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The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco (view source)
Revision as of 14:58, 2 September 2020
, 14:58, 2 September 2020no edit summary
Eco has said that it is a riposte to those who take Dan Brown seriously. Fair enough. But I don't think DB meant to be taken seriously. The Independent called The Prague Cemetery ''a smartly entertaining fin-de-siècle romp'' Not for me. Brown's work is a romp: a silly escapade. Eco's is a serious attempt to expose the nature of conspiracy theorists. It is very clever, and if you don't mind your wit on the caustic side ''women may be capable of multiplication'' there are occasional wry smiles to be had. But by no stretch of the imagination is it a romp.
My final problem with the work is that it breaks what we (who cannot write) are always being told is the cardinal rule for fiction: show don't tell. The whole story is told. Explained. I did this. They said that. This happened next. There is very little dialogue and absolutely no getting under the skin or into the minds of any of the characters. Long descriptions of what they ate and pen-&-ink illustrations straight out of a Dickensian work simply don't make up for understanding what they felt, how they spoke, in a word ''action''.
''The Prague Cemetery'' is a worldwide bestseller, topping the charts in Italy, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and elsewhere. It has sold millions of copies. So, like as I say, I could be wrong, but it doesn't get a recommendation from me.
If conspiracy theories are your thing you could probably do far worse than to check out [[Voodoo Histories: How Conspiracy Theory Has Shaped The World by David Aaronovitch]]. You might also enjoy [[Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville]] or [[I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira]].
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