The first 80 pages had me thinking this would be one of the most exciting novels out there. Multiple clues and cliffhangers are thrown at you, epically hooking in their significance, and it seems like you're strapped in for a wild ride. Once Umberto went into "lecture about obscure hermetics like there's no tomorrow mode" I was slightly put off, but the chapters about Brazil made up for it. When I finally realized this was a satire about conspiracy buffs, around page 300, the wind left my sail and I slugged through the rest. He clearly put a lot of research into this, and it's unfortunate that he chose to make fun of his own work because I was really pulling for some mind-blowing Kabbalistic enlightenment in this one.
Comparisons to Dan Brown are tempting, but I don't even think it's close. Content may be similar, but Foucault's Pendulum is much more cerebral, dense, and difficult to fathom without looking up things like secret societies, alchemical solvents, and mythical monuments. I enjoy Dan Brown a little more because his books actually go somewhere, his characters don't think like robots, and he's more explanatory when he provides mysterious information. I'll give Umberto another shot with The Name of The Rose, but it will probably be some time before I read it.
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