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birgits_bookshelf's review against another edition
1.0
dieses buch verdient eigentlich keine rezi... keine handlung, ein unsymphatischer protagonist mit einem unstillbaren hass auf die gesamte menschheit und beim rest konnte ich mich nicht konzentrieren...
cblibris's review against another edition
I have to admit I only read about 7% of this. There was just too much hate and too little plot.
webjoram's review against another edition
2.0
Una novela histórica más, no aportada nada y la trama no engancha en ningún momento.
freshmowngrass's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jimmacsyr's review against another edition
3.0
This book has unnerved me more than any other I can recall. The sole purpose of the book sometimes seems to be an accounting of as many anti-jewish (and freemason) theories/rants/paranoia as is possible. The goal could be the same as the writing activity of one of the author's characters - namely to facilitate book sales via the regurgitation of these night terrors.
At other times, the book makes subtle points regarding the contradictions and recursive fabrications that feed this paranoia; highlighting their application without need for external proof or internal consistency. And maybe the point is that the foundation of any "Eternal Jew" hysteria is the spider web of the "Eternal Conspirator" whose slight of hand uses the Jew, or other target, as the point to fixate your eye while the real activity is being done past your sight.
Went from baffled, to enjoyed, to embarrassed, back to baffled ... Three stars seems appropriate.
At other times, the book makes subtle points regarding the contradictions and recursive fabrications that feed this paranoia; highlighting their application without need for external proof or internal consistency. And maybe the point is that the foundation of any "Eternal Jew" hysteria is the spider web of the "Eternal Conspirator" whose slight of hand uses the Jew, or other target, as the point to fixate your eye while the real activity is being done past your sight.
Went from baffled, to enjoyed, to embarrassed, back to baffled ... Three stars seems appropriate.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
We realized we had gone too far; the idea of a three-headed devil who banqueted with the leader of the Italian government was difficult to swallow.
The protagonist of Umberto Eco's novel is not a sympathetic character. His first words to the reader are in the form of an epic rant in which he disparages and reviles every single group he can think of; women, Jews, Catholics, Germans, the French, Jesuits, and Freemasons are among those singled out for his disgust. And Simonini never does a single thing to endear himself to the reader.
And that's my quibble with this outrageous, conspiracy-driven book. It's similar to Foucault's Pendulum, being full of arcane plots and secret societies, and to Baudolino with an opportunistic main character who deals in forgeries. But while Casaubon and Baudolino were engaging characters despite their flaws, Simonini is a guy who inspires only a mild distaste. With a complex plot that requires concentration and a good grasp of nineteenth century European history (among other things), I needed someone to hold on to through the cyclone of events and obscure references.
Simonini gets his professional start forging wills and titles for an unscrupulous lawyer, until that gentleman dies and leaves Simonini his business, in an unexpected will. Simonini is then asked to implicate his friends in an imaginary plot, which then lead to an assignment with Garibaldi's forces in the South of Italy and on to further work in Paris. Simonini is less a spy than someone who is able to enjoy the reputation of a spy and to convey that reputation into a steady income. But his masterpiece, one that takes much of his life to complete and use appropriately, involves an imaginary meeting of rabbis in the Jewish cemetery in Prague in which they agree on a series of protocols that will allow them to control the world.
The conspiracies that Simonini is involved in are fantastic. More than a few times I'd be reading along and think, "hey, that sounds a little like that scandal/affair/coup," only to realize that it was that scandal/affair/coup and that Eco has the entire event based on Simonini's forgeries and groups with devious intentions.
This is a book I struggled with in part because my grasp of the history of that time is shallow and unsteady. I'd like to reread this book in a few years, with a bit of advance reading under my belt. I suspect I will like it more with a second reading.
The protagonist of Umberto Eco's novel is not a sympathetic character. His first words to the reader are in the form of an epic rant in which he disparages and reviles every single group he can think of; women, Jews, Catholics, Germans, the French, Jesuits, and Freemasons are among those singled out for his disgust. And Simonini never does a single thing to endear himself to the reader.
And that's my quibble with this outrageous, conspiracy-driven book. It's similar to Foucault's Pendulum, being full of arcane plots and secret societies, and to Baudolino with an opportunistic main character who deals in forgeries. But while Casaubon and Baudolino were engaging characters despite their flaws, Simonini is a guy who inspires only a mild distaste. With a complex plot that requires concentration and a good grasp of nineteenth century European history (among other things), I needed someone to hold on to through the cyclone of events and obscure references.
Simonini gets his professional start forging wills and titles for an unscrupulous lawyer, until that gentleman dies and leaves Simonini his business, in an unexpected will. Simonini is then asked to implicate his friends in an imaginary plot, which then lead to an assignment with Garibaldi's forces in the South of Italy and on to further work in Paris. Simonini is less a spy than someone who is able to enjoy the reputation of a spy and to convey that reputation into a steady income. But his masterpiece, one that takes much of his life to complete and use appropriately, involves an imaginary meeting of rabbis in the Jewish cemetery in Prague in which they agree on a series of protocols that will allow them to control the world.
The conspiracies that Simonini is involved in are fantastic. More than a few times I'd be reading along and think, "hey, that sounds a little like that scandal/affair/coup," only to realize that it was that scandal/affair/coup and that Eco has the entire event based on Simonini's forgeries and groups with devious intentions.
This is a book I struggled with in part because my grasp of the history of that time is shallow and unsteady. I'd like to reread this book in a few years, with a bit of advance reading under my belt. I suspect I will like it more with a second reading.
soniaalina's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sofora's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aleffert's review against another edition
3.0
Essentially, this is all the most dreary parts of Foucault's Pendulum, where Eco eschews any actually interesting narrative to reconstruct the mother of all conspiracy theories by linking a bunch of disparate things. The construction of it is a little interesting, it is told by two characters who seem to be multiple personalities of the same body, with a narrating interleaved in their shared journal. Then he has his narrator say in big letters doesn't this sound suspicious, almost like the plot of a novel! So there are some interesting things going on here at a meta-level, but they're all more interesting in Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino and the object level story is rather tedious.
maryehavens's review against another edition
1.0
Listened to about three minutes of this feces laden, racist weirdness before I noped it big time. Am I missing something?