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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Unknown Binding
My experience of Umberto Eco has been mixed - loved 'Name of the Rose', hated ' Island of the Day Before'. However, I consider Baudolino to be a cracking return to form for a talented and inspirational writer.
It is the early C13, and young italian peasant is adopted by the Holy Roman Emperor, setting into motion a chain of events that will have profound consequences on the entirety of Christian Europe.
Eco uses an enteraining narrative to dwell at length upon ideas he also covers in his 'Serendipities'; language, Prester john, lies, and errors that create history. Like George MacDonalnd Fraser, Eco looks at history through the skewed eye of a born cheat, liar and charlatan with a gift for languages and an eye for the ladies. In Baudolino, Eco has created a worthy literary rival to Frasers' 'Flashman' and, like Flashman, Baudolino inadvertently becomes embroiled in great events of his own accidental making.
this is a book for the intellect (Eco doesn't spare you from thinking), the reader (it's trendously well written), and the funny bone (Baudolinos escapades are as funny as anything in Flashman).
Overall, heatily recommended.
It is the early C13, and young italian peasant is adopted by the Holy Roman Emperor, setting into motion a chain of events that will have profound consequences on the entirety of Christian Europe.
Eco uses an enteraining narrative to dwell at length upon ideas he also covers in his 'Serendipities'; language, Prester john, lies, and errors that create history. Like George MacDonalnd Fraser, Eco looks at history through the skewed eye of a born cheat, liar and charlatan with a gift for languages and an eye for the ladies. In Baudolino, Eco has created a worthy literary rival to Frasers' 'Flashman' and, like Flashman, Baudolino inadvertently becomes embroiled in great events of his own accidental making.
this is a book for the intellect (Eco doesn't spare you from thinking), the reader (it's trendously well written), and the funny bone (Baudolinos escapades are as funny as anything in Flashman).
Overall, heatily recommended.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Unknown Binding
Renaissance man Umberto Eco continues to enthrall with a return to the era he so masterfully painted in "The Name Of The Rose." An intrepid, nonparallel story teller he again visits the Middle Ages with Baudolino, a marvelous blend of history and imagination.
It is April 1204 and a northern Italian peasant, Baudolino, is in Constantinople, the resplendent capital of the Byzantine Empire. The city staggers under the relentless onslaught of the knights of the Fourth Crusade who pillage and burn. Oblivious to his own safety Baudolino rescues an important personage, a historian from sure death at the hands of the marauding warriors. This is the person to whom Baudolino recounts his life story - a colorful narrative laced with fantasy and adventure.
Although of humble birth, we learn that Baudolino is rich in two areas: the art of inspired prevarication and an aptitude for learning languages. When still a youngster he was adopted by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who later sent the boy to the university in Paris. Affable and quick, Baudolino soon made friends in France with those who shared his somewhat reckless taste for adventure.
Together a group of them journey to the east and embark upon a search for a mythical priest-king, Prester John. It is believed that Prester John's domain is a fabled land inhabited by eunuchs, unicorns, beautiful maidens, and bizarre beings with misplaced orifices.
As is his wont the unsurpassed Eco weaves his story with ruminations of weighty matters such as theology, politics, government, and history. He does this with fluid prose and provocative thoughts that inevitably draw readers into the author's unique land of enchantment, a magical place that one is reluctant to leave.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Baudolino is the medieval equivalent of Baron Munchausen and Don Quixote. Teller of tall tales. Prof. Eco weaves an amazing yarn that imbues medieval history (the 12th century crusade, the sacking of Byzantine, Frederick the Great's death) and the fantastic (the numerous flora and fauna of the land of Prestor John).
Absolutely mesmerizing. As with Eco's previous novels, be armed with a history encyclopaedia, it helps in understanding some of the backdrops and narratives.
Absolutely mesmerizing. As with Eco's previous novels, be armed with a history encyclopaedia, it helps in understanding some of the backdrops and narratives.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Eco in great form
Umberto Eco is definitely one of the great writers of our time, but let's face it, some of his books could put an insomniac to sleep. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Pompompom
Eco's Fanciful Fantasy
"Baudolino" is a fanciful and mythical novel by Umberto Eco, set in the twelfth century Europe and the Near East. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr. Bojan Tunguz
Entertaining
This book began as what seemed like a historical novel and turned into a fairy tale. In all, I found the story very entertaining, though I didn't always agree with the writer's... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Greekfoodie
Hard work to read but worth the effort
Baudolino is a difficult book to summarise, because the more you read, the more you realise that the plot is merely incidental and the book is really about something else entirely. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Katie Stevens
Typical Eco - great for many, but for me
Have given up on this half way through. Typical Eco. Loads of erudition, but little plot and narrative flow. I just do not get on with his style.
Published on 8 Oct 2009 by John Hopper
Loved it
I read this book a few years ago and loved it.
The world that Eco creates is fascinating and the characters are brilliant. Read more
The world that Eco creates is fascinating and the characters are brilliant. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2009 by Tricia B
ECO fans only
I gave it a chance but by page 126 I still did not really see the point of this book and stopped. Is it a fairy tale told by an ambitious liar as the central character? Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2008 by M. French
Dreadful book by a writer capable of much better
Baudolino promised to be good. It is set in the Dark Ages, culminating with the sacking of Byzantium by the rabble of the Fourth Crusade. I like the (so-called) Dark ages. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2008 by lurgee
Beautiful and wordy
It is a beautifully written and a very clever book. At the beginning I could not understand where it was going, later at some point I thought that the story became unnecessary and... Read more
Published on 3 July 2008 by Maxiplukas
A good yarn
I enjoyed reading this novel, both a good exploration of the medieval fantasy of the exotic and a window into the real politics, culture and personalities of the time. Read more
Published on 5 April 2008 by G. Napier
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