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sketchugo's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
zahraareads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
jfaberrit's review against another edition
3.0
This novel(la?) is almost certainly better than its most negative reviews would indicate, but far from Eco's best; I still would have to place Foucault's Pendulum as my favorite novel of all time and one of the ten best. This story, a tale of journalism, conspiracies, and paranoia, is written perfectly well, and has more than a bit of humor throughout, but it simply pales in comparison to Eco's best work. In many ways, it feels like a deleted scene from Foucault's Pendulum, more of a curiosity left behind by a greater work than a fully fledged one in itself. In the end, not great, but not a huge investment of time either, so call it a wash.
humito's review against another edition
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
daja57's review against another edition
3.0
A group of journalistic hacks gather together to produce a dummy newspaper whose secret purpose is to gain for their millionaire sponsor access to the inner circles of high society (basically through the power of press blackmail). One of them spins conspiracy theories linking the CIA and right wing groups to the 'murder' of pope John Paul I and the 'mystery' of Mussolini's death. The paranoid narrator fears for his life.
The themes are, I suppose, truth and fake truth, and how a newspaper can dictate the agenda and create beliefs with hints and innuendos. There is the skeleton of a thriller plot. Much of the action seemed irrelevant. There were pages of what seemed like filling (and the novel is only 190 pages), such as the couple of pages in which the journalists made silly jokes, or the two pages of autopsy report. Most of the conspiracy theories were re-peddled from other sources.
The themes are, I suppose, truth and fake truth, and how a newspaper can dictate the agenda and create beliefs with hints and innuendos. There is the skeleton of a thriller plot. Much of the action seemed irrelevant. There were pages of what seemed like filling (and the novel is only 190 pages), such as the couple of pages in which the journalists made silly jokes, or the two pages of autopsy report. Most of the conspiracy theories were re-peddled from other sources.