Summer bestseller delivers mix of Princeton lore, fact and fiction

Truth is stranger than fiction, the old adage says. Ian Caldwell '98, and Dustin Thomason (Harvard '98), authors of the new novel "The Rule of Four," most certainly know this better than anyone.

Set on the Princeton campus in 1999, their book tells the story of four roommates, Gil, Charlie, Paul and Tom, finishing out their final year at Princeton. It's spring and thesis deadlines are approaching; Paul's focuses on the obscure and profoundly difficult Renaissance text, "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili." Written in a combination of languages on a vast array of topics, the text has intrigued scholars for years, but no one had been able to completely decipher it. As Paul comes closer and closer to unlocking the text's mysteries, it becomes clear that much more is at stake than a simple senior thesis. Murder, lies and betrayal ensue as Paul struggles to solve the text's riddles.

Fast-paced and highly intellectual, the book deserves the press and renown it has so far accumulated. Published in May by the Dial Press, the novel has received positive reviews, become a New York Times bestseller and currently tops the U-Store's "Orange List" (their top-selling books). Comparisons have been drawn with Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code."

Caldwell and Thomason's book enchants and captivates, taking the reader on a wild ride through both modern-day Princeton and Renaissance Italy. Caught up in the intrigue, it's not until the end that you really step back to wonder: How much of this is real? The answer, surprisingly, is quite a bit of it.

The text on which the plot centers, "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," is absolutely authentic. Published in 1499, it is considered one of the most valuable books in the history of Western printing, akin to the Gutenberg Bible. (Caldwell was first introduced to it in a Princeton seminar called "Renaissance Art, Science, and Magic.") The acrostic (created by stringing together the first letter of each chapter) to which the authors refer, "Poliam Frater Franciscus Columna Peramavit" (which translates to "Brother Francesco Colonna Loved Polia Tremendously"), is also genuine.

"Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" is enigmatic, perplexing readers and scholars since its publication; it was only recently, in 1999, that a full English translation of it was completed. The mysteries posed by the text (What does it all mean? Why was it written?) are thus quite real, but Caldwell and Thomason's "solution" is of their own invention. According to the two, scholarly debates continue as to the identity of the text's author: "internal evidence" (such as the acrostic) suggests his name was Francesco Colonna, but as Caldwell and Thomason discuss in their novel, two such men lived in Italy during the period of the text's publication. Here, in the "The Rule of Four," the line between fact and fiction is clearly crossed: pursuing their "solution" to the enigmatic text, the authors definitively attribute "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" to one man, inventing both details about his life and his motive for writing the treatise.

The extensive use of codes and ciphers (and the hidden messages they reveal) throughout the text are essentially the pair's creation, as well. Although the author clearly used some codes (such as the acrostic), and the existence of more is suspected, nothing to the extent of what Paul discovers has been identified at this time.

The major Renaissance figures the book discusses (artists, writers, thinkers) are generally real, though their precise places in history are occasionally blurred.

When it comes to Princeton itself, things are a little more concrete. The book generally portrays campus geography accurately—the protagonists share a quad in Dod; Holder, Marquand and Ivy also make prominent appearances—but admit to tweaking certain elements (such as Ivy's floor plan) to suit their needs.

As Caldwell and Thomason discuss in an author's note at the end of the novel, representations of University activities and traditions also vary in their authenticity: the authors faithfully depict the thesis process, but shift the timing of the Nude Olympics (a real Princeton "tradition," now banned, but still practiced during Caldwell's time at the University) and completely invent "Easter Services" and the accompanying formal at Ivy.

Caldwell and Thomason's version of Princeton is, thus, like their book: although firmly rooted in reality, it takes enough artistic license to allow the story to progress and unfold in the grand tradition of "intellectual suspense novels." Intriguing, interesting and thoroughly engaging, "The Rule of Four" balances fact and fiction, taking a bit of the best of both worlds.