I am a philosophy major and was never a serious reader of literature. About two years ago i took an intro to literature class in college and because of the professors way of teaching fell in love with the subject. Haven't stop reading great fiction since then and now i am considering applying for a master in american lit! Bookchemist your videos inspire me and contribute in elevating my recently discovered passion for written narrative more than any other lit related youtube channel! Thank you!
I remember trying to read The Prague's Cemetery some years ago and quite failed at it, although I was like 14 at the time so what Eco was going for probably flew over my head since I wasn't prepared for how dense and rambly he can be (and of course the slow beginnings). Years after that at uni we read both On Ugliness and History of Beauty, and I absolutely fell in love with Umberto Eco as a writer, which made me try The Name of the Rose last year and was one of my top reads. Amazing stuff. Probably will try to remove the dust of my old Prague's Cemetary copy and give it another shot soon since you've talked so well about it! And eventually will try to check his other works, he truly is a reader's writer and I love that.
I was still in high school, at a beautiful seaside city in summer when Foucault's Pendulum cover captivated me at a bookstore. I didn't know anything about the book or the author, but I bought it. I struggled a few times with the beginning, as the book was in my second language, but once I really got going, it became my all-time favorite book. I have been re-reading this book many many times, and discovering exciting things in it on every reading. The sequence where Leah lovingly explains to Casaubon how every number (and basically everything) could have a meaning if you look at it from a certain angle is my forever favorite. Belbo is definitely one of my top literary characters with his complexity, flaws and humanity. I cannot stop rambling about this book. I got obsessed with Eco, and read Name of the Rose, which was very much fun but as you said, nowhere near the Pendulum. I read Baudalino and had immense fun with it. I did not enjoy Numero Zero as much sadly, and I remember when Prague Cemetery came out in my country I was super excited, but could not really get into it. I should give it a go again, it's a pity to miss out on any of his books considering he has only written 7 of them! Thank you for the reviews!
There's one interview of Eco's here on youtube that I watched some time ago, in which, with his usual brilliant enthusiasm and humor, he touches upon an early version of Manzoni's Promessi Sposi. This version, apparently, featured a long initial chapter which was a long kind-of-document of the times in which the novel, the historical novel, is purposely set by the author. You know, laws, an administrative report of sort, basically some kind of tedious grocery store list. In the interview Eco theorized that this initial part was there just to be skipped, or skip-read, of maybe diagonally read, and he appeared so amused by the whole idea. That introduction was, according to him, actually a great read. But one had to revisit it in full only after having read the rest of the novel: only then the reader could really appreciate its value, its meaning, how it drew the contour of the world pictured in Manzoni's masterpiece. I think the first 60 or so pages of Il pendolo di Foucault are basically Eco's own version of that, in some way. To me personally, those pages represented the price of admission for one of my all time favorite books. Indeed I abandoned the novel when I got lost and exhausted in that initial part, the 1st time I tried to read Il pendolo, as a high school student. But when I tried again, some 10 years later: oh the marvel, how cheap of a ticket to pay, those pages revealed to be! I did read your top 3 choices, and Il nome della rosa of course (it's the 1st of Eco's I read, after watching the film on TV, so many years ago). I agree on your ranking when it comes to those 4, by the way. I just ordered a paper version of Numero Zero online, after watching some of your videos, so it'll be entirely you fault if I end up reading something great again. THANKS! p.p.s. (I know, it comes before the p.s. ... LOL!) Look for the video "Baudolino: Lying About the Future Produces History" here on youtube if you're interested in Eco's own take and experience on his novels' translation: it's THE topic he speaks about there (the video title is completely misleading), and I see many comments here talking about this very same thing. You'll be entertained, and it's a very good insight on that! p.s. Ho scritto in inglese, ma sono italiano pure io. E' bello vedere che ci sono molti che amano profondamente l'opera di Eco anche fuori dai confini nazionali. ... Ma è gennaio, 2023. E dispero di avere ancora anni abbastanza su questo pianeta per vedere qualcuno degno di raccogliere la fiaccola lasciata da Eco, e da pochi altri prima di lui. Qualcuno in grado di vedere e raccontare in modo vero, intelligente e sincero, nella nostra lingua o in altre. ... E non sono nemmeno tanto vecchio, porco boia!
I came across your channel because I wanted to hear discussions on some of Eco's work. I read Foucault's first and Name of the Rose after. Although on the level of a story The Name of the Rose is perhaps the greatest piece of work I've read in all my years(although not a student or professional I'm deeply intrigued by theology and medieval history), I will agree with one thing. I have never read anything like Foucault's Pendulum. The book almost provides an experience so singular, so unique that I end up pondering more over that than my favorite.
Wow, you get my subscription, that was incredibly engaging and has convinced me to jump in a read some of his work, which has been on my list for quite some time.
The first Eco I read were, as a student of philosophy and linguistics/semiotic, his "Theory of Semiotics", "Semiotics & the Philosophy of Language", of course "Opera Aperta" (in German), and later "Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages". Eco for us was the prototype and model of the intellectual we all wanted to become one day. - What was crazy and funny: I did a summer job in a big book warehouse and was packing hundreds of copies of Eco's "Name o. t. R." in parcels to be delivered to bookstores - and did not realize that Eco was the same writer! Finally I got it and read it. It is one of the best novels I ever read, also because I was very interested in the philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages. I much enjoyed the theological discussions. No other book gives you better insight into that world and the transition to nominalism. Also read his dialogues with Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, also very interesting. - then I bought "Foucaults Pendulum" - and never read it. As I loved medeaval theology, so much I was appalled and just absolutely not interested in occult pseudo-sciences. I als happen to have a copy of "Prague Cemetary" I also did not read, because I have read so much history books on the topics and times of that novel that I lost interest. But this one I will pick up sooner or later ...
@sleepybunny Ja. Ich kann sie ja nicht mit dem Italienischen vergleichen, aber sie liest sich gut. Ich kann den Roman nur empfehlen, in jeder Hinsicht. Mit dem "Pendel" dagegen konnte ich mich, wie oben gesagt, gar nicht anfreunden.
What a great ranking of my favorite author's novels. Thank you for reminding everybody the genius of Umberto Eco. Only disagreement I would have is to put The Prague Cemetery at the top and Foucault's Pendulum second. His collections of essays are also wonderful. Cheers!
I read Foucault's pendulum more or less in parallel with Gravity's rainbow a month ago. Interesting to see them both a bit as different sides of the same medal. That being said, I think that as a historian I enjoyed the name of the rose a bit more because of its level of historical detail. I will definitely try the Prague cemetery soon!
You have no idea how excited I am for this video from you. I really need to read more Umberto Eco, and this is going to be the perfect list to decide. Thanks! The Name of the Rose is one of my top books of all time, it was so perfect. I guess I've been a bit intimidated by his other work being as impressive and either worrying about disappointment, or the book hangover I'll have afterwards.
If Foucault’s Pendulum isn’t number one, we’re not friends anymore. Edit: we can still be friends. I agree with your take on The Prague Cemetary. If I take my personal feelings on Foucault’s Pendulum’s themes and style out of the equation, The Prague Cemetery is Eco’s masterpiece. It combines the best parts of all his previous novels into Eco just flexing his muscles by showing he can still score a hit by doing exactly what he’s been criticized for. Should probably be the first Eco for most people. Fun fact: it’s the only one of Eco’s novel’s that was translated with Eco’s direct input. It’s also the only one of Eco’s novels that I think it better in Dutch than it is in English.
I think because I'm an old man, I loved Queen Loana. I don't know if I it would have touched me so deeply had I been younger. I also read it in Italy which I'm sure added to the atmosphere.
I became a fan after The Name of the Rose, and have subsequently read Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino. My favourite probably being Foucault's Pendulum, not least because the old Broken Sword games I devoured when I was younger took inspiration from the novel and I think I felt an affinity with the text based on those early experiences. I was wondering which novel to grab next and you have convinced me to pick up The Prague Cemetery, I know I will not be disappointed. Excellent video as always.
Thanks for this very articulate rendering of Ecco's work. You clearly have a flair for it. I have started to read 'Prague Cemetery' and I am in no doubt that the author is an accomplished writer. I must say though, it does not seem that 'historical truths' or 'love for truth', is his strong suit. 'The Name of The Rose' is, as you said, a Sherlock Holmes story, imposed on a time Ecco completely misrepresents. As for 'Europe's prejudice and hate', gosh, there is and has been a lot more of that outside than inside it. Would be interesting to know what spurred in Ecco all this hate and prejudice against the church and Christian Europe. That is just a thought, anyway, based mostly on the screen representations of his work (which are lamentable at best to the clear-minded and those remotely interested in the truth), and so I am willing to change my mind. Anyway, good luck with everything, and well done.
I'm yet to read Foucault's Pendulum. I was always intimidated by it but now I am stoked to tackle it at once. The Prague Cemetery was definitely the most engaging and exciting of his novels to me. But all his books are fascinating. I read Baudolino in Portuguese and it seems to translate well - and I also know that Eco was consulted during the translation process.
I only read The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino so far, but I personally feel like Baudolino really did a better job of intertwining the scholarly data with the narrative in a way that's more engaging than the earlier two novels. Going to check out The Prague Cemetery next - been itching to get back into Eco!
Thank you! I've been thinking about getting back to Eco (I've read The Prague Cemetery only) but I've been unsure where to go next. Baudolino and Foucault's Pendulum interest me the most now.
That was great, many thanks. Like you, I've read all of Eco's fiction. Now maybe because The Name of the Rose was the first of his that I read, I still prefer that to any other. The thing that you criticise was something that I found fascinating about the book. The digressions about the schisms in the church etc, all added to my knowledge of the period and gave me a better understanding of what the book was exploring. It made me feel intelligent, if that can be put forward as a plus. Foucault's Pendulum comes next and in fact it was a two-day binge read on holiday one year. I think that The Prague Cemetery comes next. Some of his other books I'd class as entertainments and there's nothing wrong with that.
Thank you for doing this! It was interesting to see your favorites order. I agree on your top two. I actually thought The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana was one of his best - perhaps because it's so vulnerable and personal. I think for Americans especially, the idea of reflecting on the pop culture that shaped you as a child - and which you have come to see was quite problematic and propagandic - really resonates. Baudolino is the one book you always find in second hand stores here - I don't know why people don't like it.
Great to see Foucault’s Pendulum top the list! It’s one of my favourite novels of all times; in a way, it was also prescient in showing how conspiracy theories rise and gain a hold among more and more people. Prague Cemetery is excellent as well. Found the Island of the Day Before too meandering, however - gave it up halfway.
I consider Foucault's Pendulum and Gravity's Rainbow to be sister novels. But while Pynchon is speaking in fractions Eco is talking about the same things but using decimals, or the other way around.
Likewise, I consider Mason & Dixon and The Island of the Day Before sister novles. Both concerned with the Enlightenment, the emergence of modern science, the Longitude Problem, religion, naval history, world exploration... :)
I loved The Name of the Rose but I loved Foucault’s Pendulum even more! I cannot wait to read more. I’m reading Prague’s Cemetery now and although it is quite different it is still very good.
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I'm so happy to see Foucault's Pendulum in the first spot. It's also my all time favorite books from Eco and even for all time for me!
Nice review! Personally, I do like Eco, even if he gets rambly at times :P The first novel of his that I read was The Name of The Rose, and it's still my favourite (what can I say, I am partial to murder mysteries). Then I read Foucault's Pendulum, which is awesome (I smiled when you mentioned the categorisation of stupid people; that has stuck with me as well). Baudolino I didn't like much because of how preposterous it was. The Island of the Day Before I found pretty interesting. I haven't read the other three, but since you recommend The Prague Cemetery I may check it out!
Hell yeahh so glad you put Foucault’s Pendulum as number one. I haven’t ready any of Eco’s other books but that’s still one of my favorite books ever. The ending is just pure transcendence.. RIP Belbo
I've never read him. You got me into Gravity's Rainbow and Barney's Version, so I'll look into him eventually. 3) Baudolino 2) The Prague Cemetery 1) Foucault's Pendulum
The funny thing about the name of the rose is that I wanted more of the religious history and the mystery didn't interest me so much, I felt that was a bit too predictable. The Pendulum is also my favorite.
Thank you so much for this video. I have been reading Eco since the 90s. I had seen NOTR and loved the film so I read Foucault´s Pendulum and adored than book. I have read most of the others but I can not get into Prague Cemetery. Maybe because everyone in it is awful, maybe because we know antisemitism in Europe (and elsewhere) gets worse not better after the action discussed in the book. It is still sitting on my nightstand, mocking me 2 years on. Maybe it is time to try again.
Thank you so much for this video, I love this series of yours! I was assigned The Name of the Rose in a college class and found that I had the same opinion as yours, so thank you for turning me to Prague Cemetery. Do you plan on doing a ranking video for the works of Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Jennifer Egan & Michael Chabon?
I think I filmed one for Chabon, but I might have removed it (I sometimes do that for old videos that I don't feel represent my views anymore). I might film a new one for him and Egan, why not, especially after reading Candy House! As for DeLillo, it's been ages (more than a decade!) since I read his novels, while I only read three novels in Vonnegut's fairly large ouvre. Thank you for the comment :)!
What I feel about Eco is that his books are not made of the stuff of literature as much as they're made of the stuff of knowledge and intllecect and general learning. Could you point out to some criticism in italy? All I can think of is Salman Rushdie's harsh criticism against Pendolo (he calls it "a video game" for the learned, where the game is to find the reference). Va bene se gli articoli sono in italiano. By the by, hai visto l'edizione della Nave di Teseo del Nome? Con i suoi disegni
Purtroppo non ho davvero consigli sulla critica - gli unici pareri su Eco che conosco li ho assorbiti in conversazioni private o recensioni più che da articoli critici!
I am overjoyed to have stumbled upon your page. Great review of Eco. So, since you mentioned that your are from Italy; are you also a chemist like Primo Levy? Did you name your channel after Levy's book the Alchemist? As I recall Levy was from the northern part of Italy. Please keep posting these in-depth accessible reviews. Joe
Foucault's Pendulum 10/10 The Name Of The Rose 10/10 Baudolino 8.5/10 The Island Of The Day Before 8.5/10 comparatively: The Alchemist 7/10 The Da Vinci Code 7.5/10
I think Umberto Eco is one of the most misunderstood thinkers of the last decades, at least in Italy. Yes, "thinkers", instead of writers. Why? Simply put, he never was a writer - in the "novelist" sense of the term, of course. He was a great reader and a great essayist, and his greatest invention, in my opinion, was his own particular semiotics, his tool to convert the raw material of the reading process into a series of works. Because of this, he will always be a milestone. But he never ever was a novelist. He never wrote a novel. Yes, "The Name of the Rose" and "Baudolino" and so forth are all categorized as novels, but they are not: they're essays, cryptoessays so to speak, masked under the false appearance of a storyline. They completely lack any soul, anything resembling what's at the core of every novel. I think that's the reason why so many people end up being frustrated after starting any of his books, or even can't help dropping them halfway through: it's because they started reading said books under the assumption they were novels, while they never were in the first place. His books would get much more recognition if they were treated as the essays they really are.
I disagree with this statement. Umberto Eco was a great thinker AND ALSO a great writer. The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, etc. are not essays, they are novels, and beautiful ones. And I don't think at all that "they completely lack any soul"... like, at all. For instance, the last 50 pages of Foucault's Pendulum are full of feelings and extremely moving.
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I am a philosophy major and was never a serious reader of literature. About two years ago i took an intro to literature class in college and because of the professors way of teaching fell in love with the subject. Haven't stop reading great fiction since then and now i am considering applying for a master in american lit! Bookchemist your videos inspire me and contribute in elevating my recently discovered passion for written narrative more than any other lit related youtube channel! Thank you!
I will never get tired of hearing you talk about Umberto Eco!
Certainly one of the most unique writers I have ever read.
I remember trying to read The Prague's Cemetery some years ago and quite failed at it, although I was like 14 at the time so what Eco was going for probably flew over my head since I wasn't prepared for how dense and rambly he can be (and of course the slow beginnings). Years after that at uni we read both On Ugliness and History of Beauty, and I absolutely fell in love with Umberto Eco as a writer, which made me try The Name of the Rose last year and was one of my top reads. Amazing stuff.
Probably will try to remove the dust of my old Prague's Cemetary copy and give it another shot soon since you've talked so well about it! And eventually will try to check his other works, he truly is a reader's writer and I love that.
I was still in high school, at a beautiful seaside city in summer when Foucault's Pendulum cover captivated me at a bookstore. I didn't know anything about the book or the author, but I bought it. I struggled a few times with the beginning, as the book was in my second language, but once I really got going, it became my all-time favorite book. I have been re-reading this book many many times, and discovering exciting things in it on every reading. The sequence where Leah lovingly explains to Casaubon how every number (and basically everything) could have a meaning if you look at it from a certain angle is my forever favorite. Belbo is definitely one of my top literary characters with his complexity, flaws and humanity. I cannot stop rambling about this book. I got obsessed with Eco, and read Name of the Rose, which was very much fun but as you said, nowhere near the Pendulum. I read Baudalino and had immense fun with it. I did not enjoy Numero Zero as much sadly, and I remember when Prague Cemetery came out in my country I was super excited, but could not really get into it. I should give it a go again, it's a pity to miss out on any of his books considering he has only written 7 of them! Thank you for the reviews!
Just bought Prague Cemetery on your recommendation. Can’t wait to make it my first read of the New Year!
There's one interview of Eco's here on youtube that I watched some time ago, in which, with his usual brilliant enthusiasm and humor, he touches upon an early version of Manzoni's Promessi Sposi.
This version, apparently, featured a long initial chapter which was a long kind-of-document of the times in which the novel, the historical novel, is purposely set by the author. You know, laws, an administrative report of sort, basically some kind of tedious grocery store list.
In the interview Eco theorized that this initial part was there just to be skipped, or skip-read, of maybe diagonally read, and he appeared so amused by the whole idea.
That introduction was, according to him, actually a great read.
But one had to revisit it in full only after having read the rest of the novel: only then the reader could really appreciate its value, its meaning, how it drew the contour of the world pictured in Manzoni's masterpiece.
I think the first 60 or so pages of Il pendolo di Foucault are basically Eco's own version of that, in some way.
To me personally, those pages represented the price of admission for one of my all time favorite books.
Indeed I abandoned the novel when I got lost and exhausted in that initial part, the 1st time I tried to read Il pendolo, as a high school student.
But when I tried again, some 10 years later: oh the marvel, how cheap of a ticket to pay, those pages revealed to be!
I did read your top 3 choices, and Il nome della rosa of course (it's the 1st of Eco's I read, after watching the film on TV, so many years ago).
I agree on your ranking when it comes to those 4, by the way.
I just ordered a paper version of Numero Zero online, after watching some of your videos,
so it'll be entirely you fault if I end up reading something great again.
THANKS!
p.p.s. (I know, it comes before the p.s. ... LOL!)
Look for the video "Baudolino: Lying About the Future Produces History" here on youtube if you're interested in Eco's own take and experience on his novels' translation:
it's THE topic he speaks about there (the video title is completely misleading), and I see many comments here talking about this very same thing. You'll be entertained, and it's a very good insight on that!
p.s.
Ho scritto in inglese, ma sono italiano pure io.
E' bello vedere che ci sono molti che amano profondamente l'opera di Eco anche fuori dai confini nazionali.
... Ma è gennaio, 2023. E dispero di avere ancora anni abbastanza su questo pianeta per vedere qualcuno degno di raccogliere la fiaccola lasciata da Eco, e da pochi altri prima di lui. Qualcuno in grado di vedere e raccontare in modo vero, intelligente e sincero, nella nostra lingua o in altre. ... E non sono nemmeno tanto vecchio, porco boia!
I came across your channel because I wanted to hear discussions on some of Eco's work. I read Foucault's first and Name of the Rose after. Although on the level of a story The Name of the Rose is perhaps the greatest piece of work I've read in all my years(although not a student or professional I'm deeply intrigued by theology and medieval history), I will agree with one thing. I have never read anything like Foucault's Pendulum. The book almost provides an experience so singular, so unique that I end up pondering more over that than my favorite.
Wow, you get my subscription, that was incredibly engaging and has convinced me to jump in a read some of his work, which has been on my list for quite some time.
The first Eco I read were, as a student of philosophy and linguistics/semiotic, his "Theory of Semiotics", "Semiotics & the Philosophy of Language", of course "Opera Aperta" (in German), and later "Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages". Eco for us was the prototype and model of the intellectual we all wanted to become one day. - What was crazy and funny: I did a summer job in a big book warehouse and was packing hundreds of copies of Eco's "Name o. t. R." in parcels to be delivered to bookstores - and did not realize that Eco was the same writer! Finally I got it and read it. It is one of the best novels I ever read, also because I was very interested in the philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages. I much enjoyed the theological discussions. No other book gives you better insight into that world and the transition to nominalism. Also read his dialogues with Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, also very interesting. - then I bought "Foucaults Pendulum" - and never read it. As I loved medeaval theology, so much I was appalled and just absolutely not interested in occult pseudo-sciences. I als happen to have a copy of "Prague Cemetary" I also did not read, because I have read so much history books on the topics and times of that novel that I lost interest. But this one I will pick up sooner or later ...
@sleepybunny Ja. Ich kann sie ja nicht mit dem Italienischen vergleichen, aber sie liest sich gut. Ich kann den Roman nur empfehlen, in jeder Hinsicht. Mit dem "Pendel" dagegen konnte ich mich, wie oben gesagt, gar nicht anfreunden.
What a great ranking of my favorite author's novels. Thank you for reminding everybody the genius of Umberto Eco. Only disagreement I would have is to put The Prague Cemetery at the top and Foucault's Pendulum second. His collections of essays are also wonderful. Cheers!
I read Foucault's pendulum more or less in parallel with Gravity's rainbow a month ago. Interesting to see them both a bit as different sides of the same medal. That being said, I think that as a historian I enjoyed the name of the rose a bit more because of its level of historical detail. I will definitely try the Prague cemetery soon!
I have a soft spot for the Island; the protagonist is so endearing and the evoked vision so beautiful.
I was wondering where to start with Eco, thanks for the shorthand guide and fun ranking.
You have no idea how excited I am for this video from you. I really need to read more Umberto Eco, and this is going to be the perfect list to decide. Thanks! The Name of the Rose is one of my top books of all time, it was so perfect. I guess I've been a bit intimidated by his other work being as impressive and either worrying about disappointment, or the book hangover I'll have afterwards.
If Foucault’s Pendulum isn’t number one, we’re not friends anymore.
Edit: we can still be friends. I agree with your take on The Prague Cemetary. If I take my personal feelings on Foucault’s Pendulum’s themes and style out of the equation, The Prague Cemetery is Eco’s masterpiece. It combines the best parts of all his previous novels into Eco just flexing his muscles by showing he can still score a hit by doing exactly what he’s been criticized for. Should probably be the first Eco for most people.
Fun fact: it’s the only one of Eco’s novel’s that was translated with Eco’s direct input. It’s also the only one of Eco’s novels that I think it better in Dutch than it is in English.
:)
I think because I'm an old man, I loved Queen Loana. I don't know if I it would have touched me so deeply had I been younger. I also read it in Italy which I'm sure added to the atmosphere.
I became a fan after The Name of the Rose, and have subsequently read Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino. My favourite probably being Foucault's Pendulum, not least because the old Broken Sword games I devoured when I was younger took inspiration from the novel and I think I felt an affinity with the text based on those early experiences. I was wondering which novel to grab next and you have convinced me to pick up The Prague Cemetery, I know I will not be disappointed. Excellent video as always.
Thanks for this very articulate rendering of Ecco's work. You clearly have a flair for it.
I have started to read 'Prague Cemetery' and I am in no doubt that the author is an accomplished writer. I must say though, it does not seem that 'historical truths' or 'love for truth', is his strong suit. 'The Name of The Rose' is, as you said, a Sherlock Holmes story, imposed on a time Ecco completely misrepresents. As for 'Europe's prejudice and hate', gosh, there is and has been a lot more of that outside than inside it. Would be interesting to know what spurred in Ecco all this hate and prejudice against the church and Christian Europe. That is just a thought, anyway, based mostly on the screen representations of his work (which are lamentable at best to the clear-minded and those remotely interested in the truth), and so I am willing to change my mind.
Anyway, good luck with everything, and well done.
wow someone on the bus just recommended Foucault's Pendulum a few days ago! great timing
I'm yet to read Foucault's Pendulum. I was always intimidated by it but now I am stoked to tackle it at once. The Prague Cemetery was definitely the most engaging and exciting of his novels to me. But all his books are fascinating. I read Baudolino in Portuguese and it seems to translate well - and I also know that Eco was consulted during the translation process.
I only read The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino so far, but I personally feel like Baudolino really did a better job of intertwining the scholarly data with the narrative in a way that's more engaging than the earlier two novels. Going to check out The Prague Cemetery next - been itching to get back into Eco!
Thank you! I've been thinking about getting back to Eco (I've read The Prague Cemetery only) but I've been unsure where to go next. Baudolino and Foucault's Pendulum interest me the most now.
Brilliant! Love your reading. Love Eco so very much.
I started reading The Name of the Rose yesterday. Great timing!
That was great, many thanks. Like you, I've read all of Eco's fiction. Now maybe because The Name of the Rose was the first of his that I read, I still prefer that to any other. The thing that you criticise was something that I found fascinating about the book. The digressions about the schisms in the church etc, all added to my knowledge of the period and gave me a better understanding of what the book was exploring. It made me feel intelligent, if that can be put forward as a plus. Foucault's Pendulum comes next and in fact it was a two-day binge read on holiday one year. I think that The Prague Cemetery comes next. Some of his other books I'd class as entertainments and there's nothing wrong with that.
Thank you for doing this! It was interesting to see your favorites order. I agree on your top two. I actually thought The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana was one of his best - perhaps because it's so vulnerable and personal. I think for Americans especially, the idea of reflecting on the pop culture that shaped you as a child - and which you have come to see was quite problematic and propagandic - really resonates. Baudolino is the one book you always find in second hand stores here - I don't know why people don't like it.
THANK YOU for not posting Amazon links to source these books.
Great to see Foucault’s Pendulum top the list! It’s one of my favourite novels of all times; in a way, it was also prescient in showing how conspiracy theories rise and gain a hold among more and more people.
Prague Cemetery is excellent as well. Found the Island of the Day Before too meandering, however - gave it up halfway.
I always wondered if that was the point - like going nuts on a ship alone? It doesn't make it any more enjoyable, unfortunately.
I like your take on Island, ryoknits - I'd never looked at it that way :)
I consider Foucault's Pendulum and Gravity's Rainbow to be sister novels. But while Pynchon is speaking in fractions Eco is talking about the same things but using decimals, or the other way around.
But…what does that mean?
Likewise, I consider Mason & Dixon and The Island of the Day Before sister novles. Both concerned with the Enlightenment, the emergence of modern science, the Longitude Problem, religion, naval history, world exploration... :)
@@connorveach5986 Makes no sense.
I loved The Name of the Rose but I loved Foucault’s Pendulum even more! I cannot wait to read more. I’m reading Prague’s Cemetery now and although it is quite different it is still very good.
I'm so happy to see Foucault's Pendulum in the first spot. It's also my all time favorite books from Eco and even for all time for me!
You love Umberto Eco, brother. I love your accent.
Nice review! Personally, I do like Eco, even if he gets rambly at times :P The first novel of his that I read was The Name of The Rose, and it's still my favourite (what can I say, I am partial to murder mysteries). Then I read Foucault's Pendulum, which is awesome (I smiled when you mentioned the categorisation of stupid people; that has stuck with me as well). Baudolino I didn't like much because of how preposterous it was. The Island of the Day Before I found pretty interesting. I haven't read the other three, but since you recommend The Prague Cemetery I may check it out!
Hell yeahh so glad you put Foucault’s Pendulum as number one. I haven’t ready any of Eco’s other books but that’s still one of my favorite books ever. The ending is just pure transcendence..
RIP Belbo
I've never read him. You got me into Gravity's Rainbow and Barney's Version, so I'll look into him eventually.
3) Baudolino 2) The Prague Cemetery 1) Foucault's Pendulum
I like his character as a person
Foucault's pendulum is really difficult but so interesting. It's a book like Ulysses that you want to read just for fun.
The funny thing about the name of the rose is that I wanted more of the religious history and the mystery didn't interest me so much, I felt that was a bit too predictable. The Pendulum is also my favorite.
very helpful! please do more of these
Good to see we have the same top three! I put La misteriosa chiama... in fourth.
Thank you so much for this video. I have been reading Eco since the 90s. I had seen NOTR and loved the film so I read Foucault´s Pendulum and adored than book. I have read most of the others but I can not get into Prague Cemetery. Maybe because everyone in it is awful, maybe because we know antisemitism in Europe (and elsewhere) gets worse not better after the action discussed in the book. It is still sitting on my nightstand, mocking me 2 years on. Maybe it is time to try again.
The title should have been top5 Eco novels
Loved it - thank you, and I couldn't agree more.
Oo more interested in Foucault’s pendulum now. Which is good, as I got it only a week ago.
Thank you so much for this video, I love this series of yours! I was assigned The Name of the Rose in a college class and found that I had the same opinion as yours, so thank you for turning me to Prague Cemetery.
Do you plan on doing a ranking video for the works of Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Jennifer Egan & Michael Chabon?
I think I filmed one for Chabon, but I might have removed it (I sometimes do that for old videos that I don't feel represent my views anymore). I might film a new one for him and Egan, why not, especially after reading Candy House! As for DeLillo, it's been ages (more than a decade!) since I read his novels, while I only read three novels in Vonnegut's fairly large ouvre. Thank you for the comment :)!
Ok, time for a reread of Eco!
What I feel about Eco is that his books are not made of the stuff of literature as much as they're made of the stuff of knowledge and intllecect and general learning. Could you point out to some criticism in italy? All I can think of is Salman Rushdie's harsh criticism against Pendolo (he calls it "a video game" for the learned, where the game is to find the reference). Va bene se gli articoli sono in italiano. By the by, hai visto l'edizione della Nave di Teseo del Nome? Con i suoi disegni
Purtroppo non ho davvero consigli sulla critica - gli unici pareri su Eco che conosco li ho assorbiti in conversazioni private o recensioni più che da articoli critici!
I am overjoyed to have stumbled upon your page. Great review of Eco. So, since you mentioned that your are from Italy; are you also a chemist like Primo Levy? Did you name your channel after Levy's book the Alchemist? As I recall Levy was from the northern part of Italy. Please keep posting these in-depth accessible reviews.
Joe
The name is indeed a pun on alchemist, but there's no connection to Levi :) thank you for writing!!
Can he play base?
You read all those? Right on.
Great video
Foucault's Pendulum 10/10
The Name Of The Rose 10/10
Baudolino 8.5/10
The Island Of The Day Before 8.5/10
comparatively:
The Alchemist 7/10
The Da Vinci Code 7.5/10
Joy Division!
Joy division
I think Umberto Eco is one of the most misunderstood thinkers of the last decades, at least in Italy. Yes, "thinkers", instead of writers. Why? Simply put, he never was a writer - in the "novelist" sense of the term, of course. He was a great reader and a great essayist, and his greatest invention, in my opinion, was his own particular semiotics, his tool to convert the raw material of the reading process into a series of works. Because of this, he will always be a milestone. But he never ever was a novelist. He never wrote a novel. Yes, "The Name of the Rose" and "Baudolino" and so forth are all categorized as novels, but they are not: they're essays, cryptoessays so to speak, masked under the false appearance of a storyline. They completely lack any soul, anything resembling what's at the core of every novel. I think that's the reason why so many people end up being frustrated after starting any of his books, or even can't help dropping them halfway through: it's because they started reading said books under the assumption they were novels, while they never were in the first place. His books would get much more recognition if they were treated as the essays they really are.
I disagree with this statement. Umberto Eco was a great thinker AND ALSO a great writer. The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, etc. are not essays, they are novels, and beautiful ones. And I don't think at all that "they completely lack any soul"... like, at all. For instance, the last 50 pages of Foucault's Pendulum are full of feelings and extremely moving.
I very much agree, vins!