A review by flying_monkey
Numero Zero by Umberto Eco

funny mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This is very late, and very lightweight Eco. For sure, it has the foundation for a classic Eco novel, mixing real historical conspiracies (allied stay-behind forces in Europe after WW2 and the CIA-backed Gladio network of anti-communists formed from ex-fascists) and the fictional (the idea that Mussolini didn't die at the end of WW2 but was saved by the Vatican). But the basic plot about a fake newspaper that serves no real purpose other than to bring the characters together and allow some very broad satire about politics and the media. And yet again there is a May-to-December romance between the ageing writer-protagonist and a much younger female journalist, although at least this time it's a real romance rather than a lifelong obsession. And it all just comes to a sudden end when Eco seems to have become bored. Foucault's Pendulum, this ain't.