A plan for Jan – Echoes of Eco II – Re-reading Foucault’s Pendulum

Inspired by a recent read which mentioned the Knights Templar in passing, I’ve decided to set myself a little project for January, and you’re all welcome to join in.  Back in January 2019, I launched a project to re-read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose over the month (here’s the final post in the series with links to the others). Now I have plans to re-read Umberto Eco’s following novel, Foucault’s Pendulum, and #EchoesofEcoII is born!

Foucault’s Pendulum is a contemporary literary thriller, that is steeped in references to Kabbalah in particular, but also conspiracy theories, alchemy, those Knights Templar and more, and linking into the rotation of the Earth, which Foucault’s Pendulum was designed to show. It was first published in 1988, and then in translation by William Weaver a year later. You can read more about it on the Wikipedia page for now.

In my aged Picador paperback, the novel is spread over 641 pages and split into ten sections named for the Sephiroth or ’emanations’ of the Kabbalah. They’re of unequal length, so I’ll aim to read steadily, posting after the first sections, the middle and then end during the month.

I do own a rare copy of the Folio Society’s edition, which I bought to complement my Folio NotR. I paid a three figure sum then for it, and it has since at least trebled in value. If it weren’t still sealed in its shrinkwrap, I wouldn’t hesitate to read that copy – but taking the shrinkwrap off will decrease the value a bit. So I haven’t even seen the artwork inside! I shall probably stick to my old paperback then, with its tanning and small print – or shall I?

Such a quandary! What would you do?

I aim to do a first post once I’ve got to p216, the end of the first three sections. You’re more than welcome to join me, or just pitch in with your recollections and observations, whether you read the book too or not.