Umberto Eco: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

[clueless]

I have advanced further in the story of Yambo, and it's getting better in the end. I'm fascinated by his life in Italy. Eco says it's quite autobiographical, but did that events really occur?

It's difficult to say. It could have happened. Events like that happened during the war but this one could be fiction or an elaboration on a real event in which he was not involved.

 

[Diotallevi]

Well, last night I stayed awake reading until 4:30AM and I've finished reading the book. Wow, what a journey!
In the spanish translation I've read, there was an appendix written by the translator, with a lot of explanation about the structure and why it was a difficult thing to translate.
I think that Eco's main truth in this book, we all have one main thought in our lives, our own Island-not-found, that as soon as we try to catch it, disappears.

I like the book a lot more now that's finished.

 

[clueless]

Why was it difficult to translate? Was it trying to find the references and equivalences for all those characters and comics?

 

[Diotallevi]

Exactly. She's a spaniard and while, e.g. Italy went from fascism to democracy after the war, while Spain went from democracy to the Franco period. So it went backwards, politically.
And she says that the translation of the way two characters speak (Amalia and Gragnola) was particularly hard. I'll try to copyu some excerpts of this appendix, because it interesting indeed.

Did you like the book?

 

[clueless]

Exactly. She's a spaniard and while, e.g. Italy went from fascism to democracy after the war, while Spain went from democracy to the Franco period. So it went backwards, politically.

That should not be a problem as long as the translator knows the background. You cannot be a translator in general; you need to specialise in a field or fields that you know and do research for the work you are translated.

And she says that the translation of the way two characters speak (Amalia and Gragnola) was particularly hard. I'll try to copyu some excerpts of this appendix, because it interesting indeed.

Amalia and Gragnola speak in dialect. She shouls have chosen an area (any, of Spain, I suppose, if the rest of the dialogues were in standard Spanish from Spain) and use the way people speaks in villages. Then she would have got an equivalent effect.

Did you like the book?

Yes, except for the same part that you found boring. I think most people found the same.

I think that is the part that makes this book different from other Eco's books. Some people was annoyed because it was not set in the Middle Ages but I suppose that happened only to people who consider Eco as a historical novelist, which he is not. History is only one of the layers in his books.

I still have to think more about your other question but my impression is that Eco, as usual, tries to follow Borges, not Saramago.

 

[Diotallevi]

You know, in the last few pages I felt I was reading Borges or Julio Cortazar. I was more inclined to think Borges, because I've just finished rereading "Fictions".

I think I'll read it again in a few months and maybe, with a different attitude (I was expecting something more on the lines of Foucault's pendulum) I will definitely enjoy this book.

 

[mgarratty]

Yes, that's the reason for my question. Those two types of memory I mentioned reside in different parts of the brain...

What I also found interesting was Yambo wondering about the Fascist attitudes presented in the books and comics and wether he had some sympathy with those attitudes at the time.

Could a prejudiced person loose their prejudices by losing their memory - I presume so.

I've ordered the book you recommened re memory - I find all that sort of stuff very interesting (have you read any of Oliver Sacks's books? - some of his case studies abou tmemory loss are very interesting)

Mark

 

[clueless]

Could a prejudiced person loose their prejudices by losing their memory - I presume so.

I think so too, if the period the person has forgotten goes back far enough, before the person had those prejudices.

I've ordered the book you recommened re memory - I find all that sort of stuff very interesting (have you read any of Oliver Sacks's books? - some of his case studies abou tmemory loss are very interesting)

I haven't, but I will look them up.

What did you think about Yambo not being able to remember the girl's face?

 

[Ell]

I'm cautiously reading this thread while still in the midst of reading the book. I'm finding it quite intriguing and have appreciated everyone's thoughts on memory.

It's much different from Foucault's Pendulum, but I like the change. As Eco says it's autobiographical, that's probably why I like it. A much more personal, emotional tone throughout.

 

[Stewart]

It's much different from Foucault's Pendulum, but I like the change. As Eco says it's autobiographical, that's probably why I like it. A much more personal, emotional tone throughout.

Belbo, in Foucault's Pendulum, was very much an autobiographical character. Incidents such as the trumpet, pinball, and bublegum were important in Eco's life.

 

[Ell]

Belbo, in Foucault's Pendulum, was very much an autobiographical character. Incidents such as the trumpet, pinball, and bublegum were important in Eco's life.

Hmmm. Then maybe it's that Yambo is an older character that I feel the difference in tone.

 

[clueless]

Exactly. She's a spaniard and while, e.g. Italy went from fascism to democracy after the war, while Spain went from democracy to the Franco period. So it went backwards, politically.
And she says that the translation of the way two characters speak (Amalia and Gragnola) was particularly hard. I'll try to copyu some excerpts of this appendix, because it interesting indeed.

Sorry I didn't reply to your offer before. I would be interested in reading those excerpts. I just could not understand what was difficult for her. OK, I just read it and did not try to translate it, so maybe that's why I couldn't see her problems. My only problem when reading it where the names of the characters and I had to use the pictures to help me. Imagine, Mickey Mouse is called Topolino in Italy. I didn't think it would have any other name. I couldn't see the problem wiht Amalia and Gragnola because I am only used to read standard Italian, not dialects, but it was OK and didn't need a dictionary.

 

[Ell]

I finally finished. This was a frustrating read for me.

There was much to like - the early discussion about the nature of memory, Yambo's return to his childhood country home in Solara, the WW II portion as he struggles to determine whether he was a true fascist, his inability to reconcile his true self with the history he found in all the memorabilia. However, about mid-way through, I got the feeling that Eco was just being self-indulgent - going on and on about every detail of his beloved comics, quoting song lyrics, poetry, speeches and other minutiaie. While I reveled in the beauty of some of his imagery, it all got a bit tedious. So much so that I put the book down for a couple of weeks with only 100 pages to go.

When I started reading it again, the pace seemed to pick up - or maybe it was just my imagination. All in all, a pleasant enough read, but I was expecting more (or maybe less in this case).

 

[novella]

Thanks for the post, Ell. I was waiting for your opinion on this, as I read Eco's other books and didn't want to commit to this one. What's next for you?

 

[Ell]

So Novella, are you going to read it, skip it, or put it on the backburner? Queen Loana is completely different from Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum. At first, I liked the differences, but as Diotalevi previously posted, it seemed like Eco was writing the book only for himself.

As for what's up next? Can't quite decide, hence the re-reading of Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris. What do you think - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry or Shake Hands With The Devil by Romeo Dalaire? Maybe a re-read of Island by Huxley or finally finishing Anna Karenina?

Say Stewart, did you ever find your copy of Queen Loana?

 

[direstraits]

I was finished with this some time back, but only got to here. My impressions of the book is on many levels, but chief of which are language, the business of antiquarian books and the young yambo's chitchat with his friend on the nature of god and Jesus (which I thought was hilarious, and thought-provoking).

Uhm, I really liked the narration. The language is descriptive and lyrical, in my opinion, and funny too. This is made more so by the actor who read the work (I have Queen Loana as an audiobook) who put on an elderly Italian gentleman with a mild accent. Excellent performance, and made the words fly. Another thing about the language is the translation - if the translation was so good, I have to wonder what it's like to read it in Italian.

As nice as it was, language was also a problem - the book has French, Italian, German titles of novels and sentences that I cannot understand. It was a little frustrating because here I was enjoying the story, when all of a sudden - gibberish (to me). Worse, I cannot find out how it's spelt so I cannot get a translation on the web. Oh well.

I enjoyed my time with it, but sometimes I do wonder if I could/would finish the story if I bought the book, because there are portions of the book that plodded on, as he analyses the rationale behind the motives of superheroes in comics, their dress codes and what they denote, propaganda literature and military/politics. They were interesting (I learnt a lot, as I'm not really familiar with that time period or the culture), but he can string them out too long at times.

ds

 

[clueless]

I

I enjoyed my time with it, but sometimes I do wonder if I could/would finish the story if I bought the book, because there are portions of the book that plodded on, as he analyses the rationale behind the motives of superheroes in comics, their dress codes and what they denote, propaganda literature and military/politics. They were interesting (I learnt a lot, as I'm not really familiar with that time period or the culture), but he can string them out too long at times.

ds

I think everybody has talked about the parts where it plodded on, but I believe it was even worse for you with the audio version. At least we could look at the pictures, to see what he was referring too. I have nothing against audio books, but I don't think they are the best option for an illustrated book, when the illustrations are meant to be part of the story.

 

[direstraits]

Wha...? What illustrations? Seriously, I hadn't even known there were illustrations. I'd have loved to see them. I take it they were comics pictures?

I agree with you on not being able to listen to an illustration. For this book, however, listening to the dull parts may have enabled me to finish the book, as it forces the narration on. Which is why I remarked about wondering if I even could finish the story if I bought the book, as my eyes tend to glaze over at stuff that's too mind numbing, and I could have even put the book down and have difficulty picking it up again, as some have mentioned here.

Plus you must listen to the actor doing the voice to - brilliant.

On a bad day, I can spend up to 2 hours commuting to and from work. Audiobooks keeps me from throwing a tantrum in my car, plus I get to finish a good book.

ds

 

[clueless]

Wha...? What illustrations? Seriously, I hadn't even known there were illustrations. I'd have loved to see them. I take it they were comics pictures? [\QUOTE] Most of them are from comics or book covers. There is black and white photograph of Yambo and his sister and children - really Ecco and his sister.

On a bad day, I can spend up to 2 hours commuting to and from work. Audiobooks keeps me from throwing a tantrum in my car, plus I get to finish a good book.
ds

I would do the same if I drove to work. As I use trains, I can read (as long as the book is not too bulky and heavy; that's why I often have 2 at the same time, because I can never find a seat) and ordinary books make better weapons against annoying fellow passengers.