On Literature

After the opening essay on the general significance of literature Eco examinesa number of major authors from the Western canon. A stimulating chapter on thepoet... » 

After the opening essay on the general significance of literature Eco examinesa number of major authors from the Western canon. A stimulating chapter on thepoetic qualities of Dantes Paradiso is followed by one on the style of theCommunist Manifesto. The next three essays centre on nineteenth and earlytwentiethcentury literature one on the French writer Nervals masterpieceSylvie a major influence on Eco and a novella that he translated intoItalian one on Oscar Wildes love of paradox and one on Joyces views onlanguage. The last three pieces deal with the road that leads from Cervantesvia Swift to Borges Library of Babel then an essay on Ecos own anxietyabout Borges influence on him and the volume ends with an article on theenigmatic Italian critic and anthropologist Piero Camporesi. On Literature isa provocative and entertaining collection of sprightly essays on the key textsthat have shaped Eco the novelist and critic. This volume will appeal toanyone interested in how new light is shed on old masters by a greatcontemporary mind. «