In the preface provided to Umberto Eco's Misreadings, the author confesses that he "owe(s)...the reader a few words of explanation." Two pages of text follow, citing authors, books and a television broadcaster that Eco will reference in his collection of parodies. Misreadings is comprised of fifteen essays whose topics are generally: sex, democracy, art and science. These are interesting subjects, but unless you are familiar with the laundry list of people and books that Eco references, the essays can be boring or unreadable.
Eco's tone remains essentially the same throughout Misreadings. Despite the occasionally funny joke or insight, the writing itself was boring. Eco mentions this in the preface: these essays are simply "free-wheeling reflections." While I think the topics discussed are interesting, Eco does not pursue any particular point in his discussions. So while he makes insights and jokes, the interesting thought is never pursued for more than a few sentences.
In his piece on burgeoning democracy in ancient Greece, "The End Is At Hand," Eco reflects for twenty-three pages on a variety of figures but his initial assertion - that "[democracy] has been thrown open to all the savant monkeys who desire to approach it" - is never elaborated upon. This is disappointing because Eco makes a couple of great statements. For instance: "[Plato] present(s) the harshest truths of ancient philosophy in the most digestible form...and doesn't hesitate to turn concepts into pleasant and superficial examples." I wish this had been pursued; I found many ideas of Eco's really interesting, and I think the parody would have been much better had a few ideas been discussed to a great depth.
In the essays that referenced material I was familiar with, I felt the discussion to be perfunctory. When I had not read the author's work, I just felt lost. I did find Eco's parodies of rejection letters to famous texts (Don Quixote, The Divine Comedy, et cetera) to be enjoyable. Eco stated that the "parody's mission...(was) that it must never be afraid of going too far;" the bogus book reviews were the only of his essays I felt accomplished this. The level of seriousness changed from piece to piece. In "Letter To My Son," the tone was far more serious and Eco's pastiche subtle. Eco accomplishes his parody by taking an unlikely position on violence. I enjoyed this piece, but the variety in the tone of the essays didn't improve the book for me. I felt this approach was inconsistent at best. This is a collection of articles written for a magazine. It is convenient that they are published together, but I was bored when I attempted to read more than a few of the essays in one sitting.
In his piece on burgeoning democracy in ancient Greece, "The End Is At Hand," Eco reflects for twenty-three pages on a variety of figures but his initial assertion - that "[democracy] has been thrown open to all the savant monkeys who desire to approach it" - is never elaborated upon. This is disappointing because Eco makes a couple of great statements. For instance: "[Plato] present(s) the harshest truths of ancient philosophy in the most digestible form...and doesn't hesitate to turn concepts into pleasant and superficial examples." I wish this had been pursued; I found many ideas of Eco's really interesting, and I think the parody would have been much better had a few ideas been discussed to a great depth.
In the essays that referenced material I was familiar with, I felt the discussion to be perfunctory. When I had not read the author's work, I just felt lost. I did find Eco's parodies of rejection letters to famous texts (Don Quixote, The Divine Comedy, et cetera) to be enjoyable. Eco stated that the "parody's mission...(was) that it must never be afraid of going too far;" the bogus book reviews were the only of his essays I felt accomplished this. The level of seriousness changed from piece to piece. In "Letter To My Son," the tone was far more serious and Eco's pastiche subtle. Eco accomplishes his parody by taking an unlikely position on violence. I enjoyed this piece, but the variety in the tone of the essays didn't improve the book for me. I felt this approach was inconsistent at best. This is a collection of articles written for a magazine. It is convenient that they are published together, but I was bored when I attempted to read more than a few of the essays in one sitting.
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