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Review
PRAISE FOR UMBERTO ECO
"One of the most influential thinkers of our time."--"Los Angeles Times"
"Eco combines scholarship with a love of paradox and a quirky, sometimes outrageous, sense of humor."--"The Atlantic Monthly"
"One of the most influential thinkers of our time."--"Los Angeles Times"
"Eco combines scholarship with a love of paradox and a quirky, sometimes outrageous, sense of humor."--"The Atlantic Monthly"
Book Description
'A man of robust intellect and genuine erudition...Eco sparkles' Daily Telegraph
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a collection of essays written by Eco throughout his career, and presented at conferences or appeared on newspapers. Eco's take on literature is, as to be expected, personal and poignant.
The book opens on an essay on the purpose of literature, and touches topics as varied as Dante's 'Paradise', the style of the Communist Manifesto, Oscar Wilde's aphorisms, Nerval's setting of his short story 'Sylvie', and Jorge Luis Borges.
Being an international expert in semiotics, it is good to see essays on symbols, intertextual irony and myth. The book ends on a description on how he writes, with specific references to some of his novels.
The essays are not particularly difficult, and if you're interested in literature (in the largest possible sense) you will find them enjoyable.
The book opens on an essay on the purpose of literature, and touches topics as varied as Dante's 'Paradise', the style of the Communist Manifesto, Oscar Wilde's aphorisms, Nerval's setting of his short story 'Sylvie', and Jorge Luis Borges.
Being an international expert in semiotics, it is good to see essays on symbols, intertextual irony and myth. The book ends on a description on how he writes, with specific references to some of his novels.
The essays are not particularly difficult, and if you're interested in literature (in the largest possible sense) you will find them enjoyable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Each of these essays had been published before or given as a lecture by Eco; this 2005 edition is the first time they have been collected together which may go some way to explaining the wide range of topics between the covers. Eco is obviously very much at home in this linguistic, semiotic world, an expert in the field and one of the best.
In the first essay "On Some Functions of Literature", he concludes that "above all, literature keeps language alive as our collective heritage ... by helping to create language, literature creates a sense of identity and community". He proceeds to look at the ways in which "electronic hypertext" has changed how language works in the world of "free creative writing", ending by commenting that "...one of the principal functions of literature lies in these lessons about fate and death". All this in fifteen pages of a lecture delivered in Mantua in 2000.
In later chapters Joyce, the Communist Manifesto, La Mancha and Babel and Oscar Wilde follow. On Symbolism, he suggests; " ... the ambiguity of symbols comes from their distant roots" and that in mainly scholarly settings, "we use the expression 'symbol' to indicate semiotic processes that are extremely clear and incontrovertible, objects that are not ambiguous but, rather aim at being read in the most univocal way possible". In this chapter and the next "On Style", he is very much on home ground although I have yet to discover areas in which he does not seem very much at home with his feet under the table.
Fascinating but not light reading.
In the first essay "On Some Functions of Literature", he concludes that "above all, literature keeps language alive as our collective heritage ... by helping to create language, literature creates a sense of identity and community". He proceeds to look at the ways in which "electronic hypertext" has changed how language works in the world of "free creative writing", ending by commenting that "...one of the principal functions of literature lies in these lessons about fate and death". All this in fifteen pages of a lecture delivered in Mantua in 2000.
In later chapters Joyce, the Communist Manifesto, La Mancha and Babel and Oscar Wilde follow. On Symbolism, he suggests; " ... the ambiguity of symbols comes from their distant roots" and that in mainly scholarly settings, "we use the expression 'symbol' to indicate semiotic processes that are extremely clear and incontrovertible, objects that are not ambiguous but, rather aim at being read in the most univocal way possible". In this chapter and the next "On Style", he is very much on home ground although I have yet to discover areas in which he does not seem very much at home with his feet under the table.
Fascinating but not light reading.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
essays on why/what we write & think about books & history
13 Dec 2004
Format:Hardcover
This book is worth buying for Eco's essay on "The Power of Falsehood" in which he explores the history and impact of the myth of the flat earth, of Prester John's kingdom, and the long and complex background to the lies of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
If you've read any Eco (or Dante or Borges or Wilde) there is a lot here for you. There is also a striking essay (originally presented at Columbia University in 1980)entitled "The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations" that focuses on the generation that came of age in Mussolini's Italy in the 1930's and 1940's. The section on the journals on resistance fighter Giaime Pintor -- with extensive selections quoted-- is powerful. The background on origins of European left-wing attitudes toward aspects of America are quite insightful.
If you've read any Eco (or Dante or Borges or Wilde) there is a lot here for you. There is also a striking essay (originally presented at Columbia University in 1980)entitled "The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations" that focuses on the generation that came of age in Mussolini's Italy in the 1930's and 1940's. The section on the journals on resistance fighter Giaime Pintor -- with extensive selections quoted-- is powerful. The background on origins of European left-wing attitudes toward aspects of America are quite insightful.
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful
A Semiotics Professor on Various Aspects of Literature
29 Jan 2005
Format:Hardcover
This collection of essays and lectures by Umberto Eco and translated by Martin McLaughlin contains Eco's reflections on several aspects of literature, from the (more or less) tangible influence of Borges on the author's own writing to different approaches to literary criticism to how he himself came to write his novels. Though the essays themselves range in subject matter, all contain the underlying currents of Eco's academic forte, semiotics, that difficult-to-define discipline that drives the author's intellect.
The eighteen essays/lectures concentrate on specific authors and works ("A Reading of the Paradiso", "Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism") as well as on more general topics ("On Symbolism", "Intertextual Irony and Levels of Reading"). As you might gather from the titles, this book is not light reading and reflects not only the density of Eco's prose but also of his ideas. Some essays succeed better than others. "Borges and My Anxiety of Influence" is a fascinating, almost conversational glimpse into the workings of Eco's literary mind while his more direct "How I Write" is deadened by self-analysis. "The Power of Falsehood", perhaps more than any of these essays, exposes the obsessions that gave rise to The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, and Baudolino; it delves into the marriage of history and false ideas. Unfortunately, the opening piece, "On Some Functions of Literature," seems almost elemental and not deep enough for someone of Eco's academic caliber. Readers of his novels will recognize in many of these essays the driving force behind the fiction. Intellectuals and literary critics especially will want to make their slow, careful way through much of what Eco has to say.
Although I don't agree with some of Eco's premises, I still found this book intriguing, both for its ideas and the way they are presented. Eco knows his material, and his passion for the subject matter can be infectious. Recommended for serious students of literature and semiotics, but not for the casual reader.
The eighteen essays/lectures concentrate on specific authors and works ("A Reading of the Paradiso", "Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism") as well as on more general topics ("On Symbolism", "Intertextual Irony and Levels of Reading"). As you might gather from the titles, this book is not light reading and reflects not only the density of Eco's prose but also of his ideas. Some essays succeed better than others. "Borges and My Anxiety of Influence" is a fascinating, almost conversational glimpse into the workings of Eco's literary mind while his more direct "How I Write" is deadened by self-analysis. "The Power of Falsehood", perhaps more than any of these essays, exposes the obsessions that gave rise to The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum, and Baudolino; it delves into the marriage of history and false ideas. Unfortunately, the opening piece, "On Some Functions of Literature," seems almost elemental and not deep enough for someone of Eco's academic caliber. Readers of his novels will recognize in many of these essays the driving force behind the fiction. Intellectuals and literary critics especially will want to make their slow, careful way through much of what Eco has to say.
Although I don't agree with some of Eco's premises, I still found this book intriguing, both for its ideas and the way they are presented. Eco knows his material, and his passion for the subject matter can be infectious. Recommended for serious students of literature and semiotics, but not for the casual reader.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A must have for students of literature!
22 Dec 2005
Format:Paperback
Umberto Eco is most famous in this country for his bestselling novel The Name of the Rose (1980) that was subsequently made into a Hollywood film starring Sean Connery. He is the author of a number other of novels including Foucault's Pendulum (1988), Baudolino (2002), and most recently The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (2005). First and foremost, however, Eco is a literary theorist and professor of semiotics, the philosophical theory of signs and symbols.
On Literature is a collection of essays and addresses given over the course of his career. More general essays like "On Style" and "On Symbolism" are mixed with those focused on Dante, Wilde, and The Communist Manifesto. Other essays--most notably "Borges and My Anxiety of Influence," "How I Write," and "The Power of Falsehood"-- illuminate Eco's own literary work in different ways.
A quick look at the table of contents is enough to show that despite being a collection of essays, this is a serious work of literary criticism. The book is being billed as "illuminating, accessible, [and] stimulating" (back cover text). It is illuminating and stimulating, but in all honestly it is a bit dense for general consumption. The essays on specific authors and texts are brilliant, but they will be best enjoyed by people who have actually read the texts Eco is discussing.
Because I've spent a lot of time dealing with James Joyce lately, I appreciated "A Portrait of the Artist as Bachelor," an essay in which Eco shows the seeds of Joyce's later literary work in young Jim's undergraduate writings.
"The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations" is another great find. Originally written as a paper for a conference at Columbia University, it discusses the roots of the Italian image of America beginning with the generation that came to age in the 1930s.
On Literature is not an easy read, but if you have time and interest you will find that Eco's latest collection of essays is full of passion and insight.
Armchair Interviews says: Although not recommended for the casual reader, On Literature is a must-have for students of literature.
On Literature is a collection of essays and addresses given over the course of his career. More general essays like "On Style" and "On Symbolism" are mixed with those focused on Dante, Wilde, and The Communist Manifesto. Other essays--most notably "Borges and My Anxiety of Influence," "How I Write," and "The Power of Falsehood"-- illuminate Eco's own literary work in different ways.
A quick look at the table of contents is enough to show that despite being a collection of essays, this is a serious work of literary criticism. The book is being billed as "illuminating, accessible, [and] stimulating" (back cover text). It is illuminating and stimulating, but in all honestly it is a bit dense for general consumption. The essays on specific authors and texts are brilliant, but they will be best enjoyed by people who have actually read the texts Eco is discussing.
Because I've spent a lot of time dealing with James Joyce lately, I appreciated "A Portrait of the Artist as Bachelor," an essay in which Eco shows the seeds of Joyce's later literary work in young Jim's undergraduate writings.
"The American Myth in Three Anti-American Generations" is another great find. Originally written as a paper for a conference at Columbia University, it discusses the roots of the Italian image of America beginning with the generation that came to age in the 1930s.
On Literature is not an easy read, but if you have time and interest you will find that Eco's latest collection of essays is full of passion and insight.
Armchair Interviews says: Although not recommended for the casual reader, On Literature is a must-have for students of literature.
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