Foucault's Pendulum

This is a brilliant book by the late Umberto Eco. His death may have shocked the hell out of me, having lost Harper Lee only a day before, but also it made his literature hold greater meaning in our literary-verse. I love "Foucault's Pendulum" and think that it's a very clever idea. Before I read it, there's a little story I want to tell you. 

My brother and I had the very idea of this novel - to create a conspiracy theory and see how long we can make it last. It didn't take off, but it was a well-planned idea. I thought that this book was just that - create the theory and watch the world go insane. 

I found this book because I'd heard of Eco before his death as the author of "The Name of the Rose" (which was brilliant too) - but I hadn't yet read this one. I enjoyed it so much that I may give it another read in the near future.

Characters:

My favourite character was Belbo. Why? Well, he's a very clever guy for coming up with this conspiracy theory game that ultimately gets the knight's templar involved. I think it was a very well-executed character and Eco must've done a shit load of research to be able to portray him convincingly. 

Themes:

Secrecy was the greatest of all themes. In history, we know there has been many a secret - but now we are discovering what that looks like through the spectrum of the manipulator and thus, we get a better insight into how these secrets are created and dispersed. A very well done theme, not unusual of Eco. 

Storyline:

Eco has a hand for historical storylines that evoke feelings of curiosity and terror. This was just that - it's not conventional modern scares - but the scare of anonymity. Humans are scared of other humans. This is exactly what he does when he gets the other societies of Belbo's case. If he's just like them then why is he scared of them? This is brilliant. 

Verdict:

I give this book 9

100% for characters: Belbo and Casaubon were the best characters by far. 

100% for themes: I loved the theme of secrecy - it is a stronghold for Eco. 

100% for storyline: The king of secret history :)