In this trip, Baudolino will make great friends and enemies. Using real-life events from the medieval times, Eco makes his protagonist search of a fabled land. Umberto Eco creates a dreamy world where everything is possible. These imaginary events promise a great time to the reader. However, Eco’s ability to entertain, is always thereĬrusades, long journeys and fantastic adventures. The conception of a lost memory and mixed historical and fictional events, may confuse the reader. History and fantasy become one for one more time. After his two masterpieces, “ The Name of the Rose” and “ Foucault’s Pendulum“, the reactions for “The Island of the Day Before” were mixed. Umberto Eco’s third novel was highly anticipated by the literature world. Number 4: The Island of the Day Before (1994) It has an intriguing plot with some of Eco’s qualities still on, even if he published this book at the age of 79 years old.

“ The Prague Cemetery” travels the reader throughout time (different centuries) and space (around Europe). In other rankings, you may find it higher on the lists, and that’s not wrong. But, yet, not one of Eco’s great examples in literature.Īlong with “ Numero Zero“, “ The Prague Cemetery” is probably one of the ”easiest” Eco’s books to start with.

History and pop culture create a confusing intertextuality, although it can become too confusing, especially if you are not familiar with the topics. Number 6: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (2004)Īn old man’s episodic memory creates an interesting mix of reality and imagination. Some key elements such as the historical flashbacks and the way Eco comments on them, can be found on this novel, but still, it is not as impressive as on his previous work. Published only one year before his death, “ Numero Zero” is one of the books that do not show Eco’s great achievements as a novelist.

However, for the sake of this article, we will focus only on his seven novels, ranking them from worst to best. He was one of the most important philosophers of his era and his contribution to the field of semiotics is unique. Till his death, on 19 February 2016, he was constantly writing essays, anthologies, articles for newspapers and novels. Umberto Eco was born on 5 January 1932 in the city of Alessandria, in northern Italy.

Number zero umberto eco