"Foucault's Pendulum" (Italian Il pendolo di Foucault) is the second novel by the Italian writer, philosopher, professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna Umberto Eco. First published in Italian in 1988.
"When the Light of Infinity stretched into the form of a straight line in the Void ... it did not immediately stretch and stretch downward, of course it stretched slowly - that is, at first the Ray of Light began to extend and at the very beginning of its extension into the mystery of the Ray it was transformed and formed into a completely round wheel."
Foucault's pendulum is divided into ten parts, named according to the 10 Sefirot. The novel is so filled with esoteric references to Kabbalah, alchemy, and various conspiracy theories that critic and writer Anthony Burgess suggested cataloging them. The title of the book comes from the pendulum developed by the French physicist Léon Foucault, designed to visually demonstrate the rotation of the Earth around its axis, which is a symbol of the novel's meaningfulness. In addition, there is a version that the name is associated with the philosopher Michel Foucault, given the friendship of the Italian with the French philosopher. However, Umberto Eco "in particular refutes any deliberate mention of Michel Foucault" - this statement was taken as a witty literary joke.
The plot of the novel revolves around three friends: Belbo, Diotallevi and Cazobon, who work in a “factory of fame” (“factory of fame” or “vanity publisher” - a publishing house that publishes books funded by authors, often graphomaniacs) in Milan. After reading dozens of manuscripts on occult conspiracy theories, they decide what they can do better and begin, for fun, create their own theory. They call this satirical intellectual game Plan.
The more Belbo, Diotallevi and Cazaubon developed their offspring, the more, imperceptibly for themselves, they plunged into their "Plan" and sometimes even forgot that it was just a game. Moreover, when proponents of other conspiracy theories learned about the Plan, they took it absolutely seriously. Belbo eventually discovers that he is the target of a real secret society, which believes that he has the answer to the secret of the lost treasure of the Templars.
Many subplots of the work are woven into the main theme of the "Plan" creation. For example, the reasons for Belbo's obsession with the "Plan" stem from his childhood in Italy during the Second World War, from an unrequited love for the windy Lorenza Pellegrini and his desire to free himself from a constant sense of his own failure. Using the example of the Plan of the Knights Templar for world domination, the novel demonstrates the innate gullibility and tendency to mystification inherent in all people.
"Foucault's pendulum" has been called "The Da Vinci Code for the Thinking Man." The manuscript that ignites the Plan and all the many possibilities for interpretation plays the same role as the parchment in Rennes-le-Château, unwinding the story to a global scale in D. Brown's novel and earlier in The Holy Blood and the Holy. Grail from which Brown drew his inspiration. Eco's novel, which predates the time of the Brownian phenomenon by more than ten years, similarly comes into contact with the Order of the Knights Templar, a set of conspiracies, secret codes, the Mystery of the Holy Blood (if it is mentioned, it is only in passing) and even includes a chase around Parisian landmarks. All this is true, but most critics agree that this is more a satire or parody of the futility of conspiracy theories and the people who believe in them, than an attempt to spread such beliefs.
Foucault's pendulum also contains many intersections with U. Eco's life experience and his works. Belbo - a character in the novel - like Eco himself, grew up in the Piedmont region of northern Italy and refers to him repeatedly in his diaries. Il costume di casa (Faith In Fakes) contains a note by Eco, in which he refers to his personal experience of attending the Candomblé ceremony in Brazil, reminiscent of a similar episode in the novel, as well as a description of the French ethnologist Roger Bastide. who is similar to Allier's character.
The American newspaper The Boston Globe stated that "Foucault's pendulum Umberto Eco may be related to the Illuminatus trilogy!" Robert Anton Wilson ". “The Illuminatus! Trilogy ”was written thirteen years before Foucault's Pendulum. Writer George Johnson also spoke of the similarities between the two books, that "both works were written in an ironic manner with a great sense of humor."
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