Author: Michael @ Knowledge Lost

The Artist as Mystic by Yahia Lababidi and Alex Stein

Posted December 20, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Non-Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Artist as Mystic (Goodreads)
Author: Alex Stein, Yahia Lababidi
Published: Onesuch, 2012
Pages: 86
Genres: Non-Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Author

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I’m going to have to borrow the blurb for this book, because I think it best summarises this book. The Artist as Mystic is a set of lyric conversations between aphorists Yahia Lababidi and Alex Stein. These conversations constitute what Australians call a ‘Songline’ — a set of sacred songs that allow the reader/listener to navigate through an unknown terrain, in this case, populated by tortured and ecstatic souls: Kafka, Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Rilke, Kierkegaard and Ekelund.

I’ve never really read something like this, blending biographical elements with literary criticism, but then it takes it a bit further by documenting conversations between Yahia Lababidi and Alex Stein and adding a reflective poem to each essay by Lababidi. It’s like being a fly on the wall and listening to two very intelligent people bounce thoughts and ideas off each other about literary ideas.

While it often felt more like an interview rather than a conversation, I never felt bothered by it; Yahia Lababidi has a lot of insight and knowledge and I think Alex Stein made a very strategic move by stepping back and letting Lababidi run free with his thoughts. While this may come across as very dense book, I found the book very accessible.

The Artist as Mystic is a thought provoking look at people I’ve had a real interest in understanding better; Kafka, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard as well as an insight into a few new ones I need to learn about. I’m not a very intellectual person, I do try but what I got out of this book was just how well it helped me understand the ideas it wanted to get across. Yahia Lababidi never talked down but rather mentored the reader along, making this the most impressive aspect of the whole book. I felt inspired by this book and plan to read this book with a highlighter and a notepad sometimes in the future.

The Best of 2012 Survey

Posted December 19, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

I saw this survey over at All The Books I Can Read but it turns out Bree stole this from The Perpetual Page Turner. I thought this was a nice way to reflect on the year, so I wanted to join in on the fun. Most people would know I was a cultural blogger (I’m sorry I’ve neglected it a little) and now blog about my reading journey and random book thoughts. I’ve only started this blog in April and I’ve have some much fun, I can’t wait to share my future thoughts with the readers.

Best In Books 2012

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

This is a hard question to answer, do I pick my favourite book released in 2012 or overall? I would say Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky was my all time favourite out of all the books I’ve read this year, with honourable mentions to Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway and Swimming Home by Deborah Levy .

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

It’s not that I didn’t like this book, but I felt that Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel by Robin Sloan really lacked the elements needed to make it great.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

I went into Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann thinking it would be a generic family drama, but found some very dark elements to it that really pleased me.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

I think I recommended Swimming Home by Deborah Levy and Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway a few times but I think my top recommendation was either The Fault in Our Stars by John Green or Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

A little late to the party but The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin, were great reading highlights in 2012 and I’m eagerly waiting the final book in the trilogy.

6. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2012?

I tend not to entrench myself too much but some new authors I’ve discovered that I can’t wait to read some more of their works include; Deborah Levy, Nick Harkaway, Gillian Flynn, Elizabeth Haynes, Jeffrey Eugenides and Michael Chabon.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I really try to read books in all genres so this question was a little hard for me to answer, but The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon was something I wouldn’t normally pick up but ended up loving.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I was up to 4am at night wanting to know what will happen next.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The main one I plan to re-read would be The Artist as Mystic by Yahia Lababidi, there is a lot to it and I want to explore it further.

10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2012?

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers, it really stands out.

11. Most memorable character in 2012?

Peter Brown from Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell because the autofibulectomy scene has left me traumatised.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

Currently the first book that comes to mind would be The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Trial by Franz Kafka and even The Artist as Mystic by Yahia Lababidi

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us” by Franz Kafka, discovered while reading The Artist as Mystic by Yahia Lababidi.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

Les Misèrables by Victor Hugo is the longest (followed by 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami) if picture books count for the shortest it would be I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (if not it’s A Life with Books by Julian Barnes).

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It?

The Dinner by Herman Koch; luckily it was a book I read for one of my book clubs

18. Favourite Relationship from a Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc)?

Wouldn’t that have to be Augustus and Hazel Grace from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green?

19. Favourite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously?

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else?

From a co-motorator of Literary Exploration; When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger and The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach.

Book Blogging/Reading Life

1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2012?

Still Life With Books; I know she hates blogging but I always value her opinions on books.

2. Favourite review that you wrote in 2012?

I’m proud of my Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky review

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

My Experience with the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List where my favourite blog post that sparked some interesting comments, maybe Confessions of a Reader too.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

I think I would say; go read Still Life With Books for thought provoking reviews.

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

Can I name drop and say Supernova, where I met Melina Marchetta and John Birmingham as well as got to hang out with people like Rachel Caine and Felicia Day?

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?

As a new book blogger my blogging highlights include emails or tweets from authors thanking me for reviews and Publishers interested in having me review some books.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

My ArmchairBEA posts got a lot of activity; Introduction, Best of 2012, Top Tips for Book Blogging and A Positive Experience with Books. It was an amazing experience and I found so many great book bloggers.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Expected some love for He Died with His Eyes Open but didn’t get any.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

The Folio Society, it has so many beautiful books that I would love to own.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I started off with my regular 100 book challenge but half way through the year, I increased it to 150. I completed this challenge in November and now taking the time to read some bigger books.

Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get to In 2012 but Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?

Nothing comes to mine, I feel like I accomplished what I wanted this year. There are some review copies I need to read but I’m sure I’ll get to it.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?

By Blood We Live by Glen Duncan (I hope it’s still scheduled for 2013 and doesn’t get delayed) I love this series and want to see how it ends.

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

I hope that the Literary Exploration challenge is a huge success; I plan to complete that as my reading challenge (as well as 100 books). As for my blog, I hope it continues to be entertaining.

San Miguel by T.C. Boyle

Posted December 18, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: San Miguel (Goodreads)
Author: T.C. Boyle
Published: Bloomsbury, 2012
Pages: 384
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

T.C. Boyle tells us the story of a family on the San Miguel Island. The desolate island makes for a backdrop for the trials and tribulations of family. Boyle takes us on a vivid join of hard living and stubborn people in a novel of love and hate.

I’ve never actually read a T.C. Boyle novel before but I’ve heard he is a great storyteller, so I was excited to read this novel. This is a book of major family drama, I get the feeling that being stuck on a desolate island off the coast of California isn’t really helping the situation at all. The feeling of isolation is almost like having a cabin fever effect at times and this makes for highly emotional situations.

San Miguel follows the point of views of two different characters, giving us an insight of their inner thoughts and desires. Inspired by historical records, Boyle blends the facts with his own take of the story to bring us a character driven novel of the trials of this family. While at times I found this a highly emotional and somewhat endearing novel, I found myself thinking about novels like Shipping News and remembering just how that was a similar type of novel, only better. It is hard to immerse myself in a novel when I’m too busy comparing it to better novels and I truly think if I was in the right state of mind, this book would have been more enjoyable (perhaps enough to warrant 4 stars).

The characters within this novel are just wonderful; Boyle really knows how to write personalities, desires and inner thoughts, giving them real depth. Marantha and Elizabeth are great protagonists and the isolated location was the perfect backdrop for this story. But I never connected fully with the story, and I think it left too many questions unanswered.

T.C. Boyle is a great storyteller; I will be checking out some more of his work in the future, I’m hoping I can connect with them more than I did with San Miguel. It really didn’t help my enjoyment of this book. So I hope people who decide to give this novel a go, find themselves enjoying the characters and the trials that come there way.

Introducing The 2013 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge

Posted December 15, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 52 Comments

As the year starts to come to a close, we readers start to think about what we would like to read next year and for some of us, we look for the reading challenge that excites us the most. As most people know, Literary Exploration tries to explore all different genres in the hope to become a well-rounded reader and even discover something new. So in 2013 we would like to challenge you to explore further.

Instead of increasing the book club to two books a month we decided we wanted people to read what they wanted to read; but we also want people to explore. So we are challenging everyone to dedicate either 12, 24 or 36 books that you would normally read to different genres. We have compiled a list which hopefully will give you a chance to explore literature a little deeper.

It’s real simple; below you will see an easy (12 books), hard (24 books) or insane (36 books) challenge. Each genre links to the Goodreads genre page if you need some suggestions on what to read. We want you to have some fun and explore; hopefully you might find a new genre that peaks your interest. To sign up either join the Literary Exploration book club on Goodreads and talk about your progress with others involved or for the bloggers out there, if you want to add it as part of your blogging experience simply let us know with a link (to your Literary Exploration Challenge page) in the comments below so our readers can see how you are going.

This is the first year doing this and if all goes well we might expand and make it a yearly challenge. If we do decide to do this on a yearly basis and you feel that there are some genres are either too heavily focused on or not mentioned at all, please let me know. The idea of this challenge is to have a well-balanced list of genres and not focusing on one genre more than any others.

Good luck all who decide to join in. I personally am going to go for the 36 book, insane challenge and I’m really looking forward to it. While there are some genres I’m not looking forward to reading, it’s all part of being a literary explorer. What could be wrong with that?

Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford

Posted December 14, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime, Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: Shadow of the Rock (Goodreads)
Author: Thomas Mogford
Series: Spike Sanguinetti #1
Published: Bloomsbury, 2012
Pages: 272
Genres: Crime, Thriller
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Spike Sanguinetti arrives home to Gibraltar only to find Solomon Hassan waiting from him. Solomon is on the run, a Spanish girl was found with her throat cut on the beach in Tangiers and he is being accused of the murder. Spike travels to Morocco to try and delay the extradition, where he meets a woman investigating the disappearance of her father, which is also is leading back to Solomon being involved.

Shadow of the Rock seems to be book one of a newly planned series by Thomas Mogfold. Not only is there a real sense of mystery, but also the protagonist finds himself questioning just how much he knows his friend. Two different situations has put Solomon in a world of suspicion. Spike Sanguinetti is a tax lawyer, a job that for me seem very boring, and now he is thrown into this huge adventure, really putting him out of his comfort zone. With all the excitement, I did feel like the book lacked any real character development; sure I learned about the protagonist and support cast, but it felt like very broad strokes of development. This might be the plan, as a series the writer needs to save some development for the other books. But for me the character development was underdone and too sloppy.

For me the highlight of this book was Gibraltar and Morocco as the backdrops for the danger Spike surely finds himself in. I’ve not been to either places but I have very fond memories of Spain and imagine the atmosphere and the culture would be similar. It was so great to read a book set in an unusual location. As far as the mystery of this book, it was very generic; it ticks all the right boxes for a formulaic best seller thriller series and I truly hope Thomas Mogfold has a huge success with Spike Sanguinetti.

I just feel this series has a lot of great potential and I’m curious to see if book two turns out to be something more developed. I can see myself either loving this series or really hating it depending on which path the author takes; the formulaic thriller route in the hope to become a best selling crime writer or the well-developed character route. I will be checking out book two but if it fails to show any improvement I plan to abandon this series. Spike has so much to offer so we will wait to see what happens next.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Posted December 12, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Marriage Plot (Goodreads)
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Published: Harper Collins, 2011
Pages: 406
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

The Marriage Plot is a coming of age novel that explores the pains that comes with life experience. The novel follows three Brown University friends beginning their senior year and then life after graduation. Madeleine Hanna is an English major with an interest in the Victorian novel and the importance of the marriage plot within all the greatest English novels. Leonard Morten a biologist, who is charismatic and intelligent, but constantly dealing with either unlimited energy or sinking moods. Mitchell Grammaticus studied religion and, while acts strange, has a fascination with Christian mysticism and the idea of Madeleine.

The Marriage Plot finally shows just how a love triangle plot should work. The book shifts between the three protagonists to show the inner thoughts and desires. This is a modern romance; but not in the way you expect. The Marriage Plot asks the reader the question; are the great love stories dead? Did they die off in the nineteenth century? Or does the new world of feminism and sexual freedom offer something completely different. Jeffrey Eugenides explores the ideas of contemporary relationships with such love and care that you feel like you truly know these characters.

As the love triangle between Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell slowly unfolds, I find myself thinking that maybe Mitchell is the better choice but her attraction to Leonard just seems to get stronger. Mitchell is stuck in the friend’s zone but on reflection he never really pursued Madeleine the way she wanted and lost his chance when he had it. When she discovers Leonard’s mental illness I felt that really cemented their relationship. Sure it was going to be hard, but I think Madeleine’s guilt and the feeling of being needed really shaped their relationship.

The whole novel played around with a whole lot of different literary devices, mixing that with all the themes throughout this book really made this book stand out for me. The ideas of love were really explored well here, helping the characters to discover the difference between their fantasies and reality as well as the need for physical, intellectual and emotional satisfaction. Even Mitchell facing the discernment between the seminary and the possibility of romance has an aspect of love that often isn’t explored; do you give up your passion for a chance at romance?

The characters are so real and I feel like I know them so well; this is what made this book at time frustrating but then it was what made this book so great. While there are a lot of ideas of love throughout the book, the one that really worked for me was Jeffrey Eugenides and Madeleine’s love of literature. I finished this book and wanted to go and read A Lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes just because Madeleine speaks so fondly of it, the kind of fondness that must truly come from the author.

This really feels like a labour of love by the author, I felt such a connection with the characters and the ideas within this book. Even the effort Eugenides put into bring out the beauty of the situations really was awe inspiring. Eugenides writes beautiful prose; well he did in this book, I’m not sure if it is the love he has for the book, or if he has that for all his novels but I’m keen to dive into Middlesex or The Virgin Suicides sometime soon.

Let’s face it, it is rare to find a book that affects you and you feel so passionately about, so finding The Marriage Plot has really made my reading journey feel worth it. I do have a few books that I hold in such high regard; Frankenstein, Crime and Punishment and I would like to welcome The Marriage Plot to join them. It just feels different with this novel, I feel like I’ve discovered my softer side. I would love to know if people know of other books similar to this that I might enjoy and I also want to hear about the books that effect you in a deep and wonderful way.

Monthly Review – November 2012

Posted November 30, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

November has ended and the holiday season is well on its way. For the people who read House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, I hope you enjoyed it. Yes. it was a really weird look into post modernism and I know there were a lot of ‘WTF’ moments within this book. But I do hope everyone got something out of it, even if it is just the ability to say, “Yes, I’ve read it”. For me the book was far too pretentious, even if that is normally my thing. I’m glad to have read it, but I don’t think it is something I would read again. There were some interesting discussions about the book, including if the book is a novel or a piece of art.

In December we will be reading the Beat classic; On the Road by Jack Kerouac as part of our Travel theme. This is a relatively short book so I’m sure people will be able to fit it in around all the festivities.

My monthly reading this month might have leaned heavily toward genre fiction but I felt like it was an enjoyable and relaxing month of reading for me, apart from House of Leaves. Highlights for me include Metroland by Julian Barnes, a look into the life of Christopher as he looks over his past and tries to work out if he is happy with his life. I’ve been looking to read another Barnes book for a while and this was well worth it. Then there was The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugendies; finally a book where a love triangle is done properly. This was a book of discovery as we watch three interconnected young adults grow into adults.

What have you been reading this month? What are the highlights?

Perchance to Dream by Robert B. Parker
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Without Warning by John Birmingham
San Miguel by T.C. Boyle
Truth by Peter Temple
Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford
Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry
Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
No Orchids For Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase
The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams
The Artist as Mystic by Yahia Lababidi
Metroland by Julian Barnes
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Posted November 29, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Horror / 0 Comments

Title: House of Leaves (Goodreads)
Author: Mark Z. Danielewski
Published: Random House, 2000
Pages: 706
Genres: Horror
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Johnny Truant searches an apartment for his friend and finds an academic study of a documentary film called The Navidson Record. This film investigates the phenomenon of the Navidson’s house where the house is larger inside than the outside. Initially it’s less than an inch difference but it keeps growing. The only problem with all of this is there is no evidence of this documentary ever existing. The book House of Leaves is that academic study (with all the footnotes) mixed with Johnny’s interjections, transcripts from the documentary and anything else.

This debut novel of Mark Z. Danielewski tries to mix a horror novel with some romance and satire but it mainly focuses on just how unreliable a narrator can be. I’ll be honest with you; I struggled to work out if I should review this as a piece of literature or as art, so I’ve done both and you can find my art review. Danielewski has really come up with a unique idea here, it’s almost the literary equivalent of The Blair Witch Project; there is a lot happening on the pages but the reader never gets a full grasp on what is actually happening.

The first 150 pages of this book were quite enjoyable, there were some funny moments and it gave you a real feel for what was going on. But then everything turns completely weird and I found myself raging and sometimes going insane. This is by no means an easy book to read, more of an exploration in the postmodern idea of Post-structuralism. I don’t pretend to understand postmodern literature but it was interest to see what Mark Z. Danielewski does in this book

You’ll either love or hate this genre blending novel; for me, I hated the story. I think my wife got more enjoyment out of watching me rage than I did with reading it. House of Leaves is known as Ergodic literature, which requires the reader to navigate the text in a non-traditional way; this is the first time I’ve seen a book like this. Everyone will have a different interpretation of this novel, so I would love to hear what others thought. Also make sure you check my post about this book as an art form.

House of Leaves: An Art Piece

Posted November 29, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 4 Comments

I picked up the book House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski as part of the Literary Exploration book club (check out my review) and while it is a weird postmodern novel, I think it is art more than literature. So I wanted to talk about my thoughts on this book as art. First of all Postmodern is a weird concept that I don’t fully understand; surrealism makes more sense to me. So I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into.

The book starts off like a normal book; in the sense that it’s formatted normally and you just read down the page. But then it turns into something weird. Different fonts, different coloured writing, upside down and even backwards writing spread out all over the page. It’s at this point where you have no idea how to read it.

Just looking over the book before I even started reading it, I got the sense that this was insanity written on the page, with the multiple voices represented in different typesets. But there is more on the page. The word house is represented in a blue font; even haus and maison show up in blue as well. This was a weird experience for me in the book, my brain wanted to tell me it was black writing so sometimes my eyes played tricks on me with that one word.

Mark Z. Danielewski’s sister, Anne Danielewski, known professionally as Poe wrote an album called Haunted which is meant to accompany this book. While I didn’t read the book while listening to the album, it gives this whole experience a multimedia experience. It is an interesting experience reading excerpts and hearing songs with similar themes. I believe they both toured together for a book tour.

As a piece of literature, I raged, but if I look at this book as art, there really is something unique about this book. Apart from making me pretentious for reading it and having it on my book shelf, this book has a very strong visual component to it. It is what I respect the most from this book. What do others think of this book? Literature or Art?

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

Posted November 26, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Prague Cemetery (Goodreads)
Author: Umberto Eco
Translator: Richard Dixon
Published: Vintage, 2010
Pages: 566
Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. Simone Simonini is called upon to help create a political conspiracy by forging a document known as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Simone is an adventurer, forger and secret agent working for a powerful secret organisation or is he working for himself? Is he playing both sides against each other or will he end up being a scapegoat?

I love Umberto Eco; every time I read a book by him, I get a mind crush; how can one man have so much knowledge on Catholicism, Freemasons, the Knights Templar and even the Rosicrucians? First book I ever read of his was Foucault’s Pendulum and will always remain my favourite because I did not know what to expect. I was so surprised with his knowledge that when he started building the conspiracy behind this book I even started to feel convinced by it too. I had to remind myself that it was fiction and that they were trying to create a conspiracy theory that others would believe.

Umberto Eco is not the easiest author to read; he jams his books full of facts and in The Prague Cemetery it’s all about Nineteenth-century Europe and conspiracies both real and imagined. You certainly have to have an interest in history of secret societies to enjoy the mystery that Eco creates. Luckily for me, I have that interest and feel like Eco is just encouraging me to learn more about these Secret societies; I still have not worked out how to join the Illuminati yet.

The protagonist Simone Simonini is slimy, manipulative and almost an evil genius. This makes him perfect for the role he plays. While it is hard to keep up with all his thoughts and trying to think that many moves ahead, I just enjoyed where this novel took me.

They call Umberto Eco the Dan Brown for the intellects, and while I do try to be pretentious and act like an intellectual, I have a lot more to learn. I love this title for Eco because he takes the conspiracy thriller elements and certainly adds his knowledge of history to it, making a truly intelligent novel. There is so much to learn and so much to enjoy from a book like this. This is my third Eco novel (Foucault’s Pendulum & The Name of the Rose) and I’m already looking forward to my forth. While I will need a break from his brilliance, I would love to know which Eco book I should read next?