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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
Muy bien escrito, pero el tema no interesó en lo mínimo y tiene una tendencia a dar datos de más. Me temo que este libro me hace reconsiderar la opinión de que Eco es un excelente autor.
Very well written, but the topic didn't interest me at all and he has a tendency to include more facts than needed. I'm afraid this book is making me reconsider my opinion on Eco's excellent writing skills.
Very well written, but the topic didn't interest me at all and he has a tendency to include more facts than needed. I'm afraid this book is making me reconsider my opinion on Eco's excellent writing skills.
I love a good conspiracy theory story, but this one fell very flat for me. Instead of reading a story of a conspiracy theory happening, with mystery and suspense, it is written like I'm just having a conversation with a friend about his crazy ideas. For the most part it is boring, the characters are pointless, and the plot is a guy talking to another guy. Possibly if I knew more about Italian history this may have been more interesting. The narrator, David Colacci, does a decent job for the most part, but you can feel that he is a bit uninspired.
Spettacolare, erano anni che non mi divertivo a leggere un romanzo di Umberto Eco, anzi, ho ancora stampata in memoria l'agonia procuratami da "L'isola del giorno prima" uno dei pochi libri a cui non sono arrivata in fondo. L'apoteosi del complotto: il giornale destinato a non uscire mai, il sosia di mussolini, gladio, licio gelli, il papa ed il fallito golpe di Borghese (con la gentile partecipazione della forestale). Anche se all'inizio mi sembrava di leggere Genna, devo ammettere che nemmeno a lui sarebbe riuscito di scrivere così bene, almeno secondo me.
What to say about Numero Zero? Hmmmm. The first that comes to mind is, "What was the point of that, then?".
That is, I'm not certain what Eco intends this to be. One part scathing critique on the newspaper industry in the early-1990s, one part conspiracy thriller. Amidst this is a un-engaging and unconvincing tale of a hack writer. Surprisingly, given Eco's skill, the book is clumsily structured and shifts from clunky dialogue into pages (and pages) seemingly lifted from Mussolini's autopsy report.
I don't know, but I have the suspicion that is is a second or third draft, in dire need of an editor with a stern stomach and plenty of red ink. Best avoided.
That is, I'm not certain what Eco intends this to be. One part scathing critique on the newspaper industry in the early-1990s, one part conspiracy thriller. Amidst this is a un-engaging and unconvincing tale of a hack writer. Surprisingly, given Eco's skill, the book is clumsily structured and shifts from clunky dialogue into pages (and pages) seemingly lifted from Mussolini's autopsy report.
I don't know, but I have the suspicion that is is a second or third draft, in dire need of an editor with a stern stomach and plenty of red ink. Best avoided.
Em honra de Umberto Eco (1932- 2016).
Tudo que você queria saber sobre o que rola nas redações da Veja, O Globo e Folha você encontra aqui, ou seja, tudo que é pautado pelo mau jornalismo. Crítica contundente à contemporaneidade (embora se passe há mais de 20 anos), especialmente ao público zumbi que se deixa levar pela sordidez da imprensa e agora aos boatos de internet, não chega a ser uma das obras primas de Eco, mas também não deixa de ser um tapa com luva de pelica, que de fato lhe é usual.
Tudo que você queria saber sobre o que rola nas redações da Veja, O Globo e Folha você encontra aqui, ou seja, tudo que é pautado pelo mau jornalismo. Crítica contundente à contemporaneidade (embora se passe há mais de 20 anos), especialmente ao público zumbi que se deixa levar pela sordidez da imprensa e agora aos boatos de internet, não chega a ser uma das obras primas de Eco, mas também não deixa de ser um tapa com luva de pelica, que de fato lhe é usual.
I don't really know what to say about this book. He had a great rip-roaring conspiracy theory going (about Mussolini and his body double) but ultimately didn't do anything with it.
I enjoyed it while it lasted, which is why I gave it three stars rather then two. The dialogue was witty and made me laugh out loud a couple times; the sly commentary on the sad state of the modern journalism business was great. Simei is Roger Ailes to Vimercate's Rubert Murdoch.
But ultimately, it's as if Eco tired of his own story before it was done. Probably for Eco fans only.
I enjoyed it while it lasted, which is why I gave it three stars rather then two. The dialogue was witty and made me laugh out loud a couple times; the sly commentary on the sad state of the modern journalism business was great. Simei is Roger Ailes to Vimercate's Rubert Murdoch.
But ultimately, it's as if Eco tired of his own story before it was done. Probably for Eco fans only.
Sad to say, not the best Umberto Eco book. It rehashed a bunch of ideas from his previous work, mashed them together with a clever character who is clearly a stand in for the author, which is especially awkward given the poorly developed age-mismatched romance. Read Name of the Rose or Foucault's Pendulum instead...
About 90% of the way through, I had to pull up Wikipedia and check the publication date against Eco's biography. Was this one of those posthumously published unfinished works, such as Wallace's Pale King? No, Eco was still alive when this came out, so it seems to have been the novel he intended to publish.
Looking back on this novel, I find myself thinking of a snake swallowing an elephant. (Apologies to Saint-Exupéry.) Much of the fascination is wondering how the snake is going to pull that off. The snake in this example is the novel, Numero Zero, and the elephant is, well, pretty much all that stuff that shows up on the jacket: Operation Gladio, Mussolini, Licio Gelli, La Cosa Nostra, the CIA, right-wing death squads, the Cold War, etc. To avoid further belaboring this questionable metaphor, let's just say the snake puts up a good show but just as it unhinges its jaws and looks like it's going to get to swallowing, it takes one last look at the elephant, does whatever snakes do to shrug, and slinks off.
So, the novel isn't really about any of that, though there's enough of that included to form the basis of a paranoid thriller. What it's really about is a middle-aged academic who gets involved with a start-up newspaper in early 1990s Italy. One might say hi-jinx ensue, though these are principally of the low-stakes variety. While it feels slight compared to his other denser, more intellectually challenging works, the story was pleasant and managed to it at least one familiar Eco theme: how symbols are manipulated to create meaning.
Looking back on this novel, I find myself thinking of a snake swallowing an elephant. (Apologies to Saint-Exupéry.) Much of the fascination is wondering how the snake is going to pull that off. The snake in this example is the novel, Numero Zero, and the elephant is, well, pretty much all that stuff that shows up on the jacket: Operation Gladio, Mussolini, Licio Gelli, La Cosa Nostra, the CIA, right-wing death squads, the Cold War, etc. To avoid further belaboring this questionable metaphor, let's just say the snake puts up a good show but just as it unhinges its jaws and looks like it's going to get to swallowing, it takes one last look at the elephant, does whatever snakes do to shrug, and slinks off.
So, the novel isn't really about any of that, though there's enough of that included to form the basis of a paranoid thriller. What it's really about is a middle-aged academic who gets involved with a start-up newspaper in early 1990s Italy. One might say hi-jinx ensue, though these are principally of the low-stakes variety. While it feels slight compared to his other denser, more intellectually challenging works, the story was pleasant and managed to it at least one familiar Eco theme: how symbols are manipulated to create meaning.
A história parece, a princípio, bastante insípida e superficial. E, de fato, o é. Colonna é contratado por Simei para ser editor-chefe de um jornal que não existe. Os demais integrantes da equipe são levados a crer que estão se preparando para o lançamento do jornal Amanhã, bolando estratégias jornalísticas, criando as seções e definindo pautas. Mas a real missão de Colonna é escrever um livro sobre essa experiência.
Resenha completa no blog:
http://www.cafeinaliteraria.com.br/2015/07/14/numero-zero-de-umberto-eco/
Resenha completa no blog:
http://www.cafeinaliteraria.com.br/2015/07/14/numero-zero-de-umberto-eco/
Meh. I might have like this better if I was interested in the details of Italian history and Mussolini. I gave it three stars for the satirical depiction of how to manufacture a newspaper that has 24 pages of nothing.