RIP Umberto Eco

Sad news.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/20/italian-author-umberto-eco-dies-aged-84

“Each of us is sometimes a cretin, a fool, a moron, or a lunatic."

I felt the BBC announcement was so bare and only paid attention to his novels. His work in semiotics, linguistics and philosophy was challenging and stimulating, always provoking discussions that lasted many days or even weeks among my philosophical friends. The humour and breadth of references in his 'light fiction' reflected a love for the medium that many writers don't bother to show; and that his publishers cared enough to endure it carried through in translations from the original tells us more about his relationships  as well as his love for language. 

I am grateful to have read Eco's works, and to have seen some translated into glorious films. I am grateful to have heard him speak via filmed interviews and lectures. 

A mind like his should not be forgotten. And he was so much more than just his mind. 

Interestingly enough, (and I may be paraphrasing his words) he considered himself more of a philosopher, and a novelist only on weekends.

You nailed it. First paragraph from a Publishers Weekly interview last year:

Umberto Eco has been described as a semiologist, a philosopher, a medievalist, a philologist, a literary critic, and a leader in the field of cultural studies, as well as an author of international bestsellers. For his students and associates, though, he is simply il professore. How does Eco describe himself? “I’ve always thought of myself as a scholar who, at a certain point, began to write novels on the weekend... in the summer.”

The "...in the summer" tack-on is fantastic. "il professore" indeed.

https://twitter.com/LDNCalling/status/702129878817226752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Swoon.

My hubby went to the university where he taught. Some of his friends were Eco's students. Messages have been all over FB celebrating what an amazing teacher he was.

That's one of his small libraries.  Here's his larger one.

https://youtu.be/oORuxodR59w?t=2m48s

I like the professorial disheveledness  of the first one, but WOW.

I've read the Name of the Rose,  Foucault's Pendulum, and Baudolino. Recommendation for another Eco book to read?

I've also read both The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana and The Island of the Day Before. I remember Dave and I discussed Queen Loana on a thread a few years ago; I wondered whether the translation had done justice to the original. It's a great book but a lot of readers would be lost or impatient with its style. I enjoyed it but wanted more. 

The Island has me still thinking about patches of the philosophy, years later. Again, many people would find the tale exasperating, or might just see something like a Prospero or would-be Robinson Crusoe/Gulliver rewritten for a modern age. But Eco's deep romance with Language itself makes anything he wrote both more and less than first-impressions yarn spinning. I happen to adore what he does, I just wish my Italian was good enough for original in-depth reading. 

PVW said:

I've read the Name of the Rose,  Foucault's Pendulum, and Baudolino. Recommendation for another Eco book to read?

You might want to try "Island of the Day Before".  I've read that, along with the three you mentioned.  I haven't found many people who finished "Foucault's Pendulum" - I think the ones who didn't finish it took it too seriously.  It does make one view Dan Brown's conspiracy novels (especially "DaVinci Code") in a different light.

I absolutely loved Foucault's Pendulum.  One of my favorite books.

ctrzaska said:

I absolutely loved Foucault's Pendulum.  One of my favorite books.

I just pulled it out a few weeks ago with the intention of reading it. I'm going to start it tonight.

Might be fun to have a group of MOLers reading it. Want to start one up?

Odd fact but there is a chandelier designed after the Pendulum and I had been thinking of buying it.

Not a novel, but How to Travel with a Salmon is very good.   The chapter on Replacing a Drivers License is a stand out. 

Postscript to the Name of the Rose is as good as the novel it's about.

I was one of those who tried and failed to finish Foucault's Pendulum. I don't think I got past 50 pages. Now I feel motivated to try it again. I'll pull it out tonight. 

We'll see.

I must be really odd. I thought Pendulum was hysterically good fun. Truly. Sure some of it was dated, and some was a bit tedious (I put that down to differences in languages, like how some German and Russian writers just go on and on), but other bits were really really funny in an absurdist style that Dan Brown just couldn't imagine.

Seriously: you have to try Island, too.

I've seen this obituary:

http://www.historytoday.com/alexander-lee/rose-any-other-name-umberto-eco-1932-2016