Foucault's Pendulum - Too Obscure To Piss Off The Pope.

Despite the glut of ridiculous controversy surrounding the rather mediocre Da Vinci Code -- which to date includes the outrage of an 'Albino rights' group and the ruffled feathers of the 'mythical' Opus Dei - a great deal of the information at the heart of the story is based on fact. Given quotes from Vatican officials, such as Monsignor Robert Sarno, "I just think it has been given a lot more truth value and faith value than it has; it just reads as an entertaining value,' perhaps their gripe is that their Holy scripture is much the same.

The Da Vinci Code is not the first book to cover these subjects; it may, however, be the most watered down and trivialized. In a world where everything must be accurately summarized in a paragraph, it is no wonder that it became a mass market hit. For that reason, I wanted to point your attention towards Foucault's Pendulum, a book which was both a little too dense and a little too early to catch the recognition it deserved. (Though it has sold fairly well, Eco's book didn't sell nearly as many copies as Brown's. Luck aside, this is probably because Foucault's Pendulum requires more concentration.)

Some of the sources for The Da Vinci Code, such as Holy Blood, Holy Grail, have received press as being one of the authors sources. Whether or not it was a research source for Brown, Foucault's Pendulum, a book by Umberto Eco first published in 1988, provides a similar tale, on the surface. There are conspiracies within the Church, and of course the Holy Grail and the David Bowie's of the conspiracy theory world, the Knights Templar. However it delivers this content with a much richer pseudo-historic background, full characters, and an air of self-irony rather than self-congratulation. I do not mean to imply that these books are carbon copies of each other. The plot of Foucault's Pendulum revolves around Casaubon, who is writing a thesis on the Knights Templar when the linear plotline begins. He eventually begins working as an editor with a small press, and he and his cohorts are approached by a curious Colonel who proposes that the Knights Templar had a plan to take over the world, which was meant to come to pass in 1944. Quite obviously they couldn't have accounted for World War II. Casaubon and the other members of the press begin taking in crackpot theories, and enter them into a computer they call Abulafia (after the 13th century Kabbalist.) Very soon real secret societies catch wind of their pet project, and, believing them to have access to an arcane secret involving the telluric currents of the planet, the race is on - all surrounding a 'truth' which very well may just be pure fancy. This is part of the beauty of this book, that the author had an understanding of the high school politics lurking within most cults, be they above or below ground.

The only marked difference within some of these secret societies is that the greatest social status goes to those with the highest degree, and the most 'secrets,' rather than the flashy car. More importantly, when revealed, many of the highest truths and inner secrets are jokes - and many things make us laugh because they are true. Eco is able to provide this realization without stating it headlong, and for that alone it is worth the read. I won't spoil the story for you by divulging more than that. Like many good books, you may have to do some outside reading and research to really follow it, though you won't have nearly as much of a goose chase as you might with James Joyce's Finnegann's Wake, which is the proverbial example of a real code that requires cracking to make any sense whatsoever. For those few brave souls who still enjoy reading books that don't shovel their sugar coated content down your throat, I highly recommend it.

Attrition's 2008 album, All mine enemys whispers (The Story of Mary Ann Cotton) available ...

Asides from being great pop culture horror/action flicks, the Underworld movies were also known ...

I'm driving along in a 1963 Cadillac trying to hold the lumbering sway of ...

So I'm driving down the road listening to your stereotypical alternative rock station when ...

If you're a casual Nine Inch Nails listener, this digital download is probably not ...