# Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557 "2012-03-22T23:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/41 "2012-03-28T01:42:58Z")
A serious question: Is the entire book written from the point of view of the crazy guy? I’ve only gotten a few chapters in, and getting inside that guy’s head is already tiring. And no, I don’t have any assignment on the book-- I’m just curious because I enjoyed _The Name of the Rose_, and _Focault’s Pendulum_ comes highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/42 "2012-03-28T03:03:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A serious question: Is the entire book written from the point of view of the crazy guy? I’ve only gotten a few chapters in, and getting inside that guy’s head is already tiring. > > And no, I don’t have any assignment on the book-- I’m just curious because I enjoyed _The Name of the Rose_, and _Focault’s Pendulum_ comes highly recommended. Yes, Causabon is the narrator of the whole book. And once you get past him hiding in the Conservatoire, and he starts describing his first meetings with Belbo and Diotallevi, it gets a bit easier to follow. The beginning of the book is actually the end of the story, and by then, Causabon’s grip on reality is a bit shaky. The only real difficulty of the main expository section of the novel is all the scholarly references and allusions. But it’s definitely worth sticking with. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/43 "2012-03-28T05:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > And once you get past him hiding in the Conservatoire, and he starts describing his first meetings with Belbo and Diotallevi, it gets a bit easier to follow. The beginning of the book is actually the end of the story, and by then, Causabon’s grip on reality is a bit shaky. Yeah, I gathered that it was out of sequence like that, but I’m already past the Conservatoire part, and the crazy is still enough to be distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/44 "2012-03-28T07:30:30Z")
Before this thread dies, could someone give me a good rundown of the science behind Huxley’s The Island? ---
**Author:** ![drbhoneydew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@drbhoneydew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drbhoneydew)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/45 "2012-03-28T08:29:55Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > The only real difficulty of the main expository section of the novel is all the scholarly references and allusions. But it’s definitely worth sticking with. That’s what makes me keep going back to it every so often - chances are I’ve read something that unwraps another batch of them. Eco’s books are usually phenomenally hard going on the first read but boy do they keep on giving. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/46 "2012-03-28T13:25:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A serious question: Is the entire book written from the point of view of the crazy guy? I’ve only gotten a few chapters in, and getting inside that guy’s head is already tiring. > [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, I gathered that it was out of sequence like that, but I’m already past the Conservatoire part, and the crazy is still enough to be distracting. I’ve read this book 4-5 times, although not for a couple of years, and I don’t recall the narrator seeming crazy for most of the book. I just thumbed through my copy, and by the third chapter things are (for an Eco novel) fairly straightforward. It sounds to me like you just don’t like the writing style. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/47 "2012-03-28T14:58:50Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’ve read this book 4-5 times, although not for a couple of years, and I don’t recall the narrator seeming crazy for most of the book. I just thumbed through my copy, and by the third chapter things are (for an Eco novel) fairly straightforward. It sounds to me like you just don’t like the writing style. There’s some odd stuff in South America, as I recall. If you get to the discussion of pinball playing & the publication company and are still not liking it, it’s probably time to give up. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/48 "2012-03-29T00:20:51Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > There’s some odd stuff in South America, as I recall. If you get to the discussion of pinball playing & the publication company and are still not liking it, it’s probably time to give up. There _is_ odd stuff in the South American section, but nothing I recall as being obviously crazy. In light of things that happen later one might question whether everything described in this section really happened as described, but IIRC everything is at least within the realm of plausibility. Fairly minor spoiler: At one point the narrator and his girlfriend attend a voodoo ritual, and the girlfriend falls into a trance and starts shaking or dancing around or something. When she comes out of it she’s extremely embarrassed. The reader is not asked to believe that she was really possessed by a spirit though, and IIRC the narrator doesn’t seem to think that’s what happened either. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/49 "2012-03-30T22:50:53Z")
What, there are cool things like vampires, zombies, and brain extractors in this book? I could never get past the first couple of chapters of thinly veiled authorial narcissism prattling on and on about the chores of editing and word processing and the horrible burdensome life that writers lead :rolleyes: But if there are Illuminati nosferatu zombie priests, then I’ll give the book another shot. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557/50 "2012-04-01T03:42:35Z")
What if they’re really just a ploddingly done metaphor for book editors? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foucaults-pendulum-by-umberto-eco/616557.md?page=2)