Rating: 
Summary: Page turner
Review: This book, like all of his books, is a complex mystery. It takes a while to get really into it, but when you do you will not want to put it down. It might be too complex, but it is definately worth the time. If you liked the Name of the Rose, this is even better.
Note: If you do not have much self-control. Do not read
this book, You will waste several days of work if you do.
Rating:
Summary: History reinterpreted
Review: Sometimes a rating of 10 leaves some doubts about the objectiveness
of the reviewer, but with this book you can't help but give it that
exact rating. With the same fascination for history that he has always shown, Umberto Eco takes you on a trip through history,
seeing things trough the eyes of three editors that have just read
too many occult books. On the course of the trip, they invent a massive plot that has supposedly been on the works for thousands
of years. Just when they are ready to let go of it, they start
finding evidence that seems to validate their theories, and some
groups start to get interested.
This book will fascinate everyone, from those who have wondered
about some of the truths of the cabala to those that just care
for perfectly well written prose.
Rating:
Summary: An intellectual feast with a few too many courses.
Review: Foucault's Pendulum is a brilliant and challenging and magical book, intellectually rich and psychologically fascinating. I found the passages on the metaphysical joys and pains of editing particularly memorable. One quibble: The narrative is overlong, lagging at around the two-thirds mark and regaining its footing only about a hundred pages later. Eco mirrors his characters' desire for completeness, but the reader suffers somewhat for this breathy erudition. But this is a minor flaw, and Eco's missteps are ten times as interesting as most authors' best work. I loved the book, and have found myself haunted by its themes, images, and language
Rating: 
Summary: Pedant's Dream
Review: A fascinating story with endless intellectual detours that leaves you wishing you'd taken more liberal arts in college. The tangential anecdotes of history, philosophy and religion touch upon the entire scope of western and mystical ideas. Not a good read for someone who needs to grasp every facet of what they read-- there's just too much intellectual breadth there
Rating:
Summary: Eco at his best. A must read for any "Name of the Rose" fan.
Review: Well done. Rich text, complex ideas, strong plot. Mystery, suspense, occult and history mixed through a blender of intelligence and drama. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Occult, mystery, fun
Review: I couln't put this book down. It stretched my mind and introduced me to subjects I had never before encountered. Nevertheless, I was captivated. This is probably one of the best books I have ever read
Rating:
Summary: the pendulum swings
Review: This book is one of the ten best books released in the late
1980's. For once, a writer expects his reader's to have a brain. Eco writes intelligently without being condescending
to his audience. It is not often that a reader learns some-
thing from current fiction. I enjoyed this book because it
inspired many emotions: humor, sympathy, and fright among them.
Rating: 
Summary: Wordy & pretentious,with no sense of pace, or story-telling.
Review: Unlike many reviewers of "Foucault's Pendulum", I loved Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". This book, however, is MUCH different. Eco loves to show off his vocabulary, and his obvious intelligence and research. In doing so, he makes the book convoluted and slow. People who like to read a book, analyze it, enjoying the grammatical structure and imagery, and the obscure references and rare vocabulary, will love this book. However, I read fiction for the STORY and for ENTERTAINMENT. Dan Brown's research may not be spot-on, but he tells one hell of a story. A real page turner. And if I want to know what the real facts are, I'll research them.To read an Eco book is a chore. I have enough chores in my life, I don't need another. The tangents he takes off on are irrelevant to the story, and detract so much from the flow of the book, I wanted to throw the damn thing across the room. The people who like this book are (no offense, and not in all cases) the same people who think all films are bad unless they are choc-full of symbolism, and must have sub-titles. I know many people like this. Now, keep in mind, I'm not exactly a brainless idiot that can't appreciate fine literature. I'm highly educated, and read TONS of books. Eco's book would be perfect for someone who wanted to read a chapter a week, and has time to investigate and study all the references held within that chapter. I don't have that time. And if I wanted to study textbooks, I'd read textbooks. However, on the positive side, Eco is obviously intelligent, does tons of research, and there is so much interesting information in this book, it'll make you want to research some of this stuff yourself. If, like me, you've read Dan Brown's books, and loved them, and want to read this book, I advise against it. The first paragraph alone will make you wonder what the hell he's talking about. It doesn't get any better. You have to wade through so many words, so many elusive references that aren't explained, and so many tangents that go on for so long, you forget where you are in the story. Of course, I respect the other opinions here, as well. I'm a "movie-lover" (Spielberg, Jackson), Eco's fans are likely "film-goers" (Fellini, Kurosawa). Therein lies the difference, perhaps. I shouldn't be overly harsh, I suppose. Foucault's Pendulum has some great content, and cool ideas. It is not without merit. I just don't think it will fit the bill if you're looking for a "page-turner" or a quick enjoyable read...
Rating:
Summary: Reacquaints you with long lost parts of your brain!
Review: I was digging through Amazon's online version of a bookstore's "bargain bin" looking for something new to read. I came across Foucault's Pendulum and it sounded interesting enough. It starts out, the first 10 or 20 pages, quite convoluted and confusing. I remarked to my husband that perhaps this book was a bit "too cerebral" for me. But, I perservered and I am so glad I did! Yes, those that say the book starts slow- it truly does. But then, it opens up to this magnificent and complex universe of religious history, conspiracy theories, murder, mystery and suspense and keeps you wanting to read more. The vocabulary is intense and pretty advanced and there were, in fact, several words that I was unfamiliar with entirely- particularly those that were in LATIN (what was that about?) But, after sitting down with this book for a while, you feel that you have just worked out your brain. It's invigorating! I found myself having resurected a long-lost vocabulary that I almost forgot I even had! To sum it up- great book. Very intriguing, complicated, and, sorry for the cliche, "page turning" story. But, as an added bonus, it is extrordinarily thought-provoking and brain exercising! Highly recommend it to those of you that don't want your brain to turn into oatmeal in the lazy summer months.
Rating:
Summary: Eco's Ego.
Review: Thesaurasized, now there is an expression you don't hear everyday, much like every second word in this book, and to be honest most of them do not exist in reality either, this manuscript an interesting piece of literature, but I would read "The Name of the Rose" a hundred times over rather than go at this one again, and this is coming from someone who has actually read books like "The Trial of the Templars" by Malcolm Barber, Eco beckons us with the Templars' hidden mysteries, a theme that this novel deals with, in the last 150 pages of a book that is easily four times that size, 550 wordy-full pages, written as if Umberto has found a whipping boy he can use to convert a 100 paged novel into a huge piece of arcane knowledge via Thesaurasization, to be later transformed by time into an archaic must-read, possibly a contender next to James Joyce's Ulysses, but then why try to copy that style, the point being originality, but Eco does, and ends up binding a pointless beast of words, the pontificating of a good artist who has a healthy and vast knowledge of historical Italian events, coupled with multiple ways he can express this in terms of writing... goes off gallivanting into the world of muddy publishing, writers transfixed by politics, women, coffee shops and alcohol, brood over possible antediluvianismistic occult judiciousness as a message contained in the holy grail, THE MEANING OF LIFE, here it is according to Eco, obviously enjoying the fable he is creating while gadding about across the page in stuff he knows you will have to look up to understand, you will break often throughout the story and be all the more fed up with it, unless you have been diagnosed with longer life expectancy than most, then by-all-means, go for it.
Over the period of a couple of months I reached the end. I did not retain half of what was eluded at, nor did I begin to care much for it, as the pages just wasted time, making sense only that this is a story about publishers chasing the meaning of life through a series of odd events. There is no logical reason for this novel to run anywhere near its length unless a few enjoy that sort of thing, as some probably did, but to be honest I have found better elsewhere in shorter versions that said an awful lot more in less time. If that is what Eco is eluding to here in this text, then it is a 'point' that took a lot time to get to get across... and all of it Thesaurasized at that.
Praise to the five star reviews. I am happy you liked it. This one is fair warning for those who won't.
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