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Loading... The Prague Cemetery (2010)by Umberto Eco
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Couldn't relate to the protagonist and not knowledgeable enough about the history of Italy to follow the twists and turns of the plot This is a kind of book I can't afford to read over a period of time (for I might lose track of myraid charchters) and on other hand, it is hard to keep up with furious and almost byzantine twists without a breather. Umberto Eco in his signature style describes the 19th century anti-semitic moment and how the hoax of the "Protocols of the Elders of the Zion" is perpetuated. For history/historical fiction lovers, this book is a real feast. El cementerio de Praga Umberto Eco Publicado: 2010 | 366 páginas Novela Aventuras Histórico Intriga «Me da vergüenza ponerme a escribir, como si desnudara mi alma.» Así empieza el relato vital del capitán Simonini, un piamontés afincado en París que desde joven se dedica al noble oficio de crear documentos falsos. Estamos en marzo de 1897 pero las memorias de este curioso individuo abarcarán todo el siglo XIX. Es un homenaje a la novela propia de la época, el folletín, son las novelas de Dumas y Sue las que inspiran al falsario en la creación de sus documentos, de lo cual se deduce que es la realidad la que copia a la literatura y no viceversa. En El cementerio de Praga, nada es lo que parece y nadie es quien realmente dice ser: todo es según convenga, pues, bien mirado, la diferencia entre un hada y una bruja es solo una cuestión de edad y encanto… 3.5 - I'm not sure, stars. Anyone who tells you Umberto Eco is an easy read is a) delusional or b) screwing with you. He can weave a story that goes up down and around and ends up where it started with a million revelations in between, and that is what he has done with The Prague Cemetery. Based on historical figures, with an entirely fictional main character, this is the story of how one man influenced the European progression of anti-Semitism that ended in Germany with the final solution. From a well-spring of hatred, implanted in him as a boy, Simonini sets out to discredit Jews and earn money (earn being a very loose term here), and carries out his plan over decades, from Italy to France to Russia, becoming involved in even some telling events, such as the Dreyfus Affair. That he has no problem finding others who are willing to both accept his false conclusions and bolster them is hardly surprising. Parts of this novel are intriguing, parts are humorous, parts are mysterious...the solving of the mystery is often what keeps you engaged, and parts are revolting in their vitriol toward the Jewish people, sickening even though it is obviously the mindset of the character involved and not the author. While written in 2000, and addressing political problems of the 1890s, it often made me think how little has changed over time. This led me to think, even then, that if I wanted to sell the story of a conspiracy, I didn’t have to offer the buyer anything original, but simply something he already knew or could have found out more easily in other ways. People believe only what they already know, and this is the beauty of the Universal Form of Conspiracy. The secret service in each country believes only what it has already heard elsewhere and would discount as unreliable any information that is entirely new. What makes a police informer truly believable? Discovering a conspiracy. He therefore had to organize a conspiracy so he could then uncover it. If you break a sensational story all at once, after the first impact people forget it. Instead, you have to parcel it out, and each new piece of news brings the whole story back to mind. Just a few quotations that made me think we are all too ready to believe what we want to believe and seldom willing to do the hard work of approaching things with an open mind. Thus are we easily duped by the controllers, who are always out there, and permeate every aspect of society. The end result for many: A time comes when something breaks inside, and there is no more energy or will. They say you must live, but life becomes a burden that inevitably ends in suicide. I never know what to really think of Eco. His books often seem to mean nothing, or everything; they are complex, but toward what end? It is as if I have a split personality, one of which admires his writing and is a bit in awe of him, and another who thinks I might just as well have wasted two days pounding my silly head against a wall. I did love [b:The Name of the Rose|119073|The Name of the Rose|Umberto Eco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415375471l/119073._SY75_.jpg|3138328]. I still don’t know what I thought of [b:Foucault's Pendulum|17841|Foucault's Pendulum|Umberto Eco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1396645125l/17841._SY75_.jpg|11221066]. Now I will have this one to chew on a while, because there is no way to just forget his books and the attempt to truly understand them might be a lifetime endeavor.
Eco's mastery of the milieu is evident on every page of "The Prague Cemetery." If the creation of Simone Simonini is meant to suggest that behind the credibility-straining history lurks a sick spirit compounded of equal parts self-serving cynicism and irrational malice, who can argue? And even if the best parts of “The Prague Cemetery” are those he did not invent, Eco is to be applauded for bringing this stranger-than-fiction truth vividly to life. The real story, then, is one that “The Prague Cemetery” hints at but does not for all its polymath erudition manage to capture: our impotence in the face of an obvious forgery, an absurd pastiche against which the ramparts of reason afford astonishingly feeble protection. Eco’s 19th century shocker has an Italian, Captain Simonini, as the man responsible, the only fictional character in the book. The story involves Freemasons against Catholics, Garibaldi against the Bourbons, Russian spies, German double agents, murky murders, plotting prelates, black masses and orgies. If all this sounds like a richly sensational read, you couldn’t be more wrong. Simonini’s as disgraceful as they come, and those who feel the need to bond with a narrator will be instantly put off by this novel. But “The Prague Cemetery” isn’t trying to make us feel better about ourselves. It’s meant to remind us of the dangers of complacency and credulousness. It’s meant to be unsettling. And by that measure, it’s a huge success. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inWas inspired byAwardsDistinctions
"19th-century Europe--from Turin to Prague to Paris--abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. In Italy, republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. In France, during the Paris Commune, people eat mice, plan bombings and rebellions in the streets, and celebrate Black Masses. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating conspiracies and even massacres. There are false beards, false lawyers, false wills, even false deaths. From the Dreyfus Affair to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Jews are blamed for everything. One man connects each of these threads into a massive crazy-quilt conspiracy within conspiracies. Here, he confesses all, thanks to Umberto Eco's ingenious imagination--a thrill-ride through the underbelly of actual, world-shattering events. "-- No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)853.914Literature Italian, Romanian & related literatures Italian fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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