last collection, the celebrated essayist and novelist observes the changing world around him with irrepressible curiosity and profound wisdom. He sees with fresh eyes the upheaval in ideological values, the crises in politics, and the unbridled individualism that have become the backdrop of our lives—a “liquid” society in which it’s not easy to find a polestar, though stars and starlets abound."
I must be honest as we go into this review that this is the first piece of work I have read by Umberto Eco, and probably it wasn't the best starting point. I was somewhat disappointed to discover that this is not a book of essays, as I expected, but a collection of Eco's newspaper column articles. The nature of the original media dictates the format of most entries: incredibly short (500 - 1500 words each), the use of 'newspaper language', and written in response to a certain event (many of which felt either dated or way too regional)… So overall it reads a bit bitty, piecemeal, and lacklustre.
Due to the short word count Eco is allotted for each subject he is never fully able to delve into the question or topic but rather skims, thus it doesn't feel like a fulfilling range of work or a complete understanding of his views. Plus, they are totally outdated. It’s a posthumous collection, so I can understand that. Yet he is referencing events that I have no recollection of, often happening while I was in Primary School. Or he is speaking about social trends that have either become common knowledge or haven't happened at all.
Eco's intelligence and education shine in his more academic pieces, his more "modern" criticism often sound like the moaning of your grandfather that tells you you spend too much time on your phone and that childhoods where better in his day. I’m not really interested in reading about your hatred of the Internet when you’re ranting about Windows Vista.
I would like to quickly draw your attention to the cover of the book, which I thought was so clever. I loved the use of the shot of piled up newspapers, that not only references the topical/ non - fiction nature of the collection, but also visually references water or ice flows. I thought it was neat.
Overall an entertaining read but by no means an invaluable education. I would either suggest another piece of Eco's work that is less obviously outdated, or, if you want to read about current social affairs, read something more current. Age Rating 15+.
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