Umberto Eco.

[Bullwinkle925]

I am halfway through "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" and find this to be a most joyful read. I've always been a bit hesitant to read him as I have thought he could be a 'bit over my head'. I've jumped into this book and am very happy to have done so. The writing is delicious. Anyone who loves 'words and language' will adore this book - as well as all of the illustrations that are woven into this piece of fiction. I know that I will walk away from this book completely satisfied and that this book will stay with me for a long time.
Anyone who has read this care to share their thoughts?

[patrice]

1. Haven't read it yet. Thanks for the tip!

I love The Name of the Rose! Couldn't quite handle Foucault's Pendelum.

[Bullwinkle925]

2. I've seen the movie "In the Name of the Rose" but have not read the book.

I made the mistake of picking up 'Foucault's Pendulum' and promptly put it down. I might still have that one in my stacks of 'to be read' - or I could have sold it to a used book store. I think it was that book that made me feel Eco would probably be too daunting for me to consider.

[patrice]

4. The book, of course has more in it. It is Eco afterall, really rich stuff.

If you like Eco, you'll probably also like Iain Pears. Pears is like a more accessible Eco; he wrote An Instance of the Fingerpost, which was on the NYT Bestseller list for quite a while, and also The Dream of Scipio, both books are delightful!

[MrPrax]

3. WTF?

Lovely prose like that?

And you think Umberto Eco might be a 'bit over my head'?

I love 'words and language'! Like how tinned meat can be a metaphor for repetition and advertising?

So what did you think of the jolly good show of the footnotes in Foucault's Pendulum? Ripping, no? A satisfying use of fakery?

Share your thoughts?

[Bullwinkle925]

8. Whoa ...

I'm not in your league. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this work of Eco's. I take it you are not a fan of his. I also take it that you enjoy ripping people apart. As I am certainly not an intellectual genius (such as yourself) I would admit to putting down "Foucault's Pendulum" thinking "WTF" and moving on to something more enjoyable. It's always a pleasure for me when I pick up a book and find richness in detail and plot that makes me not want to put it down. "The Mysterious Flame..." is doing that for me.
Have you read it? I'm currently in the section of the book where he is researching his life through Fascist Italy and it is causing me to reflect on what is currently happening here with the Bush Administration. Not so very different.

Are you always on the attack - or do you occasionally make book recommendations for others?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. There were footnotes in Foucault's?

I don't remember any.

[jobycom]

5. I've read "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum," and have been working on

"The Island of the Day Before" for a couple of years. :) I was just planning to start it again. It's a bit plodding and dull to me, so far. It seems to lack the linguistic precision of his earliest two works, or maybe it has the precision but not his easy prose. Or maybe it's the translation. It's just never gripped me entirely, neither emotionally nor intellectually. Gotta have one or the other.

I was a medieval history grad student when I read his other two, so they flowed well for me. A lot of "The Name of the Rose" was lifted straight from medieval religious treatises. The movie is also very good, but not similar to the book. The movie is a light period mystery, the book is an intellectual epic, in that while it only happens physically in a monastery, the intellectual backdrop of the book encompasses the whole of European theology. It's also brilliant in the way it constructs the mystery and the actual story in a way that reveals the theological debates of the time, and even by the end captures a couple of fatal theological flaws. William of Baskerville by the end of the book goes one step away from disproving God, then backs off. To me, it's one of the great novels of all time in any language, but yeah, it's difficult if you aren't versed in the history and theology he is using.

"Foucault's Pendulum" was a reverse "Da Vinci Code," in a way. It, too, delved into the world of international, multi-generational conspiracy theories involving the descendants of Jesus, using much of the same background as "Code" used, only delving into more detail. Much easier read than "Rose," though. While you can get overwhelmed by the detail, the plot moves along more traditionally, and the characters are emotionally engaging after you reach a certain point. And you don't have to pick up every detail to enjoy the conclusion. It's a good book for conspiracy folk, as it shows how easy it is to construct false conspiracies--though I won't reveal whether they are all fake in the book. For that matter, I won't even reveal whether the book reveals whether they are all wrong, or not.

Eco was my favorite writer for a while, but after I got bogged down in "Island," I quit following him. I'll have to look up the one you mention. I've missed him, frankly. Aside from Jan Martell, Tracy Chevalier, and, though he's supposed to be a genre writer, Gene Wolfe, I haven't found any writers as complex and multi-dimensional as Eco.

You've got me interested in him again. I can see "Island of the Day Before" on my "unread" shelf from where I sit. I think I'll fall asleep with it tonight. :)

[Bullwinkle925]

9. Thank you for your response.

I wish I had the knowledge that you have regarding midieval history - sadly, my education level isn't as advanced as yours. It would be great if bookstores would pick an author (such as Eco) who is difficult for most readers to understand and have 'seminars' discussing the books and period history that his works are taken from. You would be a terrific facilitator and contributor to such an event. I love it when I find an author who gives me a 'glimmer' of something great. I know that I'm just skimming the surface of what he is offering in "Mysterious Flame..." but I'm so glad to have picked it up. It definitely has a plot that is easily interpreted. It encourages me to once again attempt "Foucault's Pendulum" and perhaps pick up "Name of the Rose". I'm afraid that I'll become hopelessly lost but at least you've given me a 'heads up' on plot.
Now you have me curious regarding "Island..." - I'll be zooming over to Amazon to check it out.
:toast:

[Orrex]

12. You should check out Baudolino, if you haven't already

It's by far his most fantastical work. It's highly accessible and should have particular appeal for a student of medieval history.

[Bullwinkle925]

15. Thanks -

I shall add it to my list when I'm roaming around the used book store.
There is nothing that makes me happier (well, I can think of 2 things, perhaps :7 ) than reading a delicious book.

[undergroundpanther]

6. I love Ecco

Phillip K Dick too.
Valis..dayum..Loved it.

[Crocodile Hunter]

7. I have it

I have "The Mysterious Flame...", but I haven't read it yet. I plan to, because it looks interesting.

I liked "Valis" too.

[WCGreen]

10. I absolutly loved this book....

It was clever and the blending of the past with the present really paid off...

The part about the Partisans at the end of the war made me cry...

[Orrex]

11. I'm a huge fan of Eco

We have all of his novels, most of his essays, and more than a few of his heavy-duty philosophical works. His writing is always rich and engaging, and he maintains a wry tone of wit that's seldom matched by his contemporaries.

However, I wasn't particularly thrilled with Mysterious Flame. It contained far too many lengthy digressions into the minutiae of fascist Italian propaganda for my liking, and after a while it all started to blur for me.

And unfortunately it had about the most unsatisfying ending of any book I've read in quite a few years.

No spoilers, but you'll likely say something like "You've got to be kidding me" when you get to the end.


You've been warned!

[Bullwinkle925]

14. (Caution - spoilers) You're correct regarding the ending - I was expecting something

more explosive. Or, perhaps, there is so much meaning to the ending that it escaped me? It is the first book (for me, that is) that made an outright statement that perhaps God is evil. Since I'm an agnostic, (having grown up in the Baptist Church/Bible Belt) it made me think in areas that I hadn't previously - my notion was equivocally that God just didn't exist - but that perhaps God, itself, is the embodiment of evil is an idea that has me intrigued. I had always thought of the 'God' persona throughout scripture to be such a narcissist in wanting nothing less than complete adulation and capitulation by those who must worship it.
I enjoyed the Italian Fascist references and especially the story of rescuing the Russian soldiers from the Germans. Now I'm trying to decide whether or not the protagonist had ever surfaced from his coma and that the entire story was nothing more than memories being pieced together in a random fashion until his death at the end.
At least - it is a book that leaves me thinking about it on various levels.
I'll definitely attempt further readings by Eco.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. I loved Foucaults Pendulum,

It took me a while to get through it,and I haven't read anything else by him .

SO many books , so little time.

[Bullwinkle925]

16. Damn - I know.

You should see my house - books stacked in almost every room - and I STILL purchase more with the thoughts that I'll eventually get to each and every one of them. It's an addiction, I'm telling you!

BTW - Did you read "Jitterbug Perfume"? Its on my list to get but haven't found a copy yet at the used bookstore. I keep looking. Perhaps I'll order from Amazon - we'll see.

Pardon me if we've had this conversation before - memory is not something that I find to be intact for me all the time - darn it.

[JitterbugPerfume]

17. I have read Jitterbug Perfume a couple of times

but it was a while back . Let me know hoe you like it , ok?

I bought ANOTHER bookcase just a couple of weeks ago, and I still have books stacked up everywhere. My place is small and I am running out of room .


sometimes a bad memory can be a good thing LOL:hi:

[Bullwinkle925]

18. I wish that I could have 'selective' bad memory ......

I can't seem to forget those rat bastards in D.C.
Crappity-crap!