put it down. the story is ingenious, but the real story is that of the people not the consiracies. you trully feal like you have known the three of them since birth. a great read, even if you just like the occult stuff
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece, no less...
Review: If you like mysteries, suspense and have just the slightest interest in the occult. This is definately the book for you. If you, like me, also enjoy an author who understands how to play with the language, Umberto Eco is the man. Eco has the ability to present a plot that at the same time fantastic and believable. It's impossible to tell the historical fact presented from the thought up conspiracies. The story is so nervewreckingly thrilling, that you'll end up wishing it would end. And yet, it is also a brilliant parody of all the occult societies and brotherhoods; Eco shows you them all, from astrologers to cultists ready to sacrifice you to the other side. And all in a way that makes it fun and exiting at the same time. This has to be one of the best books I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Better job by the narrator than by the author
Review: I have now listened to a substantial number of books in audio form. Some are almost unintelligible, others are great. The text of this book is an excellent example of pedanticism: the use of language for its demonstration of the author's erudition rather than the conveyance of story and information. The rendition of the work by the reader is as good as any I have heard. Without the reader, I would have junked it. It isn't that the story is bad, it is a good story. The plot is novel, meaning new, science fiction-fantasy (though the author would be horrified by this description) and interesting. The clearly excessive, even in this abridged version, of language for language's sake is daunting and distracting and then, ultimately, boring.
Rating:
Summary: Orgasm in the traffic jam!
Review: I read the book! One of the greatest books I have ever read. A book that I started and finished the same day. I live and work in Brussels, the capital of Europe. But unfortunately, I spend a couple of hours a day in a traffic jam. With these audio tapes, the traffic jam is never long enough. I really adore the way this book is been narrated. These tapes brought me the exciting times of reading the book. If you are a templars adict like me, order these tapes!!!
Rating:
Summary: It took two attempts but I think I finally got it!
Review: The plot of this book detailed in the wide-ranging exploration of the Knights, et al, as well as the activities and delusions of the supporting characters present the reader with a variety of thematic conclusions. For me, the central lesson Eco teaches is that we are confronted by various realities (or unrealities) in life and that the paths our lives will take reflect the reality (or unreality) to which we subscribe.
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