# Sad News: Umberto Eco died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597 "2016-02-20T01:34:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/21 "2016-02-22T03:12:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I hadn’t even realized he was still alive. > > And I couldn’t get through _Focault’s Pendulum_ (there’s only so much I can tolerate being inside a crazy man’s head), but I loved _The Name of the Rose_. I was talking about this novel with a friend who also couldn’t get through it. The trick I think is to skip all the Paris bit at the beginning, and start with Casaubon’s first meeting Jacopo Belbo in Pilade’s. If you read the story from there, and go back to the beginning after Casaubon gets Belbo’s call from Paris, you can better understand what he witnesses in the museum and his subsequent psychotic break. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/22 "2016-02-22T17:21:15Z")
So few writers any more give us books that we have to work to master, but that are well worth the effort when we do. Eco did give us such works and he will certainly be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/23 "2016-02-22T17:32:21Z")
I haven’t read _Numero Zero_ yet but I’ve read all the rest of his novels and he was truly one of my favorite authors. His first two novels are his best but I think _The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana_ gets unfairly overlooked. I’d recommend it if you liked his first two. I’m curious now how much unpublished work he’s left behind. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/24 "2016-02-22T17:57:21Z")
Oh noes! I never read his novels, but just a few months ago I wrote a thesis for college. His book, “How to Write a Thesis,” was extremely insightful, witty, and very useful to me. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/25 "2016-02-23T15:26:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > God fucking dammit! This year has been the _worst_! At least most famous names who died recently died old. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/26 "2016-02-23T17:05:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > At least most famous names who died recently died old. _shakes fist at Justin Bieber_ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/27 "2016-02-24T17:00:36Z")
My favorite of his short pieces: comparing computers to Catholicism/Protestantism/Kaballah. Dated of course, but easily updatable. [http://jowett.web.cern.ch/jowett/EcoMACDOS.htm](http://jowett.web.cern.ch/jowett/EcoMACDOS.htm) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/28 "2016-02-24T21:20:00Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My favorite of his short pieces: comparing computers to Catholicism/Protestantism/Kaballah. Dated of course, but easily updatable. > > [Umberto Eco's piece on Mac and DOS, Catholic and Protestant](http://jowett.web.cern.ch/jowett/EcoMACDOS.htm) That’s great! Thanks for the link. ETA: But where does an atheist fit in? Linux? ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597/29 "2016-02-25T00:27:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That’s great! Thanks for the link. > > ETA: But where does an atheist fit in? Linux? Almost. It would be Linus (Torvalds)/Dennis Ritchie or a similar person who rolls their own “scripture” with whatever idea they have in mind, using their own criteria to establish rules, etc. I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-news-umberto-eco-died/746597.md?page=1)