Foucault's Pendulum
First edition (Italian)
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| Author | Umberto Eco |
|---|---|
| Original title | Il pendolo di Foucault |
| Translator | William Weaver |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Genre |
Speculative fiction Secret history |
| Publisher |
Bompiani (orig.) Secker & Warburg (Eng. trans) |
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Publication date
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1988 |
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Published in English
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1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
| ISBN | (orig.) (Eng. trans.) |
| OCLC | 49337876 |
Foucault's Pendulum (original title: Il pendolo di Foucault [il ˈpɛndolo di fuˈko]) is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988, and an English translation by William Weaver appeared a year later.
Foucault's Pendulum is divided into ten segments represented by the ten Sefiroth. The satirical novel is full of esoteric references to Kabbalah, alchemy and conspiracy theory—so many, that critic and novelist Anthony Burgess suggested that it needed an index. The pendulum of the title refers to an actual pendulum designed by the French physicist Léon Foucault to demonstrate Earth's rotation, and has symbolic significance within the novel. Some believe it refers to the philosopher Michel Foucault, noting Eco's friendship with the French philosopher, but the author "specifically rejects any intentional reference to Michel Foucault"—this is regarded as one of his subtle literary jokes.
After reading too many manuscripts about occult conspiracy theories, three vanity publisher employees (Belbo, Diotallevi and Casaubon) invent their own conspiracy for fun. They call this satirical intellectual game "The Plan". The three become increasingly obsessed with The Plan, and sometimes forget that it is just a game. Worse still, other conspiracy theorists learn about The Plan, and take it seriously. Belbo finds himself the target of a real secret society that believes he possesses the key to the lost treasure of the Knights Templar.
The book opens with the narrator, Casaubon (his name refers to classical scholar Isaac Casaubon, and also evokes a scholar character in George Eliot's Middlemarch) hiding in fear after closing time in the Parisian technical museum Musée des Arts et Métiers. He believes that members of a secret society have kidnapped Belbo and are now after him. Most of the novel is then told in flashback as Casaubon waits in the museum.
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