by Umberto Eco, 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co., New York

While I read this book I kept thinking it was going to get better.  It didn’t.

I was interested in the book because it had to do with the Masons and their relation to the Catholic Church.  It was, rather, a book about a particularly despicable and bigoted character who lived in the 19th century and had a large role in spreading hatred of minorities and Jews in Europe.  In fact, at the end of the book he claims to have created the circumstances that will eventually lead to their elimination through the final solution.  Yuk! Also, the author sets the story against the backdrop of European history and requires the reader to have a fairly intimate knowledge of all the historical players.  Although I had quite a bit of European history in college, I have to admit I was lost a good deal of time, especially during the parts involving the Italian unification and Garibaldi.

What was good about the book:  The main character had a split personality and the dialogue between the two personalities was unique.  That was about it.

I guess I don’t understand how someone who once won the Nobel prize in literature can write a book that is so hard to like.