Rating: 
Summary: Several stories in one including mine
Review: To correct a factual error in my previous review: I had read The Name of the Rose and was fascinated with Eco's scholarship, so when Pendulum was published in 1989, I was the first (only?) on my block to read it. The book fast became an obsession with me. At 3:30 AM one March morning, surrounded by reference books, which included Latin, Italian and Greek dicitionaries, a 1939 (pre-most-technology) edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, an atlas, a history of the Crusades, notepads and pencils, I realized that the game had drawn me into it. I was, in a small way, an unscripted character in Eco's opus. Though I found the climax to be too fantastic for my taste, one coincidence is still foremost in my mind: the day, March 19, 1989, I read about the execution of Jacques DeMolay by Philip IV was the 675th anniversary of the event. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the Knights Templar, in empires gained and lost, and in tricks and tricksters, both major and minor. Though this book was a large seller and a good one, I fear it adorned more mantelpieces than reading desks - the Glitterati of the Illuminati by the Interior Decorati.
Rating: 
Summary: deeply gripping-hard to put down, enjoyable yet dense
Review: I highly reccommend this to anyone who enjoyed the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Shea/Robert Anton Wilson. This book is to the Illuminatus Trilogy like The Hobbit is to The Trilogy of the Rings. Esoteric history and good character development make this a good read ....
Rating:
Summary: Several stories in one (including mine).
Review: I had read The Name of the Rose and was fascinated with Eco's scholarship, so when Pendulum was published in 1989, I was the first (only?) on my block to read it. The book fast became an obsession with me. At 3:30 AM one October morning, surrounded by reference books, which included Latin, Italian and Greek dicitionaries, a 1939 (pre-most-technology) edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, an atlas, a history of the Crusades, notepads and pencils, I realized that the game had drawn me into it. I was, in a small way, an unscripted character in Eco's opus. Though I found the climax to be too fantastic for my taste, one coincidence is still foremost in my mind: the day, October 13, 1989, I read about the execution of Jacques DeMolay by Philip IV was the 675th anniversary of the event. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the Knights Templar, in empires gained and lost, and in tricks and tricksters, both major and minor. Though this book was a large seller and a good one, I fear it adorned more mantelpieces than reading desks - the Glitterati of the Illuminati by the Interior Decorati.
Rating:
Summary: Not your average Conspiracy Theory
Review: Umberto Eco's book is fascinating, intriguing. Filled with chapters-full of offbeat interpretations of history and wildly enjoyable connections, it is a highly entertaining book. Not only concerned with conspiracies, Umberto Eco quietly pans publishers such as Signor Garamond, whose line "Water--don't tell me it's not a metal," still causes laughter in me. Though it is not usually read for its characters, some of them are quite memorable. Belbo and his comic or tragic observations of life in his files stored in Abulafia the Computer. Diotevalli, the would-be Kabbalist. Lorenza, Belbo's belligerent, out-of-control girlfriend. The levelheaded Lia. Mysterious Dr. Aglie whose occasional slips of the tongue (on purpose?) indicates something is not normal about him. The comical portrayal of Professor Camestres and his abhorrence of the OTO (which is...? asks Belbo) Tapir-faced Bramante. But most enjoyable of all is their rewrite of history, their Ordonation...which turns out is true...Or is it? "A rollercoaster ride through a world of ideas...", like the dust-jacket says. Then of course are Eco's on-point observations about modern life. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Comic and Tragic at the same time. Enjoyably weird, but not too weird. This book is, however, not for the THEY'RE OUT TO GET ME school of conspiracy-theorists. If you enjoy gratuitous violence and idiotic assumptions that the black helicopters are after YOU!!! then, this book is definitely NOT for you. This book has more refinement than that. Read it, you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm 100 pages from the end, and the fascination factor just keeps increasing! I was warned by several friends that it was impossible to read. Here's the secret -- only the first chapter is a hell-read. The rest is just gobs of fun. Hack your way through chapter one and you're set.
Rating:
Summary: An engrossing story, large in scope...
Review: I didn't expect to be drawn into this tale of cosmic associations and reveberations as much as I was, but then good books have the tendency to sneak up on you. This is like the Illuminati series, but for people who don't consider themselves "conspiracy theorists" and who appreciate a writer who can "name drop" without name dropping, whose command of European history (as well as cultures abroad) is vast in depth and scope. This book made me want to visit my local science museum, where Foucault's Pendulum swings free, unencumbered; it made me want to sit and have coffee with my rabbi and chat about cabala; to see out fellow med students who are Muslims and discuss their religious beliefs and to rejoice in the existence of the Mysterious... I didn't rate it a 10 because at times, this novel definitely makes the reader feel like an ignoramus. I'm not an Oxford trained philosopher or semiologist. I'm consider myself to be a fairly broadly read 25 year old medical student. But certainly, many (heck, most!) of the names dropped in this text sail over my head and I cringe in hearing the dull thud as they splat against the wall behind me. Too bad paperbacks don't have imbedded HTML links to footnotes or a mini encyclopedia of history. I woulda felt less like an imbecile. If you've ever seen the show Connections (where inventions, politial movements, etc. are all linked together throughout time so that the host can describe this historical arc from horses to horsepower, from turbans to turbines...), then you have some idea on how the interconnections in this book are arranged...
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I kept finding myself in the library looking up everything from the Knights of the Templar, to stories about the Holy Grail, cults and anything else having to do with Umbertos crazy novel. Probably one of the most interesting books I have read- and the most fun too! Superb!
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Summary: Classic Masterpiece
Review: I was recently asked by a group of friends to compile a list of the world's classic literature. I was compelled to list Foucault's Pendulum as one. Simply a magnificent book that can be read on a variety of levels; it is a mystery thriller, historical text, satire, and an intellectual and philosophical exercise. I approached it, initially, like many books on the market today -- doubtful it would entertain and challenge me. As always I read the first chapter (no easy task!) and read the last chapter. It passed my test -- I couldn't logically guess what would happen in the story! So I forged ahead and found myself enthralled with the story/stories and the implications. I, too, started out knowing that the author/narrator was telling me truths, half-truths and falsehoods, but ended up believing that all were true, must be true! And I was a history major in college with a tremendous knowledge of the Middle Ages, mysticism and the Knights Templar!!!!! I loved every convoluted, difficult, challenging moment of the book. It is not for everyone but definitely for those who love to read good books.
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Summary: Postmodernism Meets Hermetic Idealism
Review: There are several enough plot summaries of FP here, we do not need another one. However, I would like to look at a specific facet of the novel, the idea that everything is connected to everything else. This is wryly mentioned in FP, in the form of a refrain, "Everything is about the Templars." This idea, that every piece of information that the protagonists look at is in some occult fashion related to the Templars, is examined in critcal form in Eco's "The Limits of Interpretation." He examines the Hermetic belief that every text is in some fashion a text about God. Of course, with universal semiotic connectedness, meaning evaporates since everything can mean anything. Since this is the stand taken by the protagonists in FP, I would propose that FP is a monumental piece of satire. It pokes fun at universal deconstruction, and proposes that true meaning lies in some middle ground. Very good reading, but do not become discouraged! You can follow the plot and enjoy the novel, even if there are five page sections you can't possibly comprehend. I would recommend reading the sections until you start to figure out want's going on, since dwelling overly on the minutia of the novel is likely to give you a headache.
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Summary: Behind the mirror lies a masterpiece
Review: The world is a jigsaw puzzle, and Umberto Eco assembles a crazy patchwork from its scattered pieces in this convoluted pearl conch of a novel. The tale explores a search for meaning by three men, men whose singular qualities meld as they sleuth the secret history of the World. This story is not for the faint of heart, and its evocation of intellectual fire in the complexities of arcane and mystic lore brings light to our workaday, humdrum present. This novel is meant to be slowly nibbled, tasted, and swallowed patiently after long reflection. Truly a masterpiece.
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