Rule of Four

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I recently finished reading The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, and was impressed by the tension and readability maintained by the authors in an otherwise erudite story. The book revolves around an ancient Renaissance manuscript (real), with the tongue twisting title  Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which translated means Polipholos Strife of Love in a Dream. It’s text has baffled and divided scholars for the last five centuries.

The story involves four Princeton scholars, one, Paul Harris, is obsessed by a consuming  need to translate its polyglot text and riddles, having based his final thesis at college on doing so. Paul has persuaded Tom Sullivan to help him because of Tom’s familial involvement with the ancient text. Tom’s father spent his life trying to unravel the mysteries of the text, and though having failed in his quest uncovered a clue before his death which opened the way for the final key to be found. The other two, Charles and Gil, are less involved with the actual breaking of the final code, but are major players in the drama surrounding the work.The monumental task taken on by Paul and Tom makes for a compelling read of murder, obsession, greed and revenge  - it kept me glued .                                                                       

There is a great deal of information on the Internet about the novel and about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which has influenced scholar, poets and artists through the centuries. In 1999 the complete ancient manuscript was finally translated into English, by Joscelyn Godwin, composer, musicologist and translator.

The Rule of Four, was published in 2004 and was on the New York Time’s Top 10 list for months. It became a national and international best seller and has sold well over a million copies. It is also being turned into a movie, (as of 2007). 

Praised as being a better read than the Da Vinci Code, and condemned as a mediocre copy of Dan Brown’s novel, it is in fact a totally different story. Though they are both involved with hidden mysteries and riddles they cannot be compared – apples to oranges. Also, Dan Brown wrote his book years after The Rule of Four came out, so who is the follower? I must recommend a great blog where the pros and cons for and against the book can be found. The reviews supplied by various readers of the novel give a good idea of the controversy it engendered.  http://www.goodreads.com/

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I must also add, that I believe that many of the adverse reviews seem to reflect a lack of intellect. Of course I’m biased, but this book is not a trite treatise, it is the outcome of a great deal of study and intellectual acumen by the two authors.