Notes from Around the Sundial: Baudolino
Created | Updated Feb 20, 2011
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!
Shock as Emperor's Right-Hand Man Reveals All
Book review: Baudolino by Umberto Eco
- Originally written in Italian
- Published in 2002
Umberto Eco was an Italian professor of semiotics who had written a number of learned documents on the subject. These may have caused a stir in the world of semiotics but didn't impinge on the consciousness of the average man. Then in 1980 he produced a book which made it big: 'The Name of the Rose', an amazing detective story set in 14th Century Italy. It sold 50 million copies. After the success of this novel, Eco wrote a few more, all reasonably successful but none matching the originality and sheer brilliance of the first.
'Baudolino' is one such novel. Like 'The Name of the Rose', it takes place in the Mediaeval times, in this case the 12th Century. It is set in Italy, Paris, Armenia and the East. The work is a comedy; the main character, Baudolino, is a story teller who tells tall tales, in the manner of Little Big Man, Flashman or Forest Gump. According to himself, he was a poor peasant who was adopted as a son and companion by Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor. Because he is close to the Emperor, he often makes suggestions to him and these are acted upon, resulting in Baudolino by his own account being personally responsible for most of the main developments of 12th Century Europe. He is responsible for the letters of Abelard to Heloise, for the liberation of Alessandria from the forces of the Emperor and for the making of the Turin Shroud. Baudolino's skill is that anything he makes up eventually comes true. He is also present at many events which are not of his doing, such as the death of the Emperor Frederick and the Sack of Constantinople.
The book is a comedic romp through lots of aspects of 12th Century Europe – the tension between kings and the church, the independent Italian city states, the whole aspect of knights and courtly love, the assassins and the relics. It is an insight into the way in which Mediaeval people thought about the world. There's a lot about the Holy Roman Emperor and his attempts to control Italy. There's a lot about the Sack of Constantinople which happened in 1204, just four years into the 13th Century. There's a detective story set into the book – one of the characters dies in suspicious circumstances, and there are a number of suspects, but the book doesn't make a big deal of it. The death is forgotten about for a long time and explained quickly in the course of a few pages at the end.
About a quarter of the book involves a fantastical trip to the East into a land inhabited by strange monsters – men with no heads and a face on their chest, giants, one legged men who hop on an enormous foot, and satyrs, the goat-legged creatures of Greek legends. Baudolino tells this part just as sincerely as the rest, and the purpose of it seems to be to persuade us that since this part is clearly completely untrue, we should be equally skeptical of the rest of his stories. But why it was necessary to devote so much of the book to this section is not clear – it becomes very tiresome. The monsters spend all their time arguing with each other about esoteric details of Christian theology. Such arguments did happen in the past, but they were much earlier in the history of the Christian Church and are not really part of the 12th Century mindset, so they feel out of place here.
Did I enjoy this book? I've read it twice, once when it was first published and again recently. The first time, I enjoyed it thoroughly, although I felt the fantastical trip to the East was too long. The second time through, I just couldn't stomach the Eastern trip at all – it was dull in the extreme. I disliked it so much that I considered not finishing the book. It's interesting to read made-up stories about real people and about realistic situations. But made-up stories which make no attempt to convince you they are true just become tedious.
Would I recommend Baudolino? If you are a quick reader, then definitely yes. It's a fascinating insight into Mediaeval life, is funny and holds your interest for most of it. You can read about the Eastern trip quickly. If you're a slow reader, you'll find it hard going.
Eco had a hit with 'The Name of the Rose'. This is probably the most worthwhile of the other books he has written since then.
