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Baudolino

By Umberto Eco, William Weaver (Translator)

(138)

| Hardcover | 9780151006908

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Book Description

It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and pContinue

It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story.

Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts--a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander--who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa--adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends.

Spurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East--a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens.

As always with Eco, this abundant novel includes dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age. This is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best.



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Critics

  • Baudolino

    Aprile 1204. Dopo aver sbaragliato le difese messe in atto dal pur ardimentoso esercito bizantino, le truppe crociate prendono possesso di Costantinopoli. Ovunque divampano incendi. I vincitori saccheggiano e si dividono le spoglie di quella che al t ... (read full critics)

    mangialibri published on Fri, 17 Feb 2012

  • Baudolino

    La presentazione e le recensioni di Baudolino, opera di Umberto Eco edita da Bompiani. Un giovane contadino piemontese conquista il favore dell'imperatore Federico Barbarossa e ne diventa il figlio adottivo, spingendolo ad affrontare mirabolanti impr ... (read full critics)

    Qlibri published on Thu, 9 Feb 2012

2 Reviews

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  • Quotes [return][return]That s how it is in our parts. You may hate the foreigner, but most of all you hate your neighbor. And if the foreigner helps us harm our neighbor, then he s welcome.[return][return]At court I have learned a few things: if you are with great men, you also become great; great m ... (continue)

    Quotes [return][return]That s how it is in our parts. You may hate the foreigner, but most of all you hate your neighbor. And if the foreigner helps us harm our neighbor, then he s welcome.[return][return]At court I have learned a few things: if you are with great men, you also become great; great men in reality are very small; power is everything, and there is no reason why one day you could not seize it yourself, at least in part.[return][return]I don t know why these passages lingered in my mind, but they did. The former probably because, while it was speaking of 12th century Italy, still holds true today. The latter because it holds close to what I think about position and power. There is very little separating many powerful people in the world from many vagabond existances, save circumstance.

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    Chris said on Aug 4, 2007 | Add your feedback

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9780151006908 Hardcover $36.00 $30.78 bn.com
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