Umberto Eco Books

I was a little worried this book might be really dry and difficult to read but it has been enjoyable and interesting so far. I decided to buy Umberto Eco's Beauty book too.

I've enjoyed Eco's fiction (The Name of the Rose, Baudolino), but was never familiar with his work as a semiotician. This book gives a wonderful taste of his intellect outside of fiction. "On Ugliness" is Eco's companion volume to his excellent History of Beauty, and takes the same style: here you will find descriptions of the Western world's ideas about ugliness, from the classical era through the modern, discussing things such as the devil, monsters, death, age and decay, damnation, camp and kitsch, etc. Eco examines this subject broadly, and provides great insight. This book is essentially a collection of visual art related to the different subjects, juxtaposed with passages from literary works from a number of Western cultures.

What keeps this book from receiving my full 5 stars is the fact that none of the pieces (whether literature or visual art) include any kind of analysis or description. Eco simply writes bookending snippets for each chapter and then basically lets the works speak for themselves, which is largely unsatisfying. However, for anyone interested in conceptions of beauty or ugliness, or who would like a fascinating addition to their library, this book is for you.

'One man's trash is another man's treasure' might be a apt conclusion after spending the significant amount of time required to digest Umberto Eco's semiotic approach to 'ugly'. Eco's brilliance as an author is well accepted, yet his informed academic investigation (upon which many of his own novels are based) is only now being appreciated. It is difficult to read ON UGLINESS as a treatise, so lush and provocative is his prose style. Rizzoli International spared no expense on supplying Eco with images and design of this art treasure, and the result is a volume about art history and our manifold perceptions of the signs and symbols that through time have defined 'ugly' versus 'beauty.'

Eco wisely uses the chronological approach to his discourse on the semiotics of ugliness. After a superb Introduction in which he suggests the response of an alien visiting our planet, trying to determine what our civilization labeled beautiful (!), Eco launches into his presentation with gusto. He presents chapters on ugliness in the Classical World, religious use of ugliness (passion, death, martyrdom, apocalypse, hell), monsters, witchcraft, sadism, 'obscene pornography', the appearance of ugliness in architecture and industrial buildings, and finally the transition of the 'ugly' in the popular kitsch and camp.

Coupled with the fascinating written words by the author are copious reproductions of paintings, details of images (some of the details of Bosch's complex canvases are amazingly clear), by both well known painters and unknown painters, displayed with short excerpts from writers who wrote on the subject of the ugly versus the beautiful. Eco brings us to the absolute present (punk art, Cindy Sherman, current film, etc) and as his images emerge from the book's pages, so does his commentary quicken. And so we are left with a book on the subject of Ugliness, which as an art volume is quite the opposite: this is a very beautiful and informed new art book. Highly recommended reading and viewing. Grady Harp, November 07

Since I am only a hundred-some pages into this book I hope you'll forgive the premature nature of this review, but thus far Eco's latest work has been so movingly fascinating that I wanted to step up and urge anyone who might be considering buying and reading it to go ahead and do so. Initially I had reservations about beginning it but have no regrets that I did. Although it should become apparent early on that this is honestly less a companion volume to History of Beauty than it has been touted to be, this study of perception, beauty, and above all beauty's often more charismatic twin, ugliness, takes on the entire sweep of history and makes an investigation of the output of some of the biggest names in western art and literature. Why are, say, Goya's more gruesome works his most enjoyable? What makes villains the best characters in fiction (and life)? Why does the repugnant occur so frequently as a theme in art, music, literature and even in everyday fashion? Most of all, why is one object or individual deemed "ugly" and another not? Less (at least thus far) an indictment of the cult of beauty which seems inextricably bound up in human affairs and more an exhaustive investigation that intelligently asks numerous questions from many angles, Eco's challenge here is to compel each of us to contemplate the nature of perception itself. I have loved what I've read so far and can't wait to read the rest.

"Turning Back the Clock" is the title of an admirable and entertaining collection of essays, articles, speeches, etc. by famed Italian writer Umberto Eco. Most of these are articles written as a columnist for La Repubblica, and the collection is organized by content, not chronology. Fortunately, it is not necessary to have read any of Eco's novels to enjoy this book.

Eco is of course a gifted writer, and not just in the realm of fiction. While it is perhaps necessary, in particular for the political essays, to have a fairly substantial knowledge of Italian politics and history, one can on the other hand also learn a lot about Italy from Eco's essays. And this is not limited to Italian topics: Eco discusses everything one would expect from him, politics, science, technology, history, philosophy, literature, and art. Consistently reasonable, balanced, and witty, Eco may not be the most provoking and startling of essaysists, but he is sure to be informative and challenging.

In my opinion, the most interesting articles are those where Eco does not directly address current events, but rather talks more generally about the situation of modern European culture(s), about historical and philosophical subjects, and the use of language. The high point here are perhaps the final articles, one of which is a speech given to the Milanesiana in 2001 where he discusses the phrase "dwarves on the shoulders of giants", as well as one on how to accept one's mortality. I can definitely recommend this book to intellectuals.

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: HOT WARS AND MEDIA POPULISM provides an intellectual's analysis of modern times in a series of essays which originally appeared in the Italian newspapers La Republica and L'Espresso. Slogans and ideas of hot wars and media, progress and racism, changing technology and popular concerns are all analyzed in a lively series of discussions linked to everyday life and media reports, making this a pick not just for the usual college-level collections strong in social issues, but for general interest lending libraries, as well.

Nowadays, when most authors writing on social and politcal events or trends are motivated primarily by their partisan agendas, it is a refreshing and enlightening experience to read from someone like Umberto Eco. The acclaimed author of FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM and THE NAME Of The ROSE, who also happens to be the world's only famous medievalist and semiotician, is an endangered species: an original thinker, whose ideas and opinions derive not from organizational or ideological loyalties, but rather originate out of independent observation and evaluation. I may disagree with Eco on more than a few things inside this book (as, for example, his uncharacterically unfair treatment of both Mel Gibson and the PASSION Of The CHRIST in the essay "Hands Off My Son!"), but at least these thoughts are his own.

TURNING BACK The CLOCK: HOT WARS And MEDIA POPULISM is a collection of essays based on a number of Umberto Eco's articles and lectures between 2000-2005. The majority of these pieces originally appeared in the Italian newspapers L'espresso and La Repubblica, they are short, informal, even humorous. They are also, however, very serious in their intent, and are models as to what opinion pieces in journalism should be.

Eco's writing here takes on everything from what he terms paleowar vs. neowar (in the essay "Some Reflections on War and Peace), media monopolism and movies to HARRY POTTER and THE DA VINCI CODE (from "Those Who Don't Believe in God Believe in Everything), from Nigerian beauty pageants (in "Beauty Queens, Fundamentalists and Lepers") to political correctness and multiculturalism to Islamist terrorism and Islamophobia as well.

Within this book's 41 collected essays, instead of bullying or haranguing his readers, Eco offers the commonsense and moderation that was once the hallmark of classic humanism and liberalism: That we need not to abandon all values and all standards in order to achieve a tolerant and pluralistic society.

It does not matter if you agree with everything Eco says - in fact I think that is impossible. The point of reading these articles is to grow your mind and awareness of other ways of thinking.

The word "name" in Italian is spelled "nome", not "noma". :) btw, I love this book.

I am amazed that this novel - the most popular, the best-loved, the most imitated in Italy during the latest 20 years- is so little known abroad.
It is a very good historical novel, full of intense and fascinating characters, which can reliably belong to European Middle Age. Eco' s culture is immense: he can easily quote from Latin, ancient French or other languages. But the big mystery in this book is an ancient Greek manuscript, the book _On Comedy_ fom Aristotle's _Poetics_. It is very hard to believe that such a manuscript really existed, and, as a matter of fact, at the end of the novel it gets destroyed. A terrible loss for the main character, Guglielmo di Baskerville, but a dreadful victory for superstition and ignorance.
Tje plot is very intriguing (it is a detective story). Some friars are murdered, and nobody can understand the reason...nobody excepting Guglielmo. Who is nothing but Sherlock Holmes, while his young assistant, Adso, is nothing but Watson...

But the reference to Conan Doyle is not the real purpose of this splendid book, where you find such an enchanting gothic atmosphere as very rarely you can do. The real matter is the rescue of European culture, which nowadays seems to be overwhelmed by the so called 'globalization'.
I suggest this reading to everyone, American, Asian or African people.
The movie is not so bad...Jean-Jacques Annaud understood very well Eco's lesson. But the book is something very, very special.

This isn't a critical review, but just a note to remind everyone that this edition is indeed in the original Italian (rare to find on Amazon.com), and includes a post-script appendix not included in the original releases.

P.S., just this once, don't rent the movie. Treat yourself and see how much more you get out of it.

Since Luciano Anceschi's lessons at the University of Bologna (a town in Italy, not the American imitation of "mortadella" meat), the questions about "what is art" and "which interpretations of a work of art are acceptable and which are not" has arisen with the power and the consistence of a flood. "Anything" - some scholars and critics claimed - "can be considered art, if it is presented as art: a piece of newspaper glued to a wall can be a poem..." But can it be a good poem? Chaos followed. As open minded as usual - and ever so clear despite the French intellectual franzy fashion of his collegues (say hello do Derrida, Greimas, Bataillle, Kristeva and all the nice company) - Eco tryies a sort of "coming back to the book". A lot of interpretations are possible, but not ANY interpretation. Clever, illuminating, wisely fun in his choice of examples... Bel colpo Umberto! Ci vediamo in via Zamboni!

Well, not exactly. But Umberto Eco argues forcefully that there are a limited number of reasonable interpretations of any given text in the Limits of Interpretation. The collected essays within examine the problems with many critical philosophers' arguments that meaning is necessarily entirely subjective. The book, overall, makes a good reply.

In it, Eco takes on the alternate worlds view, as well as Derrida and Foucualt. He further describes some ways that signs can be created to constrain interpretations and criticizes the meaninglessness created by total subjectivity in terpretation.

In my opinion, Eco is strongest as a writer when he is an essayist and he is excellent here...

Well, not exactly. But Umberto Eco argues forcefully that there are a limited number of reasonable interpretations of any given text in the Limits of Interpretation. The collected essays within examine the problems with many critical philosophers' arguments that meaning is necessarily entirely subjective. The book, overall, makes a good reply.

In it, Eco takes on the alternate worlds view, as well as Derrida and Foucualt. He further describes some ways that signs can be created to constrain interpretations and criticizes the meaninglessness created by total subjectivity in terpretation.

In my opinion, Eco is strongest as a writer when he is an essayist and he is excellent here. However, it is not a large book and the price... is pretty high, especially since these essays have mostly been published elsewhere. Unfortunately, that was mostly in Italian. Look for a used copy if you can find one.

It's hard for a child to imagine the consequences of an atomic war. But not so hard if it has a happy end. In "The Bomb and the General", the beautiful texts by Umberto Eco and Carmi's fantastic ilustrations teach what should be learn by everyone about wars: its better to have doormen than crazy generals, and vases than bombs.

This is a gentle first intoduction to the dreaded but inevitable talk in which a parent must reveal the realities of living in an age of nuclear weaponry. The illustrations and text are so superb that they are appropriate for any age, but do a particularly good job of introducing younger children to the dynamics of war. At the same time, the joyful ending makes it highly readable. It's made the top of my gift list.

A picture is worth a thousand words! This book says so much and yet there are only a handful of words on each page identifying the library in the photo. As I was "reading" through this book, I realized that I have been in many of the cities or countries where these libraries are located. I missed some beautiful sites. For anyone who has an interest in libraries, this is a must "read." I will be giving this to my son, who is an architect. His specialty is libraries.

137 color plates distinguish Candida Hofer Libraries, beautifully capturing seats of knowledge around the world from the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York to the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris, the Villa Medici in Rome and others. Aside from a brief introduction, no essays intersperse the eye-catching plates, each of which takes up a whole page with a blank page opposite in a two-page spread. The snapshot images speak for themselves in this captivating compilation highly recommended for bibliophile's coffee tables and photography shelves.

For those who love to read about history, religion, suspense, science, etc. this title could be really interesting.. the description of situations as well as of places and characters are incredibly exact.

este libro es muy interesante ya que trata de una mezcla de historia de detectives moderna y erudiccion, libros, monjes y demas. este autor que nos tiene a acostumbrado a obras muy cultas como sus escritos sobre semiotica.. el estudio de los signos.... y a novelas como el pendulo de focault, de gran complejidad, nos da este pequeno divertimento de el nombre de la rosa, que parece de mas facil lectura que las anteriores, pero brinda una tremenda satisfaccion. muy recomendada.. LUIS MENDEZ

Una novela, con toques de ensayo. Posee una bagaje de investigación serio, que mediante un relato novelado realmente te "sube al péndulo" para transladarnos a un recorrido en le tiempo de los templarios.
Eco escribió esta novela, mucho antes que el Código Da Vince y no me equivocaría al suponer que Dan Brown pretende emularlo. Sin embargo, la novela de Eco es muy superior, en información recabada, en la estructura y en la especulación y fantasía que te puede generar, sin duda, muy superior.
No pierdas de vista, que a mi parecer, Eco lleva una liga entre sus trabajos, sus novelas, sus ensayos y esta novela. Sin duda me resultan pocas las CINCO estrellas.

Acabo de terminar de leer este libro (25-Julio-2004), y tengo que aceptar que me ha dejado impresionado. A ciencia cierta no sabría explicar porque lo ha hecho, quizá este libro invocó alguno de mis demonios, tocó algunas fibras sensibles, y a decir verdad me aterró. Será cierto que cuando uno se encuentra vacío es cuando uno se pone a buscar secretos inexistentes, que es mejor tener que buscar algo que no se sabe que existe, a no tener nada que buscar.... ¿por eso me dio miedo? o simplemente porque me doy cuenta que estoy entrando en un universo que efectivamente....da miedo. Un universo en el cual las conspiraciones y la desconfianza están a la vuelta de la esquina, el temor de estar siempre vigilado y que no sabes que es lo que una persona puede ocultar -- sí, lo se, es paranoia -- pero esa es la impresión que me ha dejado este libro, el imaginarme que las personas ocultan un secreto, para bien o para mal, pero que todos lo tienen.
A lo largo de la historia, que en ocasiones medio leía y pocas veces comprendía totalmente los personajes se sitúan en situaciones complejas, casi increíbles, pero lo mas importante es la manera en que el autor combina la ficción con la historia y no solo la historia, lamisca ficción que se ha creado de la ficción, lo que hace al texto encantadoramente complicado y rebuscado y en ocasiones sencillamente obvio, algo que puede hacer perder el juicio, en mi caso a alguien que en numerables ocasiones lo ha perdido. La parte más interesante es el último cuarto, quizá un poco mas, cuando empieza a conectar los hechos históricos más o menos contemporáneos con toda la mística y secreta historia de los templarios.
El punto focal que me encantó fue cuando Napoleón se relaciona con todo este misterio del plan, y a partir de ahí te das cuenta que todos los grandes líderes del mundo han estado en contacto con el plan, o para ubicarnos en la realidad, que todos los grandes y ambiciosos líderes han pertenecido a una "secta" de "iniciados" que han tratado de gobernar al mundo, sea como sea.
Que la historia del mundo se basa única y sencillamente en la conquista de los pueblos al costo que sea, y no simplemente con guerras armadas, sino a base de guerras ideológicas que aniquilan peor que una bomba, el matar el pensamiento es el peor crimen que se puede hacer, y eso lo menciono por los capítulos referentes a los jesuitas, y no se mucho de ellos, pero investigare, pero según lo que dice el libro son gente de cuidado, gente que no se detiene para conseguir lo que desea y que desde la fundación de la Compañía de Jesús, no han hecho mas que adueñarse del pensamiento de los débiles, y los no tanto, ya que también el poder económico esta inmerso en la conquista del mundo.
Una cosa que me llamo mucho la atención fue el hecho de que a unos años de la creación de los jesuitas, éstos promovieron la abolición de la enseñanza de los clásicos y de la historia antigua, en aras de ocultar los conocimientos de los antiguos, y así, no dejar huellas de los pasos del plan, pero si nos volvemos a ubicar en la realidad, no es lo que se esta haciendo actualmente en el gobierno de México; en el año 2004, el grupo en el poder, que pertenece a la derecha -- bien conocida por sus inclinaciones eclesiásticas -- !pretende eliminar temas importantes de la historia universal y de México de los libros de texto!, ¿será que son jesuitas?

I stepped off the edge of normal thinking and rose to new heights of awareness. I have appreciated Mr. Eco as an author of great books, but I see him now as Dr. Eco, the man who makes words speak new meaning. When I listen to people, friends, family, (yes and God forgive me, TV talking heads) I no longer hear what they say, I see they are trying to express ideas with words they do not control. I just wish I could control them, the words, as Dr. Eco does. An excellent read, and excellant study and a great way to build your mind. Thank you Dr. Eco, mille gracie, mille, mille gracie.

The Italian Umberto Eco is a towering figure. A literary critic, novelist, and semiotician (studying symbols and symbol systems), he gained international recognition with "The Name of the Rose" (1980) in which he brought the study of semiotics to fiction. In this book, "Theory of Semiotics", he makes his contribution to the theoretical study of signs encompassing all cultural phenomena. His focus is on the development of a methodology of communication.

Like Roland Barthes, Eco starts from the foundations of semiotics in Saussure (Course in General Linguistics: who developed the idea of sign-systems and the sign/signified distinction, as well as the distinction between langue/parole - language and speech) and Claude Levi-Strauss (Structural Anthropology). Yet Eco surpasses this tradition to move into new territory, recognizing the limits to structuralism and Saussure's ideas. He recognizes, for example, that meaning is not merely governed by structure, but also interactively constructed by the reader/interpreter, who often inserts or fills-in missing meaning to construct a coherent picture.

Those interested in an introductory work to this fascinating field should be pointed to Eco's work "Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language" which is easier to start with.

Many of us have heard of the masterpiece written by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, the Summa Theologiae. However, this very little known work by the Semiotician, Umberto Eco, writter of the novel In the Name of the Rose, presents in an easy to understand, and with great depth, the aesthetics and views of St. Thomas with respect to the beautiful, art, and music. Eco, allows the reader to understand with more clarity, the thought of Scholastic philosophical and aesthetic thought with reference to Thomas, Augustine, Boetheius, Plato, Aristotle and many other great thinkers found throughout the course of history. Furthermore, Eco interprets the Summa Theologiae to understand such concepts as: visio, musical theory, artist, and many others.

In simple to use language, Eco renews the inspiration and awe that was seen long ago in interpretation of the aesthetic. Thus, philosophy does not have to be something complicated, rather a basis for everything else we do. Therefore, when we see a painting, listen to a piece of music, read a poem, etc, we interpret the beauty that derives from that particular work and Eco, in this book shows us how we can do it by understanding the thought of one of the foremost thinkers of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas.

This book is a must have for philsophers, musicians, artists, and anyone who may be interested in interpreting art work, poetry, music, and the Beautiful with greater profundity.