3/5 stars
Foucault’s Pendulum remains one of my favourite novels, and as this is another conspiracy theory piece from Eco I was looking forward to it. The unrelenting antisemitism (and general racism) of the central character was unpleasant, but bearable – I’d been warned what to expect – but still stumbled to a halt halfway through on my first attempt, mostly due to frustration with the amnesia conceit and the inconsistently intermittent interruptions of the mysterious narrator, which occasionally seemed to forget they were meant to be the narrator rather than a diary entry.
I’ve since restarted, and have been enjoying it more on the second attempt. Not one of Eco’s best, but evocative of the time and place – a grotty, unpleasant time and place, from his portrayal, and as such a refreshing alternative to the usual depiction of late 19th century Europe as some kind of golden age.
Finally finished, after another long break. Dense with information and impressive research, it’s an interesting fictionalised history. But I’m still unconvinced by the contrived structure – the pointless addition of a decidedly intermittent narrator, the found diary conceit, and (most of all) the split-personality amnesiac concept that forms the core of the book’s narrative reveal. Why did Eco think this necessary? For me, it merely distracted from the substance with unnecessary, not very well done style.