"Living by Proverbs" is by far the best of this lot. In the vein of Eco's penchant for discovering and philosophizing on lists, this essay at once summarizes an anonymous, rare pamphlet about a utopian community that attempted to live by proverbs and uses a list of the proverbs to delivery one of the cleverest essays I've ever read. As for the rest of the book, we mostly get a peek into the famous, vast home library of Italy's most renown scholar, which is more awe-inspiring and confounding (which, in one of the essays, is more Eco's point)thank enlightening or thought-provoking. ( )

But humanity has been unable to relinquish (even in part) its attachment to its own aromas, tastes, sounds, and tactile pleasures--and to relinquish producing fire through friction. Perhaps it should have left the production of fire to the gods, who would have given it to us only once in a while, in the form of a thunderbolt.

Lovely collection of late (2012) essays on a broad range of fascinating subjects. My favorites concerned Piero Camporesi, imaginary islands and navigation and the Fascist response to Ulysses.

I was unfamiliar with Camporesi but his work appears really interesting if ever so expensive. There are lovely asides to Carlo Ginzburg and Pope Benedict. There's also enough jabs at Berlusconi to ease us with the knowledge that the Trump administration wouldn't have surprised Eco in the least. ( )

A book of essays on topics ranging from literature to war. As with many essay books, this one is a mixed bag. Eco writes well, and his turns of phrase can be simply delightful, but some of his essays are, lets face it, of interest only to a limited audience - and not to the same limited audience for all the essays, which means most people are likely to find downsides. In addition, he has a bad habit of giving you several paragraphs of just lists. In addition, a couple of spots are flawed by his Italy-centric view, such as when he declares that no one is doing research on finding Atlantis. Then there are passages quoted in Latin or French untranslated; if this were written pre-WWII, this would be annoying but understandable. In a world where Latin is no longer required learning for all aspiring graduates, this is risky indeed. Overall, a decent book, but one that wore out its welcome too quickly - though the last essay was one of the est, so he was able to put on a surge and make it through the tape with some style. ( )

The Italian Master has composed a new Capriccio Italien. Inventing the Enemy. Essays by Umberto Eco is a refreshing and sparkling collection of essays, ranging over a very broad field.

Umberto Eco is a very productive author, particularly as regards non-fiction, although he is perhaps most famous for his novellistic work. His novels also rely heavily on deep intellectual and historical background research, as for instance The Prague Cemetery. The essays in Inventing the Enemy. Essays were all written over the past ten years, and should be considered as "occasional writings". Many of them are pieces written in the margin of, or perhaps preserving aspects of other works that were written over the same period. It is quite obvious that some of the essay are closely related to some of the books that Eco published in recent years, such as History of Beauty "On Beauty" (2004), and its companion volume, On Ugliness (2007) Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism (2007), and The Infinity of Lists (2009) (the publication dates are for the English translated editions). Some of the essays in this volume were presented as lectures.

The essays span many eras, from phenomena and ideas in the Middle Ages, to "Thoughts on Wikileaks", which is a much more interesting piece than one would at first glance expect, raising the question "how (...) a Power (can) hold out in the future, when it can no longer keep its own secrets?" It is a pity this essay was written before the Snowden revelations, and time will tell whether Eco has more to say about it, since.

"Inventing the Enemy" is an interesting and accessible essay into the deeply grounded feeling that "hideousness'' produces aversion, and thus, perceived or exaggerated ugliness lies at the basis of forming an image of an enemy. A much more philosophical debate is formed by the second essay, on "Absolute and Relative", which I had hoped, but did not completely answer some of my own ruminations on the "Universal and Relative". In my opinions, Eco preliminary conclusion that "the relative" or at least relativism "has become derogatory" (p.22) is a bit premature, although it is possible, and likely that the author here refers to the way these words are used in the Italian language. This is a point of criticism that I must make, namely that the English edition has come out very soon after the Italian edition, and that it seems, intentionally or unintentionally omitting to focus on or explain that many of Eco's concerns are very closely related to semiotics, language and culture of Italy in particular. Thus, it will be very hard to English readers to grasp exactly what is meant by "Berlusconi's use of the word communism" (Ibid.).

Likewise, the essay "Living by Proverbs" does not work in translation. It is obvious, that it must be brilliant in Italian, but in translation it copletely falls flat.

In July 2008, on the occasion of the 2008 Milanesiana Festival of Literature, Eco was asked to present a lecture on the theme of the four elements --fire, air, earth, and water. The result is the lecture, "The Beauty of the Flame", reducing the scope to observations only on "fire", describing fire as a divine element, including "hellfire", alchemical fire, fire as the origin of art, fire as an epiphanic experience, regenerating fire and fire as a destroyer in the section ekpyrosis today. The essay brings together a wide range of sources and ideas about fire in Western culture, as well as a translation of a fragment from the Buddha's "Fire Sermon".

The essay "Treasure Hunting" is about the hunt for relics, and readers need a strong stomach to take in the essay on "Fermented Delights" when it discusses how putrefaction contributes to the attraction of cheese and subsequent description following The Anatomy of the Senses (1995). This essay also contains the fabulous sentence, reading that "remote centuries were peopled by bands of vagrants, and (...) fake monks, charlatans, rogues, swindlers, beggars and ragamuffins, lepers and cripples, peddlers, tramps, ballad singers, itinerant clerics, scholar gypsies, cardsharps, jugglers, maimed soldiers, wandering Jews, madmen, fugitives, convicts with docked ears, or sodomites.

While literature is quoted in many of the essays, there are a few essays which particularly deal with literature, particularly French literature, such as the long essay on Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. The essays "Imaginary Astronomies" discusses several, now obsolete theories, about the shape of the universe and composition of the world, many of which have found their way into various science-fiction novels, written over the past 200 years.

Inventing the Enemy. Essays is a wonderful collection of essays that will form an intellectual diversion to many readers. As mentioned above, some aspects of the essays are not completely successful in the English translation, and particularly the essay "Living by Proverbs" might as well have been left out. Some parts of the text were a bit confusing suggested poor translation (p. 70 ff.) and in some cases the translator or editor could have been a bit more helpful. For instance, on page 109, it will be clear to all Italian readers, but not to readers of the translation that I promessi spossi is written by Manzoni and either the author name, and or English translation of the title should have been included in the text. On page 101 The Man who laughs appears without italicization, but it does appear in italics on page 110, which could be confusing, as to what it refers to. Furthermore, it is not clear why for The Man who laughs the English title is used, while Les miserables is referred to using the French title. But these are minor ommissions, and on the whole, Inventing the Enemy. Essays is a wonderful and inspiring collection of essays. ( )

A good volume of wide-ranging essays on everything from Wikileaks to the excesses of Victor Hugo to the literary allure of islands and the saintly treasures housed in various European cathedrals. Very enjoyable to dip into and out of as the mood strikes. ( )