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| Baudolino | | Date Created: Nov 18, 2004, 09:30 AM |
Right now I'm in the middle of reading Gene Wolfe's amazing book The Wizard. But last night I picked up Eco's Baudolino and pondered whether to read it again. [spoilers] I've always looked forward to each new Eco novel. And I've enjoyed them all, mostly. IMHO, nothing can match The Name of the Rose. I need to go back and read it again. The first half of Baudolino was fascinating; the last half got tedious. But I guess that's the way it is with lies and liars. This is a book of lies. It may even be lies about lies, lies wrapped in layers of lies. Baudolino, if we were to believe him, is single-handedly responsible for the proliferation of the multitude of relics in the late Medieval world. He invented the story of Prester John. He killed somebody important. (I'm not telling.) He's something of a Medieval Forrest Gump--not as a character, but the way he happens to be everywhere and do everything. Come to think of it, Forrest Gump was a liar. The whole film is a flashback that never happened, a yarn told to gullible people by the half-wit Gump as he sits on the town-square park bench. Baudolino is a bit more sophisticated than Gump. But it's the same kind of story. Well, I don't want to give too much away. The last thing I'll say--and it's the truth--Baudolino is one very Medieval book. For those of you who know a bit about late Medieval literature, culture, history, and the crusades, it's a fun read. Look here for reviews.
Okay, so you all don't believe me when I tell you that the movie Forrest Gump narrated the fantasy world of Gump and not objective history. Well, I guess we're each entitled to our own little lies. :-0 But I still think my lie is the truth about Gump. I offer as solid evidence the fact that I saw Lt. Dan walking around in another movie, one that was made after FG. That proves the he didn't really lose his legs in Nam and that he went on to find a job as an actor. Gump's memory of him without legs was a lie. How can anyone argue with that? That proves that what Gump was narrating to his bench-side visitors, and therefore what we were watching, was his own little dream world, not what really happened. |
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