The Prague Cemetery Hardcover – November 8, 2011

What a heady read... Umberto Eco puts us in the hands of a a fractured soul who has taken to writing a diary to try and resolve both his missing memories and solve the mysteries of who has been in his house. We hear his life story of lies, deciept, greed and flat out hatred.While this is a ficticious diary of the anonymous forger of the infamous 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion', he remains the only fictional character. He interacts with figures of the time and deals with their philospies (as ugly as most of them are) and finds ways for them to suit hs own sinister purposes.The discussion on media and message are very eerie and relevenat today... an expertly written novel both darkly facinating and troublingly precient.

A knowledge of 19th Century Europe is a must for this novel. The impact of the publishing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for the Jewish people cannot be overstated. The twisted mind of the master forger is the focus of the book and reveals how hatred can warp and bring one to the edge of madness. It is not a pleasant read but an enlightening one. I reccomend it as a cautionary tale for it is like lifting a rock and watching the ugly creatures slither away.

I am a fan of Umberto Eco. His novels are filled with well researched details and the plots are intricate and satisfying. This story is no exception. It takes place in the late 1800s and describes the cunning and loose allegiances of those with power and the retched life of lesser men. If you are not familiar with the author - beware - it’s a tedious read.

Given the reknown and accolades, I owed it to myself to give Umberto Eco a read. Perhaps this was not a good first choice (I will try another), but I found _The Prague Cemetery_ to be confusing, tedious and a struggle to stay interested. I rarely quit reading a book mid-way through, but I did so in this case.The book is a series of diary entries, the identity of the protagonist is difficult to determine: he either suffers from multiple personality disorder or is merely having a laugh at our expense - it was never clear to me (even after reading the first 120 pages). To complicate matters further, Eco jumps around in time, adding a whole other level of confusion and mystery to who our narrator is and what he's on about.In spite of my struggles and ultimate failure to finish the book, it is clearly apparent that Eco is a gifted writer. The voice(s) of Simonini are witty - funny, even, as he is abrasive, cantankerous, deeply mysogynisitc and prejudiced against all manner of people from the French to the Freemasons to Jesuitis - yet in spite of these repugnant character traits, he is not without some redeeming features. This is no easy feat for a writer to pull off, and Eco does so masterfully.I am disappointed in my choice, but will absolutely give Eco another chance. It seems, sadly, that _The Prague Cemetery_ was just not a good choice for an introduction to Eco's writing.

I've been an Umberto Eco fan since THE NAME OF THE ROSE and this is one of his finest. It's set in Italy and France in the 19th century, and we'll meet Garibaldi, one of the few good guys in this troubling novel (although Garibaldi has plenty of human flaws, too). We are not expected to admire the sociopathic lead protagonist, but we get to see inside his slithery exploitative mind. Eco knew that a deep, personalized expose of the fascist mind was the best way to teach the insidious rise of fascism and antisemitism. Since our world is fast sliding into that cesspool again, this is a good warning against the racist, jackboot mentality, but all of Eco's fiction treats of that subject. Once again he uses his own background in Semiotics/Linguistics to give us a theme of faked-up and heavily publicized "facts", of the tabloid kind we are inundated with today on TV "news".

The author is, obviously, a SUPER intellectual, which is evidenced by his frequent references to literary, historical events. These parts of the b ook were great, in that it almost forces the reader to research these allusions. I learned an awful lot regarding the origins of the Elders of the Protocols of Zion, which was good, since references, unfortunately, are still being made to these ugly events and should be slashed from the supposed pages of history as anti-Semites perceive these nightmares. I have read the author's other book, which gave med the same reaction(s). Concluding my critique, bearing in mind the prior comments, I definitely suggest that one should read this tome, which certainly enlivens your intelligence.

But still worth the read. Whereas Name of the Rose was narrated by a 3rd person (Adso, as diarist), PC is presented through the mind(s) of the protagonist. There is some confusion on the part of the reader, because the protagonist is himself confused, and relates (a) fragmented story(ies) from his diary/diaries. Eco hints but does not confirm whether the protagonist is a mental wreck or there are hidden mysteries and persons yet to be presented to the reader. As such, the reader is forced to experience the story through the broken mind of the protagonist Simonini, who is, in many ways, a multiple fraud and knows it. The historical allusions are, as one might expect, up to the author's high standards, although you must remember you're reading about history through the eyes of someone who might not be the most objective observer.Unlike the conclusions of "I, Claudius" (Graves) or "The Egyptian" (Waltari), PC's ending leaves the reader unsatisfied, because when Simonini reaches the end of the written diary, it ... just ... stops. The reader must surmise what, if anything, is the fate of the narrator, Simonini. This is totally unlike his earlier works, "The Name of the Rose" or "Foucault's Pendulum", in which the endings wrap things up in a believable and acceptable manner.Ultimately, those readers who like Eco, will likely find this novel exactly the kind of thing they like. Enjoy.

This book was tough going all the way through. And sadly, there was no sense that justice was ever served. I understand why Eco felt it necessary to create such a disagreeable main character, but I honestly felt depressed at the nasty things that he continually got away with.Tackling the historical origins of modern anti-Semitism is invariably going to bring the reader into contact with the worst kind of cruelty humans can inflict on each other, so as a quasi-historical treatise this may have academic value. But personally, I found the anti-Semitic sentiments and the personal and moral attributes ascribed to Jews page after endless page eventually hard to stomach.

This is a somewhat longwinded historical novel set in the Nineteenth century world of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a notorious anti semitic literary forgery that has spawned countless conspiracy theories (and pogroms).The basic plot is that the whole affair was the unintended outcome of a would-be secret agent trying to ingratiate himself to his various employers. Eco's spin however is that all the unbelievable characters in the story actually existed in real life (including the shadowy agent) and the various bizarre strands of the story really happened (sort of). Good if you like a lengthy "couldn't make it up" story filled with obnoxious anti-heroes.

This is a wonderful yarn crafted by Umberto Eco around a number of conspiracies and somehow making it all seem believable. Whether you're a conspiracy theorist or not, you will love this. To somehow tie together the "Dreyfus" affair and the "Protocols of Zion" is sheer genius. I had read "Foucault's Pendulum" some years ago and so I expected this book to be exactly what it was, and I wasn't disappointed. Eco is the thinking man's Dan Brown but oh, so much better. I'm very glad I rediscovered Umberto Eco and intend to read all his books, some for the first time and some once again.

Oh boy! What a drag this one was to read. I kept hoping it would get better, less convoluted/more to the point but it just kept going on and on. I did get to the last page (so technically finished it) but I really skimmed through the last 20%. I'm just really glad it's over...an unfinish-able 1-star rating from me.

I don't know what to make of this book. It is interesting, filled with fascinating details, but it just does not seem to be going anywhere in particular. I remember getting Foucault's Pendulum, and the moment I started reading I was captivated and I read it in one evening and night (I was a student then, and could read whole nights. I really miss the lack of obligations...) and it worked towards a climax. But the Prague Cemetry just flows on an on, and has no sparkling conversations as Foucault's Pendulum had. It's not boring, but well, it goes on and on.