Description
Book SynopsisIn a careful unraveling of the fabulous and the false, Eco shows us how serendipities----unanticipated truths----often spring from mistaken ideas. Eco uncovers layers of mistakes that have shaped human history, such as Columbus's assumption that the world was much smaller than it is, leading him to seek out a quick route to the East via the West and thus fortuitously "discovering" America.
Trade ReviewEco cajoles his readers to go out and learn more, and perhaps, to disagree with him. -- Scott Gordon The Daily Yomiuri Erudite, wide-ranging, and slyly humorous... The literary examples Eco employs range from Dante to Dumas, from Sterne to Spillane. His text is thought-provoking, often outright funny, and full of surprising juxtapositions. The Atlantic Fans of Eco's novels will not be left dissatisfied--his fictional players are still present: Templars, Illuminati, Jesuits, Theosophists, and Masons. They all have a part in this intriguing look at how the study of language can be full of surprises. Booklist Rich in historical anecdotes... Throughout, his treatments are informative, intellectually sophisticated, and thoroughly entertaining. Library Journal This collection will certainly appeal to specialists. But Eco's ability to balance technical subject matter with broadly intelligible anecdotes and illustrations should make it valuable and pleasurable for anyone seeking a gallant introduction to the philosophy of language. Publishers Weekly Eco's insistent curiosity, his vital imagination and his almost overwhelming erudition work together like forces of nature to push and pull the book's five essays in unpredictable directions. Review of Contemporary Fiction These essays are equally entertaining and unusual. Scotland on Sunday Informative, instructive, and entertaining. World Literature Today
Table of ContentsPreface 1. The Force of Falsity 2. Languages in Paradise 3. From Marco Polo to Leibniz: Stories of Intellectual Misunderstandings 4. The Language of the Austral Land 5. The Linguistics of Joseph de Maistre Notes Index
