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Baudolino - Umberto Eco, William Weaver
Baudolino
by: (author) (author)
3.00 10
It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors... show more
It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story. Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts--a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander--who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa--adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends. Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East--a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens. As always with Eco, this abundant novel includes dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age. This is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best.International Bestseller
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9780151006908 (0151006903)
Publisher: Harcourt
Pages no: 522
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
riley
riley rated it
3.5 For fans only, I fear
This is a fairly uproarious comic novel about the fine line between truth and fiction, that also functions as a critique of medieval logic and reasoning and as a celebration/satire of the power of myth (and faith, and belief). But I felt a nagging sense of deja vu the entire time I was reading it. B...
Moje książki
Moje książki rated it
Rewelacyjna powieść Umberto Eco! W „Baudolino” przedstawia potęgę słowa pisanego. Tytułowy bohater to chłopski syn, który dzięki sprzyjającemu losowi znajduje się blisko otoczenia Fryderyka Barbarossy. Przez fakt, że jest skrybą i pisze kronikę, a w zasadzie opowiada swoje przeżycia w trakcie łupien...
Boki's Blog
Boki's Blog rated it
4.0
Die fantastische Lebensgeschichte des Baudolino erzählt Umberto Eco - bzw. er lässt sie erzählen - aus zwei Perspektiven. Im "Hier und Jetzt" des vierten Kreuzzugs im zerstörten Konstantinopel und als unterhaltsamer Rückblick durch Baudolino selbst, gerichtet an Niketas Choniates, dem er zuvor das L...
rainontheroad
rainontheroad rated it
4.0 Baudolino
I wish that I had read this novel before I had visited Istanbul. I most certainly would have visited the remnants of the hippodrome (at the Sultan Ahmet Square), the labyrinthine cisterns with its Medusas’ heads and the other places mentioned in the novel. At least there is a lot left to see for my ...
Randolph "Dilda" Carter
Randolph "Dilda" Carter rated it
3.0 Baudolino
By far Eco's weakest novel to date.
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