The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Author: Umberto Eco
Translator: Geoffrey Brock
It has a been a long time since I have read “The Name of the Rose’ it is one of the most fascinating books. Since then the Catholic Church and its politics have intrigued me. So when I got ‘The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana’ I was thrilled, would it be like 'The Name of the Rose’ so beautiful, so intriguing? No it isn’t, or am I missing something. The reviews that I read mention that it is deep, a profound meditation, the fog a metaphor for Yambo’s amnesia, the review by Tamara Straus that quotes
“These novels tend to be hard to read not because of their arcane subject matter but because Eco sacrifices plot and character to semiotic digressions” describes this book and my feelings about the book as well.
However, there are certain parts that are good. I loved the memorabilia, the picture books or comic book stories that run parallel to the ongoing war. Imagine Yambo’s confusion when he found that the most American comic heroes had Italian names now! This was because after January 1939, publication of foreign comics was forbidden, the Italian race was to be glorified, and Italian heroes should belong to the most superior race. Most Italian publishers found a way round this problem. They simply renamed the heroes, they all had Italian names, even Mickey mouse was Topolino ! Imagine Yambo’s surprise when one fine day Topolino was killed off. Yambo listens to songs which urge the country’s men to die with a rose between the teeth. Yambo however is surprised, nowhere is there a mention of the African colonies lost during the war.
At the close of the WW II there seems so much confusion going on, The Italian Partisans who incidentally killed Mussolini, the Black Brigades, the Badogliani, the Garibaldini. All of them changing their allegiances as fast as they could change their scarves or shirts. There is an interesting story of how Yambo’s grandfather has his revenge when he makes a Black brigade who had earlier forced him to drink a bottle of castor oil, is now forced to drink a bottle of castor oil that has his own (the grandfather’s) faeces!! Another interesting story is how Yambo with his friends learns to climb a gorge in fog; this helps him to later guide a group of Cossacks, to join the Allies before the end of the WW II.
Was a tad disappointed with this book
