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Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross (born 5 January 1932) is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa, 1980), an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. He has also written academic texts, children's books and many essays. Eco is the founder of the Dipartimento di Comunicazione at the University of San Marino, President of the Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici, University of Bologna, member of the Accademia dei Lincei... MORE

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Umberto Eco Videos

Umberto Eco on How School Helps Us Not to Read Books

Umberto Eco on How School Helps Us Not to Read Books The New York Public Library - New York Public Library Umberto Eco insists that he read Pierre Bayard's book, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read or at least skimmed it.In the July 26th edition of L'Espresso Eco writes, "The most intriguing part of this pamphlet, less paradoxical than may first appear, is that we forget a high percentage of the books we actually read, in fact, we conjure a virtual image of sorts, not so much of what the book said, but of what it made us think about"Bayard's seemingly paradoxical book makes the case for literary laziness. In How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read, Bayard argues that the key to appreciating the classics is through a quick skim, not deep immersion; cover to cover isn't merely impractical, it's downright passe - New York Public Library