Both a love letter to, and denouncement of, Western Esotericism and Conspiracy Theories. Although quite a slow burn, the central unraveling of “The Plan” really sinks its hooks into you! The author balances an occasional paragraph of pretentious mysticism with lots of reflective philosophising and witty chatter between the very memorable main trio, making for some really enjoyable reading that’s surprisingly self-aware at times.

 While I wouldn't call this book enjoyable to read necessarily, I did find it incredibly compelling.  More importantly, this is one of those books that everyone should read. A true reflection of the way that conspiracy theories can latch onto people, slowly, without them even realizing it. Belbo, Casaubon, and Diotallevi are not uneducated people. Too smart for their own good, they're all nevertheless dissatisfied with their lives. With the sheer mundane nature of it. No opportunity to be a hero, no sense of direction. So what do you do when life doesn't give you a direction? You can blame it, or God. You can also embrace what you think is the void, and try to even laugh at it.

This book proves to me the fact that it's almost impossible to 'jokingly' believe in a conspiracy. Once you start training your brain to see everything as part of a pattern, it will continue to do so. No matter how much you claim it's only for your own amusement, your brain is still fundamentally working in that conspiratorial pattern. Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of this book is to see the characters struggle against the neural pathways they themselves have created. Their heads bob barely above water, as they insist that they are still tethered to reality.

Even at the end, Casaubon cannot totally escape the way he has wired his brain.

Perhaps more importantly, Foucault's Pendulum shows the lengths that people who believe in a conspiracy will go not only to make it reality, but to reveal the secret of their conspiracy.

Despite a lower body count in actuality, this book feels much more violent than Eco's previous the Name of the Rose. The sheer glee that the Diabolicals take in their murder of Lorenza and Belbo is staggering. The image of a body swinging as the inert point of a pendulum is sickening.

The end of the book combines these themes so perfectly.

Is Casaubon being paranoid, is he about to die for a secret that doesn't exist? It's a sobering thought - matched only by the stripped down beauty of Casaubon's final thoughts. Perhaps he hasn't found peace, as he hoped he would, but as the audience there is certainly this bittersweet sense of closure.

Lastly I want to say, though this book definitely deserves its five stars, wow Eco can't write women better than most literary men. RIP, one day we'll find a man who doesn't do men writing women. Also though this book is again amazing, there is definitely something about how Eco bastardizes kabbalah despite also being upfront about the artificial and manipulative nature of antisemitism that strikes a discordant chord. How much Eco succeeded in dodging falling into the very pitfall he's pointing out is up for debate.