Eco's tic

Derek Bell · 26 Aug 1998, 15:55 · from urth-v0018.mbox · original

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From: Derek Bell <dbell at maths.tcd.ie>
Subject: Re: (urth) Eco's tic
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 16:55:24 +0100
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In message <199808252038.NAA10702 at lists1.best.com>, m.driussi at genie.com wri=
tes:
>But mainly I want to argue that FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM, which I didn't
>like very much (agreeing with you, I'm guessing), is on second glance
>rather a lot like THE NAME OF THE ROSE (which I liked better).  They
>both in their conclusions involve a destruction of the "fiction"
>which has been so carefully built up between the author and the
>reader over the course of the novel.

	I think that _Foucault's Pendulum_ deals with matters of
interpretation and over-interpretation. At one point the narrator
mentions that Belbo had a list of 120 quotes from various people. I
noticed that there were 120 short sections in the book, each with a
quote at the start - hmmm... is Eco hinting that these are the quotes
in Belbo's list?

	On the other hand, it could also be read as a book about
reason being enslaved to an obsession with power.

	Derek - not a Knight Templar, honest!

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