Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43986 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-16
• Binding: Paperback
• 228 pages

Customer Reviews

Well, it's not really to be taken as a book
Ok, first of all this review refers to other reviews, it is, in a way, an answer to some mis-statements...

Now yes, this book is absolutely and delightfully hilarious, but no, it's not really a book.

This is a collection of articles Eco wrote in various magazines and newspapers. So it is to be judged as a selection of works...

So do not judge the lack of an over-riding theme, because this is just a collection of essays, but it's the best collection I've ever come across in my life.

So read it, laugh with it, and love it.

Wit, insight, and marvellous language
"How to Travel With A Salmon" is ideal for those who want to get a glimpse of Eco's erudition and unfailing wit without having to tackle the sheer -and sometimes overwhelming - intellectual density of his novelistic work. The manner in which these essays portray everyday situations and absurdities, ruthlessly undermine academia, and mercilessly demolish the merits of modernity, is subversive humour at its very best. When I read it in the park I was laughing so hard, I had about 20 pairs of eyes on me, and what's best: I didn't even care.

Sharp, but not as sharp as he thinks
Eco has obviuosly been highly praised for his wit and observation, and this is born out by the self assured style of delivery in this collection of small pieces. The observations are very clever and in most cases have been thought out in depth and are set out with beautiful clarity, leaving the simple images lolling comfortingly in the warm lap of the reader rather than hounding with supercillious derision.

There's plenty in this book to laugh at, but there is surprisingly little that separates it from a decent observation based stand-up comedian; the format allows Eco to show that he is not just milking laughs out of the same material that Ben Elton might tread out; he adds from his own considerable store of knowledge and his analytical skill.

Although the subjects covered in this book are impressively varied, this may in fact be one of its flaws; its aim is far wider than that of the earlier celebrated Wits who might only have commented on their immediate social surroundings. Eco travels all around the world, and comments on everything from American Trains to Swiss Customs to Kafkaesque driving licence applications in Itlay, but one feels that if his aim had been kept sharper, perhaps limited to his native country, the wit may have been sharper than he thinks it is.

On the whole, though, if you are looking for intelligent, but easy to read and amusing observations this book is unlikely to disappoint, and is worth picking up