Baudolino

Baudolino

infobox Book |
name = Baudolino
title_orig =
translator = William Weaver


image_caption = Recent US paperback edition cover
author = Umberto Eco
cover_artist =
country = Italy
language = Italian
series =
genre = Historical novel, Speculative fiction
publisher = Secker & Warburg (UK) & Harcourt (USA)
release_date = 2000 (orig.) & 15 October 2002 (Eng. trans.)
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
pages = 528 pp (US hardback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-15-100690-3 (US hardback edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Baudolino" is a 2000 novel by Umberto Eco about the adventures of a young man named Baudolino in the known and mythical Christian world of the 12th century.

"Baudolino" was translated into English in 2001 by William Weaver. The novel presented a number of particular difficulties in translation, not the least of which is that there are ten or so pages written in a made-up language that is a mixture of Latin, medieval Italian, and other languages.

Plot summary

In the year of 1204, Baudolino of Alessandria enters Constantinople, unaware of the Fourth Crusade that has thrown the city into chaos. In the confusion he meets Niketas Choniates and saves his life. Niketas is amazed with his language genius, speaking many language he has ever heard, and on the question: if he is not part of the crusade, who is he? Baudolino begins to recount his life story to Niketas.

His story begins in 1155, when Baudolino is sold to and adopted by the emperor Frederick I. At court and on the battlefield, he is educated in reading and writing Latin and learns about the power struggles and battles of northern Italy at the time. He is sent to Paris to become a scholar.

In Paris, he gains friends (such as the Archpoet, Robert de Boron, and Kyot, the purported source of Wolfram von Eschenbach's "Parzival"), and learns about the legendary kingdom of Prester John. From this event onward, Baudolino dreams of reaching this fabled land. On a long journey, encompassing 25 years, Eco demonstrates the full width of his story-telling style. Baudolino meets eunuchs, unicorns, Blemmyes, skiapods, and pygmies. At one point, a female satyr-like creature recounts to him the full Gnostic creation myth; Gnosticism is a pervasive presence in another of Eco's novels, "Foucault's Pendulum". Philosophical debates are mixed with comedy, epic adventure and creatures drawn from the strangest medieval bestiaries.

Characters in "Baudolino"

; Invented by Eco
* Baudolino – young man of Alessandria, protagonist, apparently a reference to the patron saint.
* The monopod 'Gavagai', a reference to Quine's example of indeterminacy of translation.
* Satyr
* Blemmyes
* Panotti
* The putative successors of Hypatia of Alexandria

; Other fictional or legendary persons
* Kyot
* Gagliaudo, legendary saviour of Alessandria
* Prester John
* Deacon John, leprous sub-ruler of Pndapetzim

; Historical
* Frederick Barbarossa
* Niketas Choniates
* Robert de Boron
* The Old Man of the Mountain
* Pope Alexander III
* Beatrice, Countess of Burgundy
* The Archpoet (unknown except through his poetry)
* Otto of Freising
* A member of the ancient Armenian Ardzruni noble clan
* Andronicus I Comnenus
* Stephen Hagiochristophorites

Release details

*2000, Italy, Bompiani (ISBN 88-452-4736-8), Pub date ? ? 2000, hardback (First edition, Italian)
*2001, Brazil, Editora Record (ISBN 85-01-06026-7), Pub date ? ? 2001, paperback (Portuguese edition)
*2002, UK, Secker & Warburg (ISBN 0-436-27603-8), Pub date 15 October 2002, hardback
*2002, USA, Harcourt (ISBN 0-15-100690-3), Pub date 15 October 2002, hardcover
*2002, France, Grasset and Fasquelle (ISBN 2-246-61501-1), Pub date 12 February 2002, paperback (French edition)
*2002, USA, Recorded Books (ISBN 1-4025-2814-0), Pub date ? October 2002, audiobook (cassette edition)
*2003, Italy, Fabbri - RCS Libri (ISBN 88-452-5195-0), Pub date ? January 2003, paperback (Italian edition)
*2003, USA, Harvest Books (ISBN 0-15-602906-5), Pub date 6 October 2003, paperback

External links

* [http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_repubblica_00_baud.html An interview with Umberto Eco for "La Repubblica", September 11, 2000] en icon
* [http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm?book_number=1137&page_number=1 An excerpt from the book] en icon


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Baudolino — ist der Titel eines historischen Romans von Umberto Eco, der 2000 unter demselben Titel im italienischen Original und 2001 in der Übersetzung von Burkhart Kroeber erschienen ist. Er erzählt im Stil eines Schelmenromans die Lebensgeschichte eines… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Baudolino — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Baudolino Autor Umberto Eco Traductor Helena Lozano Miralles País …   Wikipedia Español

  • Baudolino — est un roman historique d’Umberto Eco paru en 2000 (traduit en français en 2002) qui prend place au XIIe siècle dans le Piémont italien. Il met en scène Baudolino, un jeune garçon affabulateur, qui croise le destin de l’empereur Frédéric… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint Baudolino — Infobox Saint name= Saint Baudolino birth date=c. 700 AD death date=c. 740 AD feast day= November 10 venerated in= Roman Catholic Church imagesize= caption= birth place= death place= titles= beatified date= beatified place= beatified by=… …   Wikipedia

  • Pndapetzim — Baudolino ist der Titel eines historischen Romans von Umberto Eco, der 2000 unter demselben Titel im italienischen Original und 2001 in der Übersetzung von Burkhart Kroeber erschienen ist. Er erzählt im Stil eines Schelmenromans die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Prester John — The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter John), popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written… …   Wikipedia

  • Umberto Eco — (* 5. Januar 1932 in Alessandria, Piemont) ist ein italienischer Schriftsteller, Kolumnist, Philosoph, Medienwissenschaftler und wohl der bekannteste zeitgenössische Semiotiker. Durch seine Romane, allen voran …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Umberto Eco — Infobox Philosopher region = Western Philosophy era = 20th / 21st century philosophy color = #B0C4DE |thumb|260px image caption = Umberto Eco in May 2005 name = Umberto Eco birth = birth date and age|df=yes|1932|1|5 Alessandria, Italy death =… …   Wikipedia

  • Alessandria — Infobox CityIT img coa = Alessandria Stemma.png official name = Comune di Alessandria region = Piedmont province = Alessandria (AL) elevation m = 95 name=Alessandria area total km2 = 204 population as of = 30 november 2007 population total =… …   Wikipedia

  • Monopod (creature) — A monopod. From the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). Monopods (also sciapods, skiapods, skiapodes, Monocoli) are mythological dwarf like creatures with a single, large foot extending from one thick leg centered in the middle of their body. The name… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”