Baudolino by Umberto Eco, William Weaver Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Baudolino
Book Review: What a pack of Lies!
Summary: 5 Stars
Umberto Eco at his irreverent best! His protagonist is an italian peasant who claims to be an adopted son of the Holy Roman Emperor and a Ministerial of Frederick Barbarossa. Baudolino is a liar, a professional liar. He has made his reputation by lying. So can we believe him?
As with the main Character in Peter Carey's "Illywhacker" we find ourselves being drawn into Baudolino's web of deceit, because it is so entertaining. We really want to believe, despite the fact that he tells us it is all lies. Want to find the holy grail, it's here, along with the elusive kingdom of Prester John, the Head of John the Baptist, a hammer belonging to Moses, the Shroud of Turin, most of the major relics of the Christian Church, made to order by Baudolino and his gang of thieves.
Philosophy and religious debate created at will with the assistance of Hashhish and wine. Unicorns, Satyrs and a host of impossible creatures, all made believable and wildly funny. From the opening chapter where he tries to capture a Unicorn, Baudolino is a really funny book, which at the same time addresses many of the key themes of 13th Century Europe. A really good read.
Book Review: Can you hear this eco?
Summary: 4 Stars
a richly articulated and thoroughly descriptive adventure that ultimately did not hold my attention as much as the others (Rose/Pendulum/Island) did. I'm not sure if Eco simply blew me away or put me to sleep with this one. Either way, I'd rather read anything from this master before 90% of the rest of contemporary writers. What is lacking in the dynamic/excitement category is more than made up for by Eco's eloquent and powerfully written prose that proves elegant and enriching. Book Review: Not Like Foucalt's Pendulum or the Name of the Rose
Summary: 2 Stars
After his second novel, the Foucalt's pendulum, Eco said,arrogantly in an interview, that even he writes a trash it will become bestseller. His third novel "the island of the day before" was not as impresseive as the previous two. And Baudilino I think is a failure, though not a trash.The name of the rose had rich material of Medieval Philosophy. It was a fantastic medieval detective novel disguised in Sharlock Holmes stories. The prohibition of Aristoteles' materialistic writings in those days was fully integrated to the novel and it was one hundred percent pertinent to the story. Foucalt's pendulum was a fantastic novel with generous knowledge about the Templars' Knights with a surprising twist at the end like the name of the rose.
But Baudilino is such a poor novel compared to these. The historical material in the book is not integrated and not really pertinent, most of the time it sticks out and artificial. He tries to connect them but the connection is not genuine. Unlike the first two novels he published, even the third one, it is a slow-paced reading without a thrill. It is a little boring.
Worst of all, there are a few historical mistakes: First I remember, Greek Nikotas (whatever his name was) tells Baudilino about the Chinese silk industry as if it is a miraculuous thing. But Greeks already had the silk industry in those years (if my memory is accurate). The city of Brusa in Byzatium especially was rich of silk industry. Second, in more than three occasions, Eco confuses the Sultanate of Seljuks in Iconium in Antolia with Seleucids which was in Anatolia long time before Seljuks-and had nothing to do with Turks and Islam-. Unfortunately, reading this book was a waste of time for me.
Book Review: Be Patient and laugh out loud
Summary: 5 Stars
This book will make you lagh out loud about every 20 pages or so. As noted by the previous reviewer the book shifts genres about 2/3 of the way through. Its starts as historical fiction and then shifts into pure fantasy. Also, an element of farce permeates the book as Baudolino is a virtuoso of languages and a near genius, and just happens to be at the center of every major historical event of the period (not unlike Forest Gump). This makes for both a very interesting and hillarious read.
In the end the reader is left to ponder what may have happened and what Eco was up to. If you pay attention early on and recall Baudolino's motivation for telling us his story you may find some resolution.
Eco once again provides a litany of medieval trivia and weaves it into his story almost effortlessly. Once again Eco effortlessly underpins the entire story with fundamental questions about the nature of reality and what counts as knowledge.
This is truly a good and entertaining book
Book Review: A Timeless Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Eco's Baudolino is a wonderful story -- but what makes it worth reading is his treatment of themes that are timeless and transcend the story -- how people come to believe what they believe, the relationship between truth and fiction, between friendship, ambition, and treachery, between a leader and his advisors. He moves from chapter to chapter writing a complex medieval romance, weaving in his store of knowledge of magical creatures, medieval theology, and science, and that story is compelling. But at the same time he tells a story of the relationship of his characters to each other, and to truth, lies, and power, that rings as modern as a headline or political memoir.