Reviews

Really weird. Starts off well and poignantly, characterising fascism fairly explicitly. Continues to a slightly meandering and off-topic discussion of noise and media over-saturation as a form of political control (which has its gems but at one point he complains about people with iPods and having TVs at restaurants - what??), then ends on a discussion of the European cultural identity which felt like it was saying absolutely nothing. This is the first Eco I've read, so I won't judge the guy at pointblank on a 50-page essay, but I can't say I loved it.

Also, what the fuck was that about Romanians?

beafedez's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

lwrenable_91's review

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informative fast-paced

3.5

maxain_kelsier's review against another edition

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3.0

Lectura muy rapida basada en un discurso de Umberto a unos chicos estadounidenses universitarios. da puntos buenos, tampoco es una locura, no esta mal para repasar algunos puntos importantes.

ameliareadsstuff's review

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

I primarily bought this small paperback to read Eco's 1995 essay Ur-Fascism, which was a great read, and articulates very strongly how fascism can be both nebulous and very easily recognised. Eco's list of the fourteen properties of 'ur-facism' is well observed, even if how many have become or remain important tenets of major political parties today turns towards the depressing.

I also enjoyed Censorship and Silence—its discussion of drowning out an idea or truth with noise as being as effective a form of censorship as forcibly silencing someone has been distressingly born out in the 21st century.

jaybelzebabe's review against another edition

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informative reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

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