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I thought that bit was rather cringeworthy actually.. I sort of huffed and thought that if anyone tried that kind of chat with me I'd probably thump them. I did think it was a bit rough on Casaubon to have Amparo change her mind about their (previously apprently entirely satisfactory) relationship as a result of hre experience at the umbanda. I also felt that the character of Amparo was treated quite badly in a way - introduced into the narrative solely to make the point that even intelligent women can't control their bodies (and she is probably only a black woman so that this can be seen as some kind of native spirit thing - witness the German woman who cannot achieve the state of possession). When Casaubon is affected by the umbanda, his response is primarily intellectual... I thought that episode was a bit dodgy. Mind you, Eco is not very good at women, if you ask me...
... see also Lorenza Pellegrini, who seems to be some sort of take on the virgin/whore dichotomy. And she is mean to Belbo, and I like Belbo... though Eco seems to be flagging Belbo's problems with women, and this may well be important later on (the whole Dr Wagner episode which Casaubon finds on Abulafia springs from Belbo's love-life, f'rexample).
Going up to p. 300, this is where we get the brilliant description of the SFAs at Manutius, and Signor Garamond's great idea of the series of occult and hermetic texts. Every time I see a small ad saying 'Authors! We publish your manuscripts!' I shall be thinking of Manutius, and every time I go into a remainders bookshop I'll think of Garamond's illustrated history of metals - genius. I also like dthe ludicrous dispute between Bramanti and the Frenchman which Belbo, Diotallevi and Casaubon overhear when they visit Aglie, and Aglie's numerology and knowledge of the weird stuff the authors keep coming out with - the Egyptians knowing about electricity, and so on.
I am so intrigued by the multiple narrative strands and how it is all going to fit togehter in the end.
The Sefirot - there's usually a little bit, no more than a paragraph, at the end of each section, which says something about each one and sometimes how they follow on from each other, and it sort of describes the progression of Casaubon's story. So, at the end of the section 'Hesed', where Amparo is about to be possessed by the spirit, Eco writes:
'Now I know that Hesed is not only the Sefirah of grace and love. As Diotalevi said, it is also the moment of expansion of the divine substance, which spreads out to the edge of infinity. It is the care of the living for the dead, but someone must also have observed that it is the care of the dead for the living.'
... which fits in with the section, all about his relationship with Amparo, and about the umbanda and the candomble, as well as the narrative in general. I think. |
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