The Island of the Day Before

Rating:
Summary: One of the most disappointing books I have ever read.
Review: After reading The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum, I could barely wait to get my hands on The Island of the Day Before. However, I was sadly disappointed. Having read other books by Eco, many of the philosophical meanderings contained in the text were not unexpected. But unlike his previous works, many of the long-winded descriptions of philosophy, scientific thought and theology in this text felt out of place. Rather than contributing to the plot, as they did in Eco's previous novels, they simply served to slow down the pace of the novel and leave the reader trying to remember what the book was about in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: Prose Perfected
Review: Although Umberto Eco began wonderfully with "The Name of the Rose," "The Island of the Day Before" is truly his crowning achievement. There are few books where the prose so perfectly transcends the plot that the end result is the purified, refined pleasure of reading beautifully crafted writing. I found my self reading and rereading passages of no importance simply because the play of language was so immaculate. If you are looking for the mystery and excitement of "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum," look elsewhere, but if you want to read an example of the finest fiction this century has to offer, this book is as good as it gets.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to Eco's par...
Review: I found the premise of this book to be very intriguing! It made me very interested in the philosophical idea of the antipodes and the search for understanding longitude. In fact, if you have read Dava Sovel's "Longitude," many of the absurd methods Eco discusses in this book for possibilities to find longitude were actually mentioned in Sovel's book as being real. The race for longitude could be comparable to the race to harness nuclear energy.

Roberto's vivid imagination and his ability to make imagination reality is machinery that is used again in Baldolino, with better success. Like I said the premise of the book was great, and could have lead to a great book, but the ending was certainly lacking. By the end it did not have the momentum to go anywhere and therefore fizzled out into monotony. It is missing the great mystery that fueled The Name of the Rose through its last pages.

This book took me at least two years of periodic reading and it was by pure will to complete the book that I did finish it. And when I did, I felt that I had wasted my time. Stick to The Name of the Rose and Bauldolino instead.

Rating:
Summary: Outrageously Effective Sedative
Review: I read this book on recommendation of a respected friend, and had a keen interest in exploring the works of the well-regarded Umberto Eco. My surprise and disappointment in muddling through this book only deepened the further I got into the novel. As passionate reader and scholar of literature (and an accused "book snob"), I enjoy challenging books with gorgeous prose, philosophical themes and symbolism. However, I believe that these devices must rely upon, or at least accompany some semblance of a plot. I have to disagree with previous reviewers: "Plot" is not a superflous element of a novel!
If one wishes to purely engorge themselves in symbolism, philosophy, and aesthetic qualities, I would recommend some Yeats poetry, or a trip to an museum of fine art-- rather than spend hours trudging through such a novel as this. Interesting ideas, and beautiful writing, to be sure, but in my opinion not worth the effort. I literally had difficulty remaining conscious while reading this book (and that was before cocktail hour!).
Want a thought-provoking, challenging book that also tells a fine story? Try Brothers Karamozov, Anna Karenina, Lolita, or anything by Faulkner. If you prefer those type of books, The Island of the Day Before will likely be a misuse of your time.

Rating:
Summary: Not the usual fictional Eco
Review: It seems to me Eco's "The island of the day before" is a classic example of love it or hate it. Those who love it do so because of the beautiful prose, the interesting philosophical implications and discussions, and the unusual frame of mind of the characters. Those who hate it do so because of the difference between "The island of the day before" and Eco's other fiction books, "The name of the rose", "Foucault's pendulum" and "Baudolino". "The island..." seems more like an essay.

The book begins telling how Roberto della Grive became stranded in a deserted ship on the other side of the world, and what his mission there was. Two thirds of the story are a description of Roberto's early life, a war, his passage through Paris, a platonic love affair and a conversation with Cardinal Mazarino. The final third tells how Roberto, alone in the ship with the unreachable island across the 180º meridian in front of him, slowly looses his mental faculties, creating a new, imaginary life for himself and disussing with no one about the size of the universe and thinking if the moon is inhabited or not.

This book is a combination of historical fiction with philosophy class. But I think Eco would not be my favourite teacher. Sometimes he simply tires the reader with endless discussions about uninteresting topics. However, there's no denying "The island of the day before" is, for the most part, a good book, extremely well written and very beautiful. But it was not entirely for my taste, and I think Eco's other fictional books are better than this one.

Grade 8.1/10

Rating:
Summary: Put it off til tomorrow; and STILL do it today!!!
Review: The meaning behind the name of this book struck me about a quarter of the way through. Sometimes I forget titles while I read and just enjoy the contents. But this had so much significance to what the book was actually about, it stayed with me. Imagine; even if only 'imagined', the ability to swim to an island within your sight, and arrive in the prior day. Not too shabby, compared with most titles I see, and the meanings behind them.

But a clever title is not all to be found with this Umberto Eco novel. Theology; existentialism; lost language; and even one of my favorite words (discovered first while performing in 'The Pirates of Penzance); escutcheon.

Others criticize Eco on his meandering thoughts and ideas; on his half-truths/half-fictions; his playful use of alternate reality; and his obvious disregard for probability. I say 'what the heck are you reading Eco for, then?'

It took me four years of owning this book to read it. Prior to this, I could not do it. But now, with Name of the Rose and Baudolino under my belt, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, devouring it from cover to cover, and opening my mind to all that Eco has to offer...

Roberto, the 'hero' of the story, finds himself stranded on board the Daphne, a boat anchored just offshore an unreachable island. Without wind, without crew, and without a know-how of swimming, Roberto explores his new 'prison', having survived a shipwreck of the vessel Amaryllis.

Finding that he is indeed NOT alone on the boat, Roberto prepares to flush out the intruder and face him down. But what Roberto discovers is not quite what he set out to find.
The novel flows back and forth in time, as well as in and out of 'reality' as Roberto weaves a tale of his childhood and the invention of his dark twin Ferrante, who dogs him throughout his life, to the discovery of his lady-love, Lilia; to his induction as a spy for Cardinal Richelieu; to his arrival on the Daphne, and the education he receives there in mapping the latitudes and longitudes of the planet.

Like the other 2 Eco novels I have read, there is so much to be gleaned from the pages of this book...whether you enjoy the mingling of fact and fiction or not, for an avid reader like myself, willing to open my mind to flights of fancy...the challenge to your thought processes cannot be beat.

A wonderful read....and worth the wait to be able to accomplish it.

Rating:
Summary: Unique
Review: This book is very unique. It is my first Eco book, but I know that I will read others. Eco is an amazing author, with encyclopedic knowledge and a ready wit. Throughout the book, there are many memorable passages and one-liners.

The plot is sufficiently engaging to make it hard to put down. One of the most interesting aspects of this work are the tangents that provide interesting insight into the political, social, philosophical, and scientific/alchemical mindset of that era, as well as a few interesting historical narratives included along the way. The extensive use of a very broad vocabulary (which I can only assume is the translator's excellent version of an equally astounding vocabulary in Italian) and phrases in several other languages throughout the work challenged and fascinated me, aspiring etymologist and polyglot that I am.

My only disappointment was the breakdown of meaningful thought within the dreams of Roberto at the end (otherwise it would certainly be 5 stars), though the afterword was refreshingly clever.

Overall, this book is certainly worth reading. Highly recommended.