The Rule of Four

I am a voracious reader but not one who will stay up past my bedtime to finish a book. It is a very rare book that will keep up to the wee hours. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason is one of those rare books. The first half of this decade seems to have inspired a number of mystery books set around books and art. I don't think it's a Dan Brown phenomena even though his Angeles & Demons comes at the head of this trend in 2000. I think his novels are part of something bigger which includes The Rule of Four, and the mysteries by Matthew Pearl among others. The Rule of Four centers around a Princeton undergraduate's project to decode the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499). The story could have just as easily been about a fictional tome. The four main characters: Thomas (the narrator), Paul (the protagonist), Charlie and Gil drive the story more than this enigmatic book does. Knowing that the book does exist and their discussions of its history is based on fact does add an extra layer of interest to this mystery but it's really just icing. The novel reminds me most of A Separate Peace by John Knowles (1959). Tom's friendship with Paul parallel's Gene's devotion to Finny. Where Tom has long since given up on the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (his father having tried and failed to crack the book's secrets), Paul has that something extra that's needed to understand the hidden truth. It is Paul's connection to Finny that made me go from liking the book to loving it.

I spent like three years trying to find this book and it was SO worth it. The simultaneously inspiring and tragic academia-focused book we all need.

** spoiler alert ** A nice little thriller about an obscure text from the Renaissance (quattrocento) set in modern times. This falls into the genre of historical fiction that's similar to Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series or films like the Nicolas Cage National Treasure series, though not quite as "rompish". I have to imagine that those who liked Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Gentlemen and Players, and The Thirteenth Tale will enjoy this quite a lot. Spoilers follow: The Vincent Taft character could have been a better "heavy" but was pretty functional in the story given his limited appearances in the actual plot. I saw the Savonarola portion of the plot a mile away, but to most this will be an interesting historical diversion/lesson. I thought the ending was a bit too literary given the more plot-motivated feel of the rest of the narrative, but in all, it was relatively satisfying given Tom's full back-story. I can see this being adapted into film, but it will take some creative ideas to better linearize the plot and to make the ending a bit bigger for the screen.