Non sperate di liberarvi dei libri by Umberto EcoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An excellent collection of essays regarding books (and movies) by Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carriere. The Italian version seems to have been translated from French. Another reviewer said this is "perfect between-book fodder", and I agree wholeheartedly.
I enjoyed the section that repeated the argument from Foucault's Pendulum re: all humans being either cretins, fools, morons or lunatics. Although his example for the fool wasn't Murat, but Chateaubriand, saying of Napoleon: "He won all his battles, but aside from this there was nothing that made him a good general".
Some of my notes:
We always think the new technology is here to stay while the old (books) will die out. But you can simply pick up a book from 1498 and read what it says, depending on the font and the spelling mistakes. But if you have a cassette from 30 years ago, a VHS from 20 years ago, or even a DVD from 10 years ago, you probably can't play it without acquiring the right machinery.
Reading certain books might not always be worth it, since then you have to have an opinion (and defend it). Someone who reads Shakespeare now will have a very different experience as compared to someone who read it right when it was published.
Just as Cervantes likely influenced Kafka, so Kafka influences Cervantes, in that people today read one knowing of the other.
Collecting books is basically "masturbatory" (sic). No one else will share your exact preferences. People might come to admire your art collection. Much less so your collection of books. This is why most collections are then donated once the owner dies.
We book collectors don't have to worry about thieves. We are protected by their ignorance.
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