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ECO
(EK-oh)
Umberto
Eco – Italian novelist
Common
clues: "Foucault's
Pendulum" novelist; "The Name of the Rose" author;
Author Umberto; Italian writer Umberto
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
3 times a year
Frequency
in English language:
19768 / 86800
Video: Professor
Umberto Eco at The London Book Fair
When
men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in
nothing: they believe in everything.
Umberto
Eco
Umberto
Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist,
semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel
The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays.
Eco
was born in the city of Alessandria in the region of Piedmont.
His father, Giulio, was an accountant before the government
called upon him to serve in three wars. During World War II,
Umberto and his mother, Giovanna, moved to a small village in the
Piedmontese mountain side.
Eco
has enjoyed a wide audience around the world, with good sales and
many translations. His novels often include references to arcane
historical figures and texts and his dense, intricate plots tend
to take dizzying turns.
Eco
employed his education as a medievalist in his novel The Name of
the Rose, a historic mystery set in a 14th century monastary.
English friar William of Baskerville, aided by his apprentice
Adso, investigates a series of murders at a monastery that is set
to host an important religious debate. Eco is particularly good
at translating medieval religious controversies and heresies into
modern political and economic terms so that the reader can
appreciate their substance without being a theologian. The Name
of the Rose was later made into a motion picture starring Sean
Connery and Christian Slater.
Foucault's
Pendulum, Eco's second novel, has also sold well. In Foucault's
Pendulum, three under-employed editors who work for a minor
publishing house decide to amuse themselves by inventing a
conspiracy theory. Their conspiracy, which they call "The
Plan", is about an immense and intricate plot to take over
the world by a secret order descended from the Knights Templar.
As the game goes on, the three slowly become obsessed with the
details of this plan. The game turns dangerous when outsiders
learn of The Plan, and believe that the men have really
discovered the secret to regaining the lost treasure of the
Templars.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Umberto Eco".
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