Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Has anyone read Foucault's Pendulum? I'm about 150 pages into it. At times, I'm finding it confusing and tedious (a lot of background information before the action finally starting), but then I think, "Man, Eco is so smart!" Finding it very similar to Dan Brown's work, but Dan Brown dumbed it down.

I read it many years ago, and remember the slow start. After finishing I was happy that I made it all the way though. The book has some though provoking ideas. Do not read Eco for entertainment. He is absolutely not easy. My favourite Eco is Name of the Rose. It is on my very-short list of potential re-reads.

Having only read one Dan Brown I would say he is more action, maybe better composed but far more lightweight on the philosophy. Dan Brown is for entertainment.

I just finished this last week. I agree with what J said, that it's not an easy read. I don't think Eco is giving you the book you want to read, either. ("You" in the general sense.) It's like the movie of a maddeningly involved director (Malick or Kubrick for example), who often seem to be showing you not what you want to see, but what they want you to see, and for exactly as long as they want to show it, whether or not you're growing impatient.

I walked away from the book with very different ideas about it than I had going in.

Had a great concept and potencial but the novel suffers considerably due to it's overbearing and overindulgent execution. It felt like I was reading a history book at times. The narrative constantly diverted towards historical factoids (some of these were very interesting, others dull and overexposed that did not add much to the novel) which sucked a good deal of the life, excitement and thrills out of the story. Not unbearable but a bit of a chore to finish. "The Prague Cemitery" and "The Name Of The Rose" are far superior.
I will add that conspiracy theory based fiction is usually not my cup of tea and I have zero interest in reading anything by Dan Brown, Daniel Silva or anything of the sort. That said, my problem with Eco's novel was not with it's theme, plot or heavyhandedness of his prose but simply with his nagging habit of showing off his knowledge "ad nauseaum", even when the facts he exposes are not nearly essencial to the novel.

This is the book my very intelligent father who is completionist, professor in botanics and never gives up on anything he has begun, never finished. The one book he gave up upon. This book scares me...

I hope I will understand it enough to enjoy it a little bit at least. Probably not this year though....