So great that the entire novel starts around a piece of manuscript because Eco , at least to me as an Italian who used to read his MANY articles on Italian daily newspapers in the 90s, he remains above all else a extreme example of a bibliophile. If you can, look for a video on youtube where he took a journalist around his house for a “bookshelf tour”… it’s jaw dropping. His house was basically a library. The templars theme intrigues me a lot. This is without a doubt one that I have to read soon.
I have seen his 30,000 book library. It is unbelievable! Even more interesting- he had over 1,200 "ancient books" I'd love to at least see a catalog of 😳😳
Great video, and very thoughtful as always. This book is one of my favorites of all time, and one of the most profound and import books I've ever read. This books absolutely consumed me the first time reading it. Thanks for the video and spreading the word about this great masterpiece.
My pleasure... This book grabbed me like that also. I read it in 2 weeks, very quick for me for a book this big... I also have a lot of experience with the subject matter. Thank you so much, SS 😎🙏
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Here is an interesting conversation that I can't have with most people, but I can with you because I know you're also a Pynchon fan like me. Foucault's Pendulum I think about the same things as V. and Gravity's Rainbow. These three books are talking about the same thing but is as if Eco is talking about in through a path that is the reverse of the opposite of the one Pynchon is using. As if Pynchon is expressing a number using fractions while Eco is expressing the same number in decimals. I didn't watch the entire video yet so I don't know if you made a Pynchon connection or not.
@@skjoldursvarturskikkjan7860 Eco here and Pynchon everywhere are both exploring systems. Unknown and unknowable, and both have n an incredulous view of the 'superiority' of secret societies. Well remarked.
Really good video, Foucault's Pendulum is my favourite book, you analysed in depth the main themes and gave great insights. I particularly liked your "the Secret is the Power" and how a non-secret is actually a secret; actually, Umberto Eco did a seminar entitled "On Conspiracy. From Popper to Dan Brown" in 2015 and he said something about people who are in power and believe in conspiracy theories among the lines: "They engage in a counter-conspiracy against non-existent conspirators".
Thank you so much! I have a long way to go with Eco. FP blew my mind and goes about as far as you can go with speculation and the unknown. Can't wait to get more read.
Fun fact: the whole portion of Casaubon in Brazil was written as filler because Eco needed to bridge a gap in time. He writes about it in Confessions of a young novelist. On Foucault's Pendulum, he explains the Brazil portion as a necessity. Eco wanted his characters to have experienced the student riots, but he also needed Belbo to have his word processor, which became available years later. That is why he sent Casaubon to Brazil to bridge that gap in time. But leave it to Eco to take an inconvenience and make it essential to the plot. Casaubon probably wouldn't have entrenched himself so deeply in Belbo's obsession with the Plan if he didn't experience the esoteric rites in Brazil, and wouldn't have accepted Lia's reasoning if he hadn't first been with Amparo. This book is so perfectly layered. I don't know how many times I've read it, but I still discover new things in it. Even though at this point it simultaneously feels like catching up with old friends. There is still no competition: this is my favorite novel of all time!
Thank you for this. I've read Foucault's Pendulum three times and I'm always left feeling like I didn't understand it, but I guess I understood more than I thought. I also enjoyed hearing your thoughts on esoteric knowledge and secret societies and share many of your perspectives. I look forward to more of your videos. 🖖🏽
It is one of my favorite books, and I dream of a book- inspired epic film, one day to come, that can be a visual cultural phenomenon. This book has a scope and a depth of sacred scriptures.
I don't think it lends itself very well to adaptation. It is more of an encyclopaedic novel than a narrative one. Most of the narrative is simply discovery of knowledge (or false knowledge). The characters are not narrative agents but epistemological agents. This is hard, if not downright impossible to convey cinematically.
This is such a great discussion! I love Eco, but haven't gotten to Foucault's Pendulum yet. Definitely bumping it up my TBR now! Thanks for all the insights.
Hi Noah Great take on Foucault's Pendulum (one of the best I have heard). 30:02 I was laughing because I have unintentionally done that a few times (my excuse is all the characters have a bit of Eco in them because he created them ). The spectator part of my id comes from a textual joke (hopefully not an academic term) in this book. And my definition of a textual joke is: (A) a text talking to a text (B) a text talking about a text (C) a text lying about a text (D) a text lying to a text By text, I mean a sentence or a passage, but not the whole book. My favorite portion is when it all happens at the same time. Hi Sean, I always watch your videos a week late (due to my work schedule), so I'm hesitant to post because I feel like I might end up forcing you to respond to one when you're working on another. I was going to share this (and more) on your post about Audiobook. I will stick with this here. I have read the whole book a couple of times. I also use it as Eco's book recommendation and a playbook to experiment with his lectures on open text. For a change, I went with the Audiobook (unabridged version read by Alexander Adams). The audio version got me all excited for a split second. It happens at the point when Belbo makes a call to Casaubon. Text: Don't joke, Casaubon. Audio: Don't joke, Kesavan. I started googling (while listening) to see if it was the correct pronunciation (and it was). Then my mind went into a drift mode. I have only read about 5 Casaubon's (3 real - 2 fictional), so now I was busy thinking about other things (some related to the book). I eventually finished listening (as you said, it's just a matter of getting used to something). There is a Tim Curry version(abridged) where he pronounces it like most of us (the sample on audible has him saying it).
@@jacquesthespectator Interesting!! Now I think I'll need to give this one a listen. It's crazy to think how much a simple difference in pronunciation can make on one's reading! Also, don't feel like you can't comment even if it's weeks late. I enjoy reading and responding to your thoughtful comments/ideas!
This was a really weird video, but in an amazingly positive way. Your butchering of the names and way of introducing the themes and story really annoyed me. Your interpretation of the story, the characters, the themes, the little things that make this book so special, and the way it will totally change the way you look at the world were so spot on. The way you actually seemed so exited talking about what this book did to you makes this video great. I absolutely love this book and it felt really good to see someone as impressed by it as I was when I first read it. Thank you for making this video!
Nice! It just occurs to me: Is the Pendulum itself intended as a main character, like maybe in the way events swing around or in the changes of setting or who is speaking..? Did you do Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin? (speaking of best books ever.)
Nice review! "Foucault's Pendulum" is an awesome work but as in all of Umberto's books there lie multiple "tells" of his deliciously artful sense of humor, irony and hyperbole, accompanied by mind boggling intellectual depth.. Bravo!
This novel was very enjoyable after reading some books about how our brain evolved. We are basically built to find patterns in EVERYTHING, this is extremely useful for an animal in the wild trying to survive, the problem is that our modern environment overloads us with information and then this mechanism starts backfiring on us because we are never taugh about how ill-suited our brains are to deal with all of the noise and how to train ourselves to tell a part the BS and the nonsense from the useful and pragmatic.
I do not spoil anything and don't talk about the ending at all. I talk about plot just enough to go into thematic exploration and my own associative streams 💪😎
Ya he seems like an interesting cat,read the name of the rose years ago and loved it, would be cool to learn Italian someday and see firsthand what in he wrote he was talking about
Many years have passed since I read this voluptuous intellectual romp. Your review is great without being a 'spoiler', which I feel is quite an accomplishment in itself. Thank you.👍👌🤌👏🙏
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Yeah, this book kept me hooked hard. A lot of it probably went over my head, but I think it's like a more approachable version of what Pynchon does; that is, the paranoia of seeing connections where connections may or may not exist. And the sheer breadth of Eco's knowledge is staggering. Although I do think I still liked The Name of the Rose a bit more.
Because I've never read a book, I've never read FP I bought it decades ago and its stored in my garage I've read that it's about a plot by the Knights Templar who plan on ruling the world utilizing ley lines....is this true??
Excellent 👏 A few thoughts that came to mind during your talk: We are living in the age of Kali Yuga. Terrance McKenna gave a great talk on I Ching (see video on you tube). Only a connection with poetic imagination will sent your mind free. Recite poetry. Turn off the News. Don’t allow the TV to mind control you. Respect others dignity and freedom. Never try to force or coerce anyone to do something they do not want to do. Watch all of Terrance McKenna’s videos. And Joyce, James Joyce and The Mahabharata …. And…. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse you're cool. Have you ever made a video on your Buddhism? As a Nyingma student myself, I enjoy tales of Dharma recognition. Blessings to you and your house, Noah!
Something earned - built - has no value, when it is destroyed just like Hiroshima… …context: I just shared the ‘lego brix’ pointing the finger to “all that heavenly glory” But YT went full 1984. Nobody goes full 1984 th-cam.com/video/qwJaow8mX9w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Tl_pfhjg1x_M6tx3
So great that the entire novel starts around a piece of manuscript because Eco , at least to me as an Italian who used to read his MANY articles on Italian daily newspapers in the 90s, he remains above all else a extreme example of a bibliophile. If you can, look for a video on youtube where he took a journalist around his house for a “bookshelf tour”… it’s jaw dropping. His house was basically a library.
The templars theme intrigues me a lot. This is without a doubt one that I have to read soon.
I have seen his 30,000 book library. It is unbelievable! Even more interesting- he had over 1,200 "ancient books" I'd love to at least see a catalog of 😳😳
Great video, and very thoughtful as always. This book is one of my favorites of all time, and one of the most profound and import books I've ever read. This books absolutely consumed me the first time reading it. Thanks for the video and spreading the word about this great masterpiece.
My pleasure... This book grabbed me like that also. I read it in 2 weeks, very quick for me for a book this big... I also have a lot of experience with the subject matter. Thank you so much, SS 😎🙏
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Here is an interesting conversation that I can't have with most people, but I can with you because I know you're also a Pynchon fan like me. Foucault's Pendulum I think about the same things as V. and Gravity's Rainbow. These three books are talking about the same thing but is as if Eco is talking about in through a path that is the reverse of the opposite of the one Pynchon is using. As if Pynchon is expressing a number using fractions while Eco is expressing the same number in decimals. I didn't watch the entire video yet so I don't know if you made a Pynchon connection or not.
@@skjoldursvarturskikkjan7860 Eco here and Pynchon everywhere are both exploring systems. Unknown and unknowable, and both have n an incredulous view of the 'superiority' of secret societies. Well remarked.
Really good video, Foucault's Pendulum is my favourite book, you analysed in depth the main themes and gave great insights. I particularly liked your "the Secret is the Power" and how a non-secret is actually a secret; actually, Umberto Eco did a seminar entitled "On Conspiracy. From Popper to Dan Brown" in 2015 and he said something about people who are in power and believe in conspiracy theories among the lines: "They engage in a counter-conspiracy against non-existent conspirators".
Thank you so much! I have a long way to go with Eco. FP blew my mind and goes about as far as you can go with speculation and the unknown. Can't wait to get more read.
Fun fact: the whole portion of Casaubon in Brazil was written as filler because Eco needed to bridge a gap in time. He writes about it in Confessions of a young novelist. On Foucault's Pendulum, he explains the Brazil portion as a necessity. Eco wanted his characters to have experienced the student riots, but he also needed Belbo to have his word processor, which became available years later. That is why he sent Casaubon to Brazil to bridge that gap in time.
But leave it to Eco to take an inconvenience and make it essential to the plot. Casaubon probably wouldn't have entrenched himself so deeply in Belbo's obsession with the Plan if he didn't experience the esoteric rites in Brazil, and wouldn't have accepted Lia's reasoning if he hadn't first been with Amparo.
This book is so perfectly layered. I don't know how many times I've read it, but I still discover new things in it. Even though at this point it simultaneously feels like catching up with old friends.
There is still no competition: this is my favorite novel of all time!
Noah, man just foudn your channel and so excited about it. Your break down is amazing! cant wait to dig through all your other stuff!
Thanks Brandon! I got you now as well, very cool 💪😎
Thank you for this. I've read Foucault's Pendulum three times and I'm always left feeling like I didn't understand it, but I guess I understood more than I thought. I also enjoyed hearing your thoughts on esoteric knowledge and secret societies and share many of your perspectives. I look forward to more of your videos. 🖖🏽
Thank you so much! I enjoyed this book a lot and am glad my ramblings provided some insight 💪
Great Video, Noah. Thanks for making it.
Thanks Clare! I tried my best 😁😳
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse you did more than try, you succeeded.
I am reading this right now! Yes, he is DOING A LOT with this work. Complex and intriguing -- overall great read so far!
this book changed my life as a 16 year old in 1989..im surprised nonone has tried to adapt this as a film or tv series
It is one of my favorite books, and I dream of a book- inspired epic film, one day to come, that can be a visual cultural phenomenon. This book has a scope and a depth of sacred scriptures.
Woah, YESSSSS
I don't think it lends itself very well to adaptation. It is more of an encyclopaedic novel than a narrative one. Most of the narrative is simply discovery of knowledge (or false knowledge). The characters are not narrative agents but epistemological agents. This is hard, if not downright impossible to convey cinematically.
Kubrick wanted to do it. If it can be done we'll see when somebody finally does it.
ur retelling is so entertaining. thank u
Haha I try! What an experience this text is!
This is such a great discussion! I love Eco, but haven't gotten to Foucault's Pendulum yet. Definitely bumping it up my TBR now! Thanks for all the insights.
I touched on about half of what I wanted to... This book is amazing! Thanks brother!
Hi Noah
Great take on Foucault's Pendulum (one of the best I have heard).
30:02
I was laughing because I have unintentionally done that a few times (my excuse is all the characters have a bit of Eco in them because he created them ).
The spectator part of my id comes from a textual joke (hopefully not an academic term) in this book. And my definition of a textual joke is:
(A) a text talking to a text
(B) a text talking about a text
(C) a text lying about a text
(D) a text lying to a text
By text, I mean a sentence or a passage, but not the whole book. My favorite portion is when it all happens at the same time.
Hi Sean,
I always watch your videos a week late (due to my work schedule), so I'm hesitant to post because I feel like I might end up forcing you to respond to one when you're working on another. I was going to share this (and more) on your post about Audiobook. I will stick with this here.
I have read the whole book a couple of times. I also use it as Eco's book recommendation and a playbook to experiment with his lectures on open text.
For a change, I went with the Audiobook (unabridged version read by Alexander Adams). The audio version got me all excited for a split second. It happens at the point when Belbo makes a call to Casaubon.
Text: Don't joke, Casaubon.
Audio: Don't joke, Kesavan.
I started googling (while listening) to see if it was the correct pronunciation (and it was). Then my mind went into a drift mode. I have only read about 5 Casaubon's (3 real - 2 fictional), so now I was busy thinking about other things (some related to the book).
I eventually finished listening (as you said, it's just a matter of getting used to something).
There is a Tim Curry version(abridged) where he pronounces it like most of us (the sample on audible has him saying it).
@@jacquesthespectator Interesting!! Now I think I'll need to give this one a listen. It's crazy to think how much a simple difference in pronunciation can make on one's reading!
Also, don't feel like you can't comment even if it's weeks late. I enjoy reading and responding to your thoughtful comments/ideas!
This was a really weird video, but in an amazingly positive way. Your butchering of the names and way of introducing the themes and story really annoyed me.
Your interpretation of the story, the characters, the themes, the little things that make this book so special, and the way it will totally change the way you look at the world were so spot on. The way you actually seemed so exited talking about what this book did to you makes this video great. I absolutely love this book and it felt really good to see someone as impressed by it as I was when I first read it.
Thank you for making this video!
Thank youuuu 😝
One great book, read it several times and listen to it every few months.
Look at Foucault's Pendulum as Eco's rewrite of Moby Dick. Think about it.
Nice! It just occurs to me: Is the Pendulum itself intended as a main character, like maybe in the way events swing around or in the changes of setting or who is speaking..?
Did you do Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin? (speaking of best books ever.)
Oh! I have never heard of that one 😯
Nice review! "Foucault's Pendulum" is an awesome work but as in all of Umberto's books there lie multiple "tells" of his deliciously artful sense of humor, irony and hyperbole, accompanied by mind boggling intellectual depth.. Bravo!
Thank you very much! I laugh so much in this reading, so fun and darkly absurd! 🙏
This novel was very enjoyable after reading some books about how our brain evolved. We are basically built to find patterns in EVERYTHING, this is extremely useful for an animal in the wild trying to survive, the problem is that our modern environment overloads us with information and then this mechanism starts backfiring on us because we are never taugh about how ill-suited our brains are to deal with all of the noise and how to train ourselves to tell a part the BS and the nonsense from the useful and pragmatic.
Great review of a great book.
I appreciate that, what a wild ride!
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Have you ready Baudolino by Eco? I really liked that book. Name of the Rose is still my all-time favorite though.
@@jfalconredskins I hear Baudolino is great and have it on my shelf, not read yet 😝 Name of the Rose is fantastic
Aaw so interesting, but I do not know if I should watch the video now or wait because I really want to read the book in Italian first!
I do not spoil anything and don't talk about the ending at all. I talk about plot just enough to go into thematic exploration and my own associative streams 💪😎
👍👍
Ya he seems like an interesting cat,read the name of the rose years ago and loved it, would be cool to learn Italian someday and see firsthand what in he wrote he was talking about
Total understatement 😜
Many years have passed since I read this voluptuous intellectual romp. Your review is great without being a 'spoiler', which I feel is quite an accomplishment in itself. Thank you.👍👌🤌👏🙏
Thank you! What a ride
Reminded me of the fake psychic from Alan Moore's book From Hell.
"I made it all up...but it came true anyway. "
Indeed! 💪
I like Foucault's Pendulum because it taught me the word "Metacyclosynchrotron"! 😀
Haha! Eco is very erudite, eh? I crushed this book in 2 weeks 💪😎
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Yeah, this book kept me hooked hard. A lot of it probably went over my head, but I think it's like a more approachable version of what Pynchon does; that is, the paranoia of seeing connections where connections may or may not exist. And the sheer breadth of Eco's knowledge is staggering. Although I do think I still liked The Name of the Rose a bit more.
@@TH3F4LC0Nx 8 years he took to write this work. Unbelievable.
Do you have an opinion on ley lines??
Not much ... I mean, they are a thing, eh? 😎
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Yes, they are a thing
The problem is that their true nature is most times either misunderstood or sensationalized
@@stewartquark1661 we got a live one, boys
Because I've never read a book, I've never read FP
I bought it decades ago and its stored in my garage
I've read that it's about a plot by the Knights Templar who plan on ruling the world utilizing ley lines....is this true??
Yeah, it is completely crazy and awesome
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse What's crazy and awesome?
@@stewartquark1661 Foucault's Pendulum 😎
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse Is there a shred of truth anywhere in it??
Does Eco address the idea of ley lines as something fictitious?
Excellent 👏 A few thoughts that came to mind during your talk: We are living in the age of Kali Yuga. Terrance McKenna gave a great talk on I Ching (see video on you tube). Only a connection with poetic imagination will sent your mind free. Recite poetry. Turn off the News. Don’t allow the TV to mind control you. Respect others dignity and freedom. Never try to force or coerce anyone to do something they do not want to do. Watch all of Terrance McKenna’s videos. And Joyce, James Joyce and The Mahabharata …. And…. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Love the thoughts and ideas here! Wonderful
Eco's 140 page digression into the Templar conspiracy theory was great writing. I loved that book. Who has the balls to do that?
My favorite fiction book ever!
Freaking amazing 💪
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse I was actually surprised you didn't mention Abulafia or Aglie (the single best villain this side of Darth Vader).
@@jason666king I didn't want talk about the ending or what happens at the end at all... I was so horrified and don't want to run it for any readers 😝😝
@@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse you're cool. Have you ever made a video on your Buddhism? As a Nyingma student myself, I enjoy tales of Dharma recognition. Blessings to you and your house, Noah!
@@jason666king Blessings to you and yours as well, Jason 😊 I have a whole playlist of Buddhist videos
Like he taught MONIKA? PS: Homeau Truduck in Canada envies Monika eh!?
Hello !!!!
Hey Stewart!
Wow, a response!
Something earned - built - has no value, when it is destroyed just like Hiroshima…
…context: I just shared the ‘lego brix’ pointing the finger to “all that heavenly glory”
But YT went full 1984.
Nobody goes full 1984
th-cam.com/video/qwJaow8mX9w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Tl_pfhjg1x_M6tx3