Parsing the Sum

Not less than a month ago I found myself chatting with my good friend Roger. The discussion was limited to the eschatological: Russian Literature and the fate of the preterite in the closing weeks of the NBA season. Couple became crowd as a lad joined and after making some absurd comments about music asked if we were interested in "Chi-Chi Guevara." Helplessly smiling but polite we inquired as to whether the golfer or the revolutionary was the intended subject. Roger adroitly spoke on the legacy of Che and the subsequent Soderburg biopic which bled into a discussion as to why both Roger and I were disappointed in such. Seemingly only a pint later, the gentleman intruded again and asked if we knew about the Black Pope. The lack of response prompted this now quite drunk bloke to recite in an eerie monotone some timeworn script about the New World Order and the symbiosis between banking, the media and, ultimately, transnational detention centers. Attempts for verifiable sources ensued, but eventually it was only a collection of websites that were furnished. Losing my composure, I asked how secret this society could be , if it was discovered by someone like him. I recall stating to the zealot that this was among the stranger discussions I have had in recent memory.

Such may have been clinging in my mind when I decided to reread Foucault's Pendulum last week. I first read it while in University and I have dived into it at least ten times since and read significant chunks. No, it isn't the epitome of style, but it a cauldron of ideas, one i find irresistible. The charming feature of this reading was the bracketing of High and Low Art and Causobon's estimation of their correspondence to reality.