His career
plans did not work out. Without graduation Colonna’s only chance to survive is
translating books for almost no money and ghost writing. When he is approached
by a newspaper maker to take part in a fake publication, he cannot refuse due
to his dire financial situation. The rest of the team is kept unknowing and
thus they start working. With the time, Colonna gets to know them better and
one evening, Braggadocio shares a story which could make the headlines of the
big newspapers nationwide: Mussolini was never shot, it was just his double. A
couple of days later he can provide evidence. Another couple of days later,
Braggadocio is dead. Is there something about this story?
Umberto
Eco, the master of conspiracy stories, of taking historical facts and turning
them into thrilling novels, again sets out to play with reality. Yet, the plot
seems to lack something, maybe this stems from the fact that it is rather short
compared to his other novels and thus, the twists and links seem to be a bit
superficial and not that convincingly presented as we have read them before.
What I
really appreciated, however, were the scenes at the newspaper’s offices where
they elaborate how to mock the readers, how to write articles which allude but
do not really claim things, how to put words to create feelings and assumptions
so that you cannot be hold responsible for what the readers believe. This is
Eco’s strongest side, the play on words and the deduced meaning of what is put
down.
All in all,
one of Eco’s weaker novels but nevertheless interesting to read.
