The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana: An Illustrated Novel [Paperback]

The premise of the novel is fascinating. Yambo, an Italian antiquarian book dealer comes to in hospital ,following a car crash, and has no memory of his personal life right up to his accident. However, he remembers the plot of almost every book which he has ever read. The only ones he doesn't remember are those which he had an intense personal connection to. The narrative of the novel deals with Yambo's attempts to recapture his own personal history, which he does through revisiting his boyhood home, and much of the literature of all kinds which he read when he was young.

If that sounds dry or rather academic, please don't be put off. Its far more than this. The novel makes deeply interesting points about the way that we make memories, and the part that literature, music, in fact all forms of popular culture cannot be divorced from our everyday lives, but are in fact an integral part of the tapestry of memory. I became highly involved with Yambo's quest, and found it deeply moving. Don't be surprised, though, as you read it, if you find yourself wondering wether Yambo should ever have tried to recapture his past . Actually, thinking about this I am sure that Eco is implicitly asking the reader this question.

You must stick with this one. It does drive to a point. Even if it strikes you that the seemingly endless recollection of comic books, pul literature, and adolescent adventure stories from Yambo's childhood does go on for too long, it is necessary and important.

The book's premise is much like that of The Arabian Nights, an excuse to introduce an interesting story teller who unravels a fascinating tale that could go on endlessly. In this case, the device is a stroke which causes Yambo to lose his memory of most everything (including his name) except what he has read. Recuperating from his stroke, Yambo receives hints from his wife and best friend about what he's like . . . and discovers that he has a weakness for the ladies. What does that mean about his relationship with his beautiful, young assistant?

Soon frustrated by his memoryless life in Milan, Yambo goes back to his childhood home to see if anything there resurrects any memories. He discovers a house and attic full of the past through which he relives the history of Italians his age. Later, a second stroke restores his memory, and he relives his life as it happened . . . with a little fantasy attached.

It's a witty commentary on the vacuity of the "official" record of our times to see how little of Yambo's life the effects of his life captured.

For those who aren't Italian, the book offers deep and thoughtful look at what it meant to live in Italy under the Fascists. At times, it seemed like the musical comedy version of Gunter Grass's books about Nazi Germany.

The book dazzles most, however, with its many full color illustrations from books, magazines, posters and other cultural icons. These images make the mental pictures conjured up by Eco's words stronger and more lasting. Be sure to check out the section on sources of citations and references that begin on 451. These details will add to your enjoyment of the illustrations.

As I read the book, I wished that I knew a few more languages (especially German and Italian), but most of the references were either easy to appreciate or covered in context by another reference that I understood. Naturally, some Ph.D. student will write a dissertation that firmly fixes all of the references, but that will be too stuffy to read for this breezy, charming effort.

What is life? What is memory? What is reality? These fundamental questions are all beautifully addressed in both sublime (images of perfect love) and the mundane (relieving oneself among the vineyard rows.

It's great fun, and I highly recommend this book to you. It's the high brow's perfect beach read!