Serendipities is a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, a brilliant exposition of how unanticipated truths often spring from false ide...
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Oct 17, 2008
lisa_emily
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I read this book because a friend gave it to me- he had an extra copy- and I wanted to read more Eco, (or at least another book by Eco, as so far I have read only one) this one looked thin and non-intimidating. If you have not read his "The Search for the Perfect Language", this little book of essays may seem as though it is coming from left field, since all the essays deal with the search for the original language and the degenerate manifestations of the so-called original language. Y
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Feb 24, 2011
Rebecca
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This book is so terrible that I don't even feel remotely bad for abandoning it about 30 pages in. Frankly, those 30 pages were a waste of my time, and I'm only glad to have read them because I can now write this review. This book represented my first foray into the smoky and confusing world of Umberto Eco (not counting a few failed attempts to get past page 1 of The Name of the Rose over the years), and I hope never to return.
The first problem is that no one knows what this book is More...
The first problem is that no one knows what this book is More...
Jun 04, 2010
Yesterday's Muse
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Another solid performance by Eco, though I don't think this book delivers what it advertises. What is supposed to tie together the five essays is a theme of mistakes that led to success, or ill-founded projects that facilitated great progress. I would say the first three essays are more successful than the final two in this regard, and also more enjoyable to read. They seem to have more of Eco's trademark flare for humor, and they seem to say what they intend to say more effectively.
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Jul 09, 2011
Jafr
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Warning: this book is heavy on linguistic theory. He starts with the premise that serendipitious discoveries can happen from false ideas, then jumps straight into the debate of sacred "given" languages vs. everyday imperfect working dialects and the nature of linguistic change. I think the reason he sticks with the linguistic angle is just because so much of cognitive thought is contained by the internal grammar it's produced in. This leads towards the end of the book to "lexical
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Aug 09, 2011
We know about the power of true ideas to effect change. But what about the power of false ideas? In this fascinating short work, Umberto Eco (author of novels including The Name of the Rose, and in addition Professor of Semiotics at the University of Bologna) examines some of the great wrong-headed ideas of previous centuries and the influence they have had. There's the vision of the Christian kingdom of Prester John beyond the Arab world; the belief in the original perfect language, or the atte
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Jul 02, 2010
Albert
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Umberto Eco, like the inventors of "perfect languages" he describes, takes language to be the ultimate metaphor for every system (political, philosophical, religious) mankind can aspire to cobble together. This allows him at the end for calling Joseph de Maistre (who did indeed despise the French Revolution) a "reactionary" for claiming that "The only certainty is that every people people has spoken, and it has spoken precisely insofar as it thought; in fact it would be
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Nov 24, 2008
Jim
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A very interesting & intriguing series of essays (and lecture notes) which will hopefully entertain & enlighten those with a passion for the curious history of languages and ideas.
Not always easy on the lay reader (as those familiar with Eco's previous works will doubtless attest) and my bi-ceps certainly remember getting a good work-out lifting my faithful Dictionary on a regular basis - although hopefully my vocabulary (and dinner party conversation) is the better for it!
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Not always easy on the lay reader (as those familiar with Eco's previous works will doubtless attest) and my bi-ceps certainly remember getting a good work-out lifting my faithful Dictionary on a regular basis - although hopefully my vocabulary (and dinner party conversation) is the better for it!
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Oct 19, 2007
Dottie
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Eco is fast becoming a favorite. This small gem was right up my alley/s -- and is happily ensconced in my core library.
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Dec 06, 2011
Shinn
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I think Umberto Eco is writing for an audience more erudite than I here. This book does not try to cater to lay people and you really do need to have some interest in linguistics to even begin to enjoy it. That said, it is less dry and dreary than I expected.
The five short essays, while decidedly academic, are interesting with a touch of humour (I liked Eco's contemplation on the language that would be spoken were Dante, Abulafia and Adam to convene in heaven) and cover the various as More...
The five short essays, while decidedly academic, are interesting with a touch of humour (I liked Eco's contemplation on the language that would be spoken were Dante, Abulafia and Adam to convene in heaven) and cover the various as More...
Mar 17, 2011
Elliot
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Ah, what a great collection of essays by my literary boyfriend!
In these five related explorations of language (both the history thereof and, well, the history of the history thereof...), Eco again proves his astounding knowledge of... everything, and his wonderful ability to write both captivating and intellectually challenging essays.
Eco has used a handful of the sources discussed here in his works of fiction (something which he admits), but that seems to help rather tha More...
In these five related explorations of language (both the history thereof and, well, the history of the history thereof...), Eco again proves his astounding knowledge of... everything, and his wonderful ability to write both captivating and intellectually challenging essays.
Eco has used a handful of the sources discussed here in his works of fiction (something which he admits), but that seems to help rather tha More...
May 01, 2008
Dfordoom
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The main theme running through the essays in Umberto Eco’s Serendipities is that false or deluded or distorted (or even just plain crazy) ideas can change the world just as significantly as ideas that are true. And like ideas that are true, these ideas can change the world in positive or negative ways. The medieval belief in a vast Christian kingdom in the east, ruled by Prester John, was completely false but it was a major stimulus to European exploration and expansion. He also has some sti
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Jan 06, 2010
Maggie
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second reading: january 2010. omgosh! U. Eco is such a fine writer. the purpose of this particular book is to show how soooo much advancement in human culture BEGINS with wrong thinking. we have to start "somewhere" so the wrong starting point doesn't have to mean the wrong path/conclusion but this method does have to acknowledge necessary corrections along the way ... and in this post-modern world where "anything goes" this book reminds us -- with excellent examples and clea
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Jul 27, 2011
Eva
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I freely admit that most of this book was over my head. I have an interest in languages in the sense that I use a limited language set to convey ideas. There were a plethora of philosophers and writers that were mentioned (Borges being one that I have actually read), and while I may have missed quite a bit by not reading more of them, Eco conveys the different theories about where our languages originate and what purpose they both help and hinder in our beliefs of the world. It was definitely a
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May 26, 2011
Milla
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Every time I pick up one of Eco's books I'm surprised just how different they are from each other. I've been disappointed so many times by authors who seem to have something to say and then end up repeating the same things over and over again book after book. I'm not an expert on history or literature but at least to a regular reader simply the amount of knowledge that Eco seems to have on the subjects he writes about, down to the smallest details, is amazing.
Dec 28, 2011
Jonfaith
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Somewhere in an earlier Alomodovar film, maybe Flower of the Secret, a character describes a scenario for a film, one which actually A would eventually create as Volver. I really like that, the inclusion. Eco anticipates his Cemetery of Prague with a devilish delight in this one, little surprise as nearly all of PC, outside of the protagonist, is grounded in historical evidence. I liked this dizzying book, though the final section did leave me grasping, if not gasping.
Sep 05, 2008
Colin
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This book is a collection of essays by scholar and all-around smart guy Umberto Eco. The first one is a fascinating look at made-up European myths, such as secret Christian / Masonic societies (Templars, the Illuminati, etc.) and how these things which are clearly made up bullshit (Rosicrucians are all invisible? come on) often have very real results. It's an essay about the sociological conception of self-fulfilling prophecies. More notably, it seems to be roughly the idea that was turned into
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Jan 15, 2009
Mansoor
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Eco is one of the most accessible and enlightening non-fiction writers alive. Believe it or not I read this book cover to cover on a round trip flight from New York to Oakland and still found time to nap.
Oct 08, 2011
Wally
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Eco's thinking on any number of subjects always fascinates, but here he examines linguistic history from a number of angles. You don't have to know much about semiotics to understand him, but it might help.
Mar 17, 2011
Steve
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A jumble of chapters on falsity leading to discovery, fabricated language, and attempts to create the perfect langauge and derive the original language fo Eden. Great fun. Eco being Eco.
Mar 17, 2011
Adrian
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Interesting little book of Eco's lectures on language and some historical concepts. They vary in quality, but still are worth looking at if you have the time.
Aug 12, 2011
A fine companion book to his The Search for the Perfect Language. Read both; you will be rewarded.
Mar 10, 2010
Charlie
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This book is a compilation of lectures presented by Eco over a few years, so despite pretty quality editing, it doesn't quite flow together as a book. On the other hand, Eco is absolutely brilliant, so even a mildly disjointed series of his thoughts makes for stupendous reading. My main complaint was that his editor overestimated me as a reader. The text abounds with foreign-language phrases (primarily Latin) with no translations or footnotes to help me along. I don't think that I risked believi
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Feb 15, 2009
Kelly
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After reading these, I think I would like to read "The Search for the Perfect Language" in the future. But I should probably become better equipped in the English language first. Some of this reading was hard to untangle.
Aug 15, 2007
Jessica
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A history of linguistics that is maybe not meant for the layman. Interesting and dense, but sometimes difficult to follow, especially if you bought it without paying much attention and while thinking that you were getting (and hoped to get) Eco's Misreadings for a light in-flight read. Eco makes a habit in all of his writing of using large chunks of text in a variety of languages without offering translations.
Chapter 3 : From Marco Polo to Leibniz: Stories if Intellectual Misundersta More...
Chapter 3 : From Marco Polo to Leibniz: Stories if Intellectual Misundersta More...
