Just read Foucault's Pendulum about a month ago. Amazing book - a real heavy read though.
As with comparisons to The Da Vinci Code goes, the Dan Brown book is like a kids book compared to Eco's book. Sure, both talk about the Templars, but Eco's goes so much more deeper into the legends and myths.
The book is extremely rich in detail and you can see Eco has done some proper homework before putting pen to paper. Yes, a lot of the facts presented might be contested by scholars but on the whole, it's a solid piece of writing with much fewer eccentricities than Brown's novel.
Also, the book has a much better storyline than Brown's book. After I read it, I felt good and that I accomplished something. The story was awesome and I felt that at the end, I actually did something worthwhile.
With Brown's book; yes, I was fascinated by it but after Googling for an hour or two after I'd read the book, the book is not such a miraculous novel as I once thought it was.
If you have the time (and more importantly, the patience) read Foucualt's Pendulum. It is a MUCH MUCH better book than The Da Vinci Code. And if you do intend reading both books, read The Da Vinci Code first
Oh, and you'll need a comprehensive Encyclopaedia, not a dictionary. I sat with my GPRS enabled cellphone and Googled everything I didn't understand whilst reading Foucault's Pendulum!
