A review by leorejoanne
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco
3.0
I expected a lot from this book when I bought it, and I have to say that I was quite dissappointed.
I liked the lead character a lot, and the offset for the plot was excellent, but it seemed to me that he (Eco)didn't play around enough with all the possibilities which his character's situation allowed.
At Solara, the idea of trying to recover his history by surrounding himself with his childhood things was very appealing to me, but at some point I got sick of rummaging through old vinyl discs and stamp collections with him. I enjoyed the stories about the books, but these too grew old after a while. Though it was interesting to learn about Facist Italy from the perspective of a boy.
*spoiler*
I liked the "twist" (since it's not really a twist), when he found the old book, had a stroke and started floating amongst his memories again.
It was very satisfying to finally understand who he is, and where he comes from. But what wasn't satisfying was the ending. The idea of all the characters from the comics and books which inhabited his life to come to him in his final moments is charming, but it also left me with a sour taste in my mouth, since the author left all the ends rather loose. I still would like to know what happened with the book he found.
Highlights - Gragnola (I think that was his name) and his long speech about why god is a facist sent me hollering.
Also, Yambo's musing about whether he's dreaming, or dreaming of dreaming, or perhaps just existing in a sort of suspended state, as just a brain floating in fluid into whom someone sends images as he wishes. Reminded me of the 'Matrix'.
So to sum it up - I wasn't too thrilled by this book, though it had its' moments.
Quote: "By war's end I had learned a great deal, not only how babies are born, but also hoe jews die".
7.5.07
I liked the lead character a lot, and the offset for the plot was excellent, but it seemed to me that he (Eco)didn't play around enough with all the possibilities which his character's situation allowed.
At Solara, the idea of trying to recover his history by surrounding himself with his childhood things was very appealing to me, but at some point I got sick of rummaging through old vinyl discs and stamp collections with him. I enjoyed the stories about the books, but these too grew old after a while. Though it was interesting to learn about Facist Italy from the perspective of a boy.
*spoiler*
I liked the "twist" (since it's not really a twist), when he found the old book, had a stroke and started floating amongst his memories again.
It was very satisfying to finally understand who he is, and where he comes from. But what wasn't satisfying was the ending. The idea of all the characters from the comics and books which inhabited his life to come to him in his final moments is charming, but it also left me with a sour taste in my mouth, since the author left all the ends rather loose. I still would like to know what happened with the book he found.
Highlights - Gragnola (I think that was his name) and his long speech about why god is a facist sent me hollering.
Also, Yambo's musing about whether he's dreaming, or dreaming of dreaming, or perhaps just existing in a sort of suspended state, as just a brain floating in fluid into whom someone sends images as he wishes. Reminded me of the 'Matrix'.
So to sum it up - I wasn't too thrilled by this book, though it had its' moments.
Quote: "By war's end I had learned a great deal, not only how babies are born, but also hoe jews die".
7.5.07