I just learned that Umberto Eco has passed away yesterday.
His most famous book was The Name of The Rose, but I have also read Foucault’s Pendulum, Baudelino, and even some of his irreverent prose about Naples and the Italian way of life. I also was fascinated by his study of Semiotics – even today, I could not say off the top of my head what it is, only that it has something to do with words and meanings, and that it is so amazing there exists an actual science like that! I have read his novels and his articles and he came across as a charming, educated and insightful man.
I could write so much what The Name of The Rose meant to me – both the book as well as the completely different, but also wonderful movie – when I read it in my teenage years, and how thrilled and moved and inspired I have been by his writings. Maybe one day I will, and I should. But for now, I am just sad at the passing of a great writer, and I celebrate and remember his work.
“Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.”