# Umberto Eco Dead at 84
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 20, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596 "2016-02-20T01:25:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/1 "2016-02-20T01:25:35Z")
Story [here](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35620368).
_The Name of the Rose_ is one of my favorite books.
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### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/2 "2016-02-20T01:26:24Z")
Aw, sorry to hear. RIP.
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### Author:  [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/3 "2016-02-20T06:04:17Z")
Aw dang. Umberto Eco was one of my favorite writers. I still re-read _Baudolino_ occasionally. I always loved his erudition and dry wit, and the depth and vividness he gave to historical fiction. He wrote the kind of stuff Dan Brown wished he could write – as Eco himself said, Dan Brown was just a character from _Foucault’s Pendulum!_ 😃
EDIT: I guess that means that, now that Eco has passed on, Dan Brown will evaporate.
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### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/4 "2016-02-20T10:05:32Z")
This is embarrassing, but I didn’t realize he was still alive. :smack:
I really enjoyed _The Island of the Day Before_. I’ve also read _Foucault’s Pendulum_ and _The Name of the Rose._ I need to re-add him to my library list.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/5 "2016-02-20T11:02:21Z")
Nearly simultaneous thread here:
> **[Sad News: Umberto Eco died](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=784611)**
>
> According to the BBC I will always remember him as the writer of the adult version of the “Da Vinci Code” (aka Foucault’s Pendulum) May he rest in peace.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/6 "2016-02-20T15:38:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> Nearly simultaneous thread here:
>
> [Sad News: Umberto Eco died - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=784611)
I e-mailed a Mod to merge the threads, but no luck so far. ☹
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### Author:  [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/7 "2016-02-20T17:37:24Z")
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. _Foucault’s Pendulum_ was probably the biggest shaper of my world-view.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umberto-eco-dead-at-84/746596/8 "2016-02-22T01:54:09Z")
I enjoyed the first half of _Foucault’s Pendulum_ but felt it fizzled out in the second half. _The Name of the Rose_ is one of the best books of the 20th century.