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'A lavish, curious catalogue about catalogues … Eco has always had an eclectic, esoteric mind, and a meander around the byways of his brain is a joy indeed' Scotland on Sunday.
'A characteristic product of this extraordinary writer and polymath: learned, sparkling, insightful, provocative, packed full of intriguing and arcane information' Mary Beard in the Guardian.
'Flaunting his extraordinary erudition but flaunting it modestly ... the book is gorgeously illustrated, a beautiful object ... its creamy pages are a pleasure to turn, its various typefaces are not just elegant but appropriate to the needs of the text, its illustrations a joy to study, its translation impeccable' Gilbert Adair in the Spectator.
'This might be the perfect third book for the desert island: the only one which could be installed there along with Shakespeare and the Bible and find an equal number of fascinated, disparate readers. It is the ultimate dippable book' The Tablet.
'A characteristic product of this extraordinary writer and polymath: learned, sparkling, insightful, provocative, packed full of intriguing and arcane information' Mary Beard in the Guardian.
'Flaunting his extraordinary erudition but flaunting it modestly ... the book is gorgeously illustrated, a beautiful object ... its creamy pages are a pleasure to turn, its various typefaces are not just elegant but appropriate to the needs of the text, its illustrations a joy to study, its translation impeccable' Gilbert Adair in the Spectator.
'This might be the perfect third book for the desert island: the only one which could be installed there along with Shakespeare and the Bible and find an equal number of fascinated, disparate readers. It is the ultimate dippable book' The Tablet.
Product Description
In the history of Western culture we find lists of saints, ranks of soldiers, catalogues of grotesque creatures or medicinal plants, and hordes of treasure. This infinity of lists is no coincidence: a culture prefers enclosed, stable forms when it is sure of its own identity, while when faced with a jumbled series of ill-defined phenomena, it starts making lists. The poetics of lists runs throughout the history of art and literature. We do not only see it at work in ancient bestiaries, the celestial hosts of angels or the naturalist collections of the 16th century. We also find it more obliquely from Homer to Joyce, from the treasures of Gothic cathedrals to the fantastic landscapes of Bosch and cabinets of curiosities, until we get to Andy Warhol and Arman in the 20th century. In this 5-colour illustrated edition, Umberto Eco reflects on how the idea of catalogues has changed over the centuries and how, from one period to another, it has expressed the spirit of the times. His essay is accompanied by a literary anthology and a wide selection of works of art illustrating and analysing the texts presented. This new illustrated essay is a companion volume to On Beauty (2004) and On Ugliness (2007).
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
"Examine this book, ponder the meaning we have dispersed in various places and gathered again"
22 Feb 2010
Format:Hardcover
'The Infinity of Lists' is a marvelous artifact. Flicking through it's lavishly illustrated pages reveals the arcane world which can also be found in Eco's novels: gods and monsters, ancient landscapes and mysterious artifacts.
Eco guides us through the intriguing history of the list or catalogue in art and science from the captains of the greek ships in Homer's Iliad through to Warhols soup tins.
Throughout we see beautiful reproductions of the works of art chosen to illustrate his essay along with extracts from many poems, plays, novels and songs.
If you want to stimulate your imagination I can't recommend this book highly enough - a great reference and a wonderful thing to just look at.
Eco guides us through the intriguing history of the list or catalogue in art and science from the captains of the greek ships in Homer's Iliad through to Warhols soup tins.
Throughout we see beautiful reproductions of the works of art chosen to illustrate his essay along with extracts from many poems, plays, novels and songs.
If you want to stimulate your imagination I can't recommend this book highly enough - a great reference and a wonderful thing to just look at.
10 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Normally a great fan of The august Emberto Uco, I was rather disappointed to discover that, after a promisingly short contents page, this book just seems to go on forever. Furthermore, rather than indulging in the kind of sophisticated plot we have come to expect from the great Uco, it just seems to list things. Is the master losing his touch or am I too preoccupied with the cost of Swedish Herring? No he is still outstanding!
Listmania!
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