Book O'Dead
11th June 2012, 19:11
I'm at the final chapters of this novel.
The book is a ficticious account of the origins of the mythical "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a fantastic tale about the alleged plot by an internatonal Jewish cabal bent on world domination.
According to Eco, the characters in his book, including the protagonist, actually existed in the late 19th Century and early 20th, and took part in the creation of this forged document drawn from many anti-semitic writers including Alexandre Dumas and, to my surprise, Eugene Sue whom I did not suspect as having anything to do with European Jew-hating.
Like other Eco's novels I have read, this one is full of interesting historical allusions. For example, in 'Prague Cemetary' the protagonist, Simonini finds himself in Paris during the worker uprising known as the Commune of 1871. He, Simonini, describes the events of the Commune from a bourgeois point of view and participates in leading criminals hired by the Thiers government in Versailles to ambush a group of communards barricaded in the street.
Interestingly, Eco's character says something I heard from an old socialist back when I first learned about this important episode in working class history: An uninformed spectator could understand what was happening on the ground only by viewing it from a hot air baloon or dirigible.
Eco's choice of anti-hero is inspired. Simonini is a criminal: a forger, an assasin, provocateur and terrorist. He is a woman and Jew-hater, indoctrinated by his wealthy but ignorant granfather who kept him isolated in their Italian estate, feeding him the type of diet we've come to associate with 20th century German Facism.
The Prague Cemetary does for the "Protocols" what "Foucault's Pendulum" did for the "Da Vinci Code" long before the Da Vinci Code was even written.
I highly recommend this novel.
The book is a ficticious account of the origins of the mythical "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a fantastic tale about the alleged plot by an internatonal Jewish cabal bent on world domination.
According to Eco, the characters in his book, including the protagonist, actually existed in the late 19th Century and early 20th, and took part in the creation of this forged document drawn from many anti-semitic writers including Alexandre Dumas and, to my surprise, Eugene Sue whom I did not suspect as having anything to do with European Jew-hating.
Like other Eco's novels I have read, this one is full of interesting historical allusions. For example, in 'Prague Cemetary' the protagonist, Simonini finds himself in Paris during the worker uprising known as the Commune of 1871. He, Simonini, describes the events of the Commune from a bourgeois point of view and participates in leading criminals hired by the Thiers government in Versailles to ambush a group of communards barricaded in the street.
Interestingly, Eco's character says something I heard from an old socialist back when I first learned about this important episode in working class history: An uninformed spectator could understand what was happening on the ground only by viewing it from a hot air baloon or dirigible.
Eco's choice of anti-hero is inspired. Simonini is a criminal: a forger, an assasin, provocateur and terrorist. He is a woman and Jew-hater, indoctrinated by his wealthy but ignorant granfather who kept him isolated in their Italian estate, feeding him the type of diet we've come to associate with 20th century German Facism.
The Prague Cemetary does for the "Protocols" what "Foucault's Pendulum" did for the "Da Vinci Code" long before the Da Vinci Code was even written.
I highly recommend this novel.