Foucault's Pendulum

Finished reading the book today. I think Eco must've been insane writing it. Then again there's always been a fine line between madness and genius. I kind of like how it is at once an ego trip and mocking self-irony. Though I'm not entirely sure why he needed 533 pages to prove his point. Oh well, I suppose it all depends on what one hopes to find from the book. In my case that something was a good captivating plot, but while the general subject matter appealed somewhat to my occult freak side, the story wasn't exactly a page-turner. In fact, I think with all those lists of names and general language style, the book ranks somewhere close to the Old Testament in reader-friendliness. Then again I wouldn't be surprised if those lists of names were actually an allusion to the Old Testament.

Now, I'm sure his fellow scholars of semiotics and the like may find the whole thing delightful. I do have to say it's brilliant every step of the way as far as the pure complexity of the story is concerned. But how something like that could become an international bestseller is beyond me. Unless reading Eco has really become an intellectual status symbol to that extent. Then again, I suppose that's exactly the case.