Things Fall Apart

That's the next book. By Chinua Achebe.
It's at my place on 13 December.

Found: Prester John

Doubt not. The real Prester John is revealed! I cite that reliable source: the Fantastic Four, where he first appeared in Issue 54.

This being the Internet, there is of course a full indexed chronology produced by scary obsessives.

And for those who aren't going to read the whole of Baudolino,

• the interesting love scene is on pages 441-442 of my edition, chapter 34.
• The set-up for the whodunnit is in chapter 25 on p.305
  
• Who killed Frederick (and who has the Grail) is revealed in chapter 38.
  
• Well, actually in the next chapter, on p. 511
  

Next Up -- Oryx and Crake

Next time round, it's Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood.

We're meeting at Mark's on 15 November.

So how much of this Baudolino is real... ?

There seems to be a lot in Baudolino that relates to real events or real writings about not-quite-so-real events.

I've finished the book (ahem - had a couple of long waits at airports last week) and I want to know what was real and what was made up, so I've got on over to Wikipedia's entry on it. I've tried not to link to anything that will spoil the story.


As you would expect, Frederick 1 is a real character, and so is Beatrice, who has quite a few children and "encourag[ed] chivalric ideals". The canonisation of Charlemagne happened, and all the business with popes and antipopes.

The city of Alessandria exists (I'd never heard of it) and according to this review, it was the birthplace of one Umberto Eco. Here are some pictures. The original Cathedral (which may or may not have some significance in the Grail quest) was pulled down by Napoleon, and was replaced in 1810. Baudolino's father is based on an Alessandran legend.

Frederick does indeed die mysteriously, according to Wiki, though perhaps not as mysteriously as in the book (for those who've got to that bit).

The Poet, Boron and Kyot are all real (or nearly real) characters who wrote stuff. The Poet apparently wrote some of the text for the Carmina Burana (or did Baudolino write it?).

Otto of Friesing was indeed a fan of Prester John, and the Letter of Prester John apparently has Hebrew influence (so that's why Solomon comes in).

I haven't found a medieval Zosimos yet, but there is a 3rd century Greek gnostic of that name, who seems to have dreamt of barbers, and blood... (and there was a Pope Zosimus in the 5th century).

But what about Abdul? Ardzrouni? Hypatia? Sciapods? Only Google and Wiki can tell us the answer. Unless they are lying...

There's a nice interview with Eco here.

Baudolino is in the Library

I got one from West Norwood Library. There's one more on the shelf there. The Lambeth catalogue says there's about 16 copies in the Borough in Brixton, Streatham, Clapham and all over.

Now, as to actually starting to read it.... to get in the mood, here's some quotes from the Amazon reviews:

"I finally staggered to the end of this one after about 200 rounds spread out over four months. I couldn't take more pronlonged sparring.... all I can say is "Oh how the mighty have fallen!"... He "used to be" a contenda. "

"This book is a chore."

"This book is sort of like Forrest Gump for medievalists... If you're not really in the know about the period, this won't be much fun unless you like Googling a great deal."

"This is one of the worst books I have ever read. "

"A rollicking book, bawdy, humorous, visual and full of enough symbolic stuff to keep any 'seeker of secret knowledge' turning the page."

Next meeting - Baudolino, by Umberto Eco

We're meeting next at Justin's to discuss

Baudolino by Umberto Eco.

The meeting is scheduled for 18 October.

(It's possible I may need to find babysitting if we do it then).

Peter

Two Plays

Tonight's meeting - at Angus' place in Rosendale Road.

• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The House of Francesca Alba by Gracia Lorca

Peter

What do you think, guys?

I'm playing with Blogger. Do you think a blog could be useful for meetings, discussions, thoughts etc?