The Prague Cemetery

This book is about the power of information. It's about the people who fabricate it for others with hidden agendas. It's about the results of that information on its victims, the public, and rival countries. In essence, a propaganda war took place in view of the French and Italian public, who had no idea the real purpose behind the exciting events and headlines that were staged like theater. It later had a devastating result in other countries on a people who were truly innocent. The results included bombings, riots, murders and mayhem. Most tragically, attempted genocide... That is an example of the power of information. Obviously, there is much more to it than that, but let us go on... If we expand the operating theater to countries, we have governments with spy services, secret societies, powerful religious organizations, which are like countries and secret societies in one, AND you control central sources of information, it's called Propaganda. It is also POWER. If you play this game, you have to be very careful. Not only do you have enemies from other countries, but from religious sects, secret societies and double agents. If you are very lucky, you disappear to a foreign country, under an assumed named without your family, but you do get a pension from the service. If you were unlucky, and many were, days of torture followed by a longed for death was a common end. The stakes were high, but so was the pay and the rush. Our story takes place in the late 19th Century. The industrial revolution is taking off. Technology is about to blow the roof off the world, and few have any clue what's coming. Democracy worked in the states, even though we are considered upstarts on the Continent. Europe is writhing. Democracy failed in France thanks to Napolean, though they get a second chance after his heirs are ousted. Italy went to war for democracy with Garibaldi, and lost, so hatred of state and altar festered. The main reason for the turbulence, other than historical disputes, border wars and failed revolutions is propaganda. REMEMBER, INFORMATION IS POWER. SAY IT THREE TIMES, IT'S IMPRESSMENT! Does anyone have a feeling of deja vu here? Can you say Hallelujah? If you don't believe me, you must be watching the Kardahians far too closely to notice all the things the media DOESN'T cover. Government factions controlling the media want to send a specific message to whatever target, and to keep the masses entertained so that they won't know what's really going on. They also use the media to make the populace believe certain situations are by default true. Things like all cops are evil, all guns kill, all Muslims are terrorists. If you have ever studied logic you would understand the easy fallacies of these simplistic arguments, all you need is one example of good in each group and the argument falls apart. If you have been paying attention, then you know this book is as relevant today as it would have been explosive in the late 1800s. So let us continue with the review. Spymasters from different countries want to screw with each other using the secret societies, the revolutionaries, the Jews, different sects of the Catholic church and the Satanists as a three ring circus for the entertainment of the people, and to mask their own agendas. Now who is our ring master? Simone Simonini our narrator. Eco wanted him to be the most execrable protagonist in literature. To me, it is a toss up between Simonini and Fantazius Mallare. Ben Hecht wrote about him in the 1940s. The rant of all the people he hates, and why, forms the prologue to the self titled book. They are both insane in different ways. I do think Simonini takes it by a slim margin. Still with me? So, back to Simonini, he is amoral, creative, literate, and a huge foodie with MPD. While many readers believe he is antisemitic, I believe his Grandfather scared him so much as a child with tales of Mordechai will get you, that he is physically scared of Jews. They are akin to the Boogie Man for him. He doesn't actually see a Jew until well into his adult years, and shows curiosity not hatred. Simonini, through his two personalities ends up crafting information for all sides. Ringmaster, remember... He does it for money and pride - his stories have to be better than the competition. He doesn't care who gets hurt, or what occurs based on what he crafts. When someone gets in the way, he has a handy sewer waiting for them. But, give him a Creme Brule and all is right with the world. Information as Power. Unfortunately, such information in the wrong hands, which are those typically wielding such tools for power, can result in horrific tragedy. I would recommend this book to every critical thinker in the world who has access. All the historical events and people were real beyond the narrator. There are many lessons we still have to learn about our governments. Let's start here!

In The Prague Cemetery, Umberto Eco answers the question, what kind of man would write The Protocols of the Elders of Zion? His answer is the main character of this book, whose diary we are reading. As usual, Eco plays with authorship and hides behind the writer and a narrator, who finds the diary and who edits the entries when they are too confusing. The main character is Simonini whom we meet late in his life. He is of German and Italian descent living in Paris. He was raised by his father, grandfather, and priests. Due to their influence he came to dislike and distrust Germans, Italians, French, English, women, jews, priests, masons, jesuits. His first job was for a notary/forger. There he learned the skills of a forger and surpassed his master who took advantage of him. At first he forges documents for the financial gain of his clients. An event of utmost importance is when government intelligence agencies recruit him to forge documents and then political documents of historical significance. He becomes a forger of history. The government sees more use for him and starts sending him as a covert agent to accomplish various goals. Simonini fails in the eyes of government and that just makes him more dependent on government. He's asked to write forgeries implicating potential and actual enemies of the state- monarchists, masons, students, jesuits, satanists, anarchists, Germans, Prussians, Russians. Next in his somewhat forced progression to becoming an all around bad guy is attempted murder, murder, multiple murders, satanism, pedophilic inclinations. To access places and people he wouldn't ordinarily dare to associate with, he disguises himself as a priest yet he has no recollection of doing so. Only the entries in the diary by the priest that usually condemn actions Simonini writes about give a hint that something isn't right with him. One story has been brewing in his mind for years- rabbis meeting in a Prague cemetery to discuss world domination. That story doesn't find any takers until late in the book. Familiar Eco elements are there: Italian history, Parisian history, wars, civil wars, truth and writing, loss of memory, lists of lists (in this case recipes), esotericism. What is missing is more humor and charm. Eco tells us that all characters but the main one are historical characters and so are most events that take place. It's almost a shame that he makes that revelation as it has always been fascinating to discover how much reality there was in an Eco novel. Unfortunately, it's also that fealty to history that constrains Eco from giving free reign to his imagination thus depriving us of the more fantastic elements. It's only near the end of the book that he describes a hilarious and perverse black mass. What is more disappointing is the complete absence of Eco's characteristic play with languages. And for this reason alone, I can't give this work five stars. Nothing was more delightful in an Eco novel than reading a character who had invented a whole new language by mixing a slew of existing languages. It was sublime and pure genius. The translation of Prague Cemetery is very good, but not as elegant and excellent as William Weaver's translations of Eco. This book is very entertaining even difficult to put down. Yet after one read I would put it at the bottom of Eco's opus, mainly because his previous works are so extraordinary. The Prague Cemetery doesn't offer a cheap condemnation of sexism, racism, bigotry, stereotypes, it's so much more. Eco addresses issues that have great relevance and impact today- the return of tyranny and fanaticism and the tendency of governments to manipulate the emotions of the populace. And what emotion is stronger than hate? Governments always need enemies, if there isn't one at hand, they create one. Simonini becomes deadly only as a government agent. Bad ideas, even good ones, become mass murderous only once adopted and entrenched in government, whether it's the idea of communism, free market, democracy-everywhere, Europe/the Euro, once the establishment becomes fixated with the idea and is willing to sacrifice its own people for the survival of an idea that can't survive, let alone be realized, doom is inevitable. Unfortunately, one thing is certain in history- no one learns from history.

Bought paperback as a gift and saw it was a different cover (realistic) than the product image (which has orange cover). When inspecting the book, it was dirty on the the outsides of the pages at the top (brownish). The spine was also damaged at the bottom. Inside the first few pages had something like grayish printing stains. The book was kept anyway, but overall would not recommend buying it here again.

Product as descrbed (very good condition) and arrived ahead of time

Hate, intolerance and a mindless need to put blame on others for your misfortunes are the main strings that move the characters into an epic battle against an evil that conspires to destroy all that is good, or so they've led themselves to believe.

I'll admit I am a fan of Umberto Eco but I was very surprised at how much of an impression this book made on me. The negative criticisms regarding the protagonists' vile anti-semitism miss the point entirely. The language and opinions expressed by the character penetrated many levels of society in Europe, Russia and even the good old USA in the late 19th century. All you need to do is read a little about the Dreyfuss affair to know that many characters from the book (e.g. Drumont) were popular real historical characters. The appalling (and to most modern ears absurd) words which Eco puts in their mouths come from contemporary records. If you can't stomach Ecos description of these attitudes you cannot stomach history - admittedly a pretty sordid and depressing history. The disturbing thing is, of course, that the insane conspiracies referred to in this book are still widely held in some parts of the world and amongst otherwise ordinary people who find a flimsy but exotic conspiracy more appealing than an evidence based search for truth. The book is brilliantly written and is a powerful reminder about how evil ideas can gain traction in spite of (or because of?) their preposterousness. This is also quite a humorous book and for me at least a real page turner. This book is rich in real historical characters whom I'm looking forward to learning about. Can't believe Eco wrote this when he was almost 80....

thanks! It was in time, good quality - as per expectations. Full points on this one. thank you very much