Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
Made it to page 68 before I dnf'd this one. I think I should have read The Name of the Rose instead. This one requires much more time and effort than I'm willing to give it right now.
I hate conspiracy theories. The whole notion that there's a few dudes in a room planning everyyyything—as if the world goes according to plan like that!
So it's a good thing Eco is actually writing a history with a one-man conspiracy machine layered on top.
I was laughing out loud within about page five of this book—he picks the most utterly ridiculous stereotypes about different countries, and I actually remember learning about the German association with defecation in European history (it went something like Italian humor's in the kitchen, German in the bathroom, and French in the bedroom).
Anyway, the narrators of the book are an abbé, an Italian captain, and then a third party interpreting the diary entries of the first two men (seemingly at a later, though not present, I think) date. Eco makes use of these different narrators to present the narrative slightly out of order—I didn't find it confusing enough to need the timeline at the end, but that's provided if you want to check information—and also to introduce an element of unreliability. (The 'unreliable narrator,' if you've heard that term.)
The book itself recounts the rise and influence of anti-Semitism in France (with some overflow into Germany, Russia, etc) during the latter half of the 19th century. What makes it a stand-out read, almost reminisicent of [b:Baudolino|10507|Baudolino|Umberto Eco|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328874794s/10507.jpg|234717] (both in terms of flippancy and even plot) is that the primary perspectives are themselves very anti-Semitic.
Well, really the Captain is more anti-anyone that walks and talks, but his energies focus on the Jews early on.
According to the end of the book, the other characters are real people who haven't been reported as doing anything they didn't actually do, so this is real history, with embellishments, and approached from a perspective that historians can't normally take because, you know, being a racist jerk is kind of a bad thing.
But it makes for a fun read, especially when navigating between the gaps in memory that are the in-book impetus for the whole sequence of events to be recorded at all. And, of course, it's Eco so there is a lot of subtle snark throughout the whole thing. He makes fools of the narrator, the events, and the participants in the history...have I left anyone out?
Here's a great example of it.
Spoiler
...you could have described him (judging from the illustrations of the time) as a Jewish prophet. In effect, there was something messianic about his anti-Judaism, as if the Almighty had given him the specific task of destroying the chosen people. Simonini was fascinated by the virulence of Drumont's anti-Semitism. He hated the Jews, you might say, with love, with single-mindedness, with devotion—and with a fervor that sublimated all sexual desire. Drumont's anti-Semitism wasn't philosophical and political like Toussenel's, nor theological like Gougenot's. He was an erotic anti-Semite.
Now read the book!
Kind of tedious. Funny at first, but it's the only bit
umberto eco okumanın ne demek olduğunu (ikinci okumam olarak) storytel'den dinleyince tekrar anladım. kendisini ilk defa denemelerinden (somon balığıyla yolculuk) tanımış, çok sevmiştim zaten :)
prag mezarlığı sizi katman katman içine alan bir eser. 19. yüzyıl avrupa'sında geçen hikaye, dönemin siyasi entrikalarını, komplo teorilerini ve özellikle sahte belgelerin nasıl toplumları etkileyip yönlendirdiğini anlatıyor. okur olarak neyin doğru neyin yalan olduğuna dair sürekli bir belirsizlik içinde kalıyoruz. bu da eco'nun ne kadar ustaca bir anlatıcı olduğunu bir kez daha gösteriyor. kitabın tadı var ve çok lezzetli diyebilirim...
prag mezarlığı sizi katman katman içine alan bir eser. 19. yüzyıl avrupa'sında geçen hikaye, dönemin siyasi entrikalarını, komplo teorilerini ve özellikle sahte belgelerin nasıl toplumları etkileyip yönlendirdiğini anlatıyor. okur olarak neyin doğru neyin yalan olduğuna dair sürekli bir belirsizlik içinde kalıyoruz. bu da eco'nun ne kadar ustaca bir anlatıcı olduğunu bir kez daha gösteriyor. kitabın tadı var ve çok lezzetli diyebilirim...
Certainly not his best, but I found it much more engaging than The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (which was still wonderful, just not as good as the rest of his amazing novels). It kind of feels like an end to Eco's narrative career, but I certainly hope not.
Listening doesn't mean trying to understand. Anything, however trifling, may be of use one day. What matters is to know something that others don't know you know.
People believe only what they already know.
Tyranny, you understand, has been achieved thanks to universal suffrage. The scoundrel [Napoleon] has carried out an authoritarian coup d'etat by appealing to the ignorant minds. This is a warning to us about the democracy of tomorrow.
An ode to Alexandre Dumas? The story is so full of twists and turns and interconnected plots that it reminds me so much of the Count.
There's a passage in which the protagonist takes real events reported in the newspapers and passes them off as his fictional stories - meaning none of the stories are original ideas. People love the stories and demand more.
According to this reviewer, reading the graphic novel The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion helps to put The Prague Cemetery into perspective as a satire.
However, this satire is quite subtle, to the point that a genuine antisemite might see this novel as support for their sentiments.
People believe only what they already know.
Tyranny, you understand, has been achieved thanks to universal suffrage. The scoundrel [Napoleon] has carried out an authoritarian coup d'etat by appealing to the ignorant minds. This is a warning to us about the democracy of tomorrow.
An ode to Alexandre Dumas? The story is so full of twists and turns and interconnected plots that it reminds me so much of the Count.
There's a passage in which the protagonist takes real events reported in the newspapers and passes them off as his fictional stories - meaning none of the stories are original ideas. People love the stories and demand more.
According to this reviewer, reading the graphic novel The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion helps to put The Prague Cemetery into perspective as a satire.
However, this satire is quite subtle, to the point that a genuine antisemite might see this novel as support for their sentiments.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting style and technique that brings together a wide ranging history of conspiracy theories and antisemitism that ultimately always feels like you would need to know a whole lot more to fully appreciate the point the book is trying to make. Inevitably this leaves a feeling of disjointedness between reader and book that may be part of the purpose but ends in a feeling of dissatisfaction
I read The Name of the Rose a few years ago so when I stumbled upon another Eco at a used book store, I was excited. However, this was a bit of a disappointment. I kept waiting and waiting for a more discernible plot to emerge and honestly after 200 pages I was so bored I wanted to stop reading. I finally made it to the end, and while some sections of the book were well written and entertaining, I wouldn't recommend it to others.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes