Vous voulez voir cette page en fran�ais ? Cliquez ici.

9 used & new from CDN$ 7.66

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (Audio CD)

by Umberto Eco (Author), Geoffrey Brock (Translator)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

7 new from CDN$ 7.89 2 used from CDN$ 7.66

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Foucault's Pendulum

by Umberto Eco

3.9 out of 5 stars (291) CDN$ 14.24

Baudolino: A Novel

by Umberto Eco

4.0 out of 5 stars (70) CDN$ 12.41

Name of the Rose

by Umberto Eco

4.6 out of 5 stars (201) CDN$ 15.42

The Island Of the Day Before

by Umberto Eco

3.4 out of 5 stars (80) CDN$ 12.41

History of Beauty

by Umberto Eco

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 32.76

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Audio CD
Publisher: Recorded Books (June 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1419343890
ISBN-13: 978-1419343896
Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 14 x 5.1 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #1,420,443 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Guidall gives a polished, Masterpiece Theatre–worthy sheen to Eco's odd, funny tale of Yambo, a man who discovers that while remembering the plots and details of all the books and films he's ever read or seen, he has no recollection of his own life or his name. His sonorous tones are soothing, lending Eco's prose a certain hushed aura, but there is something strangely off about the marriage of the Italian author's intellectual mystery story and Guidall's rolling British cadences. It is as if Guidall's Oxbridge enunciation were thought necessary to gussy up Eco's novel, something it is distinctly not in need of. Overemoting, Guidall turns Yambo into a ham actor rather than a slightly comic figure befuddled by a world full of mysterious and alluring signs. Guidall does do a solid job capturing the quicksilver changes in emotional temperature of the volatile protagonist, who is unable to comprehend the confusing new world he finds himself in. Even in this, though, Guidall is more like an actor professing befuddlement than someone actually finding himself disoriented by his mind's empty spaces.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile

Giambattista "Yambo" Bodoni awakens in a hospital with no personal memories. The sixtyish Milanese rare book dealer can recite every book passage or line of poetry he's ever read, but he cannot recognize his wife, his daughters, or even his own name. AUDIOFILE Golden Voice George Guidall puts an exotic edge in his voice as he narrates the story of Yambo's search through his grandfather's attic for the memories of his childhood, war, and early love. Missing from the audio are the 200 or so illustrations--photographs, comic strips, magazine covers, and advertisements--that Yambo uses to restore his memories. Guidall's melodic, well-paced reading and Eco's magical writing guide the listener so well that the illustrations are hardly missed. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

See all Product Description

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	77% buy the item featured on this page: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
	18% buy Name of the Rose 4.6 out of 5 stars (201) CDN$ 15.42
	5% buy Foucault's Pendulum 3.9 out of 5 stars (291) CDN$ 14.24

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Accessible Eco as Graphic Novelist, Jul 15 2006

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Mysterious Flame Of Queen Loana: An Illustrated Novel (Paperback)

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana is a side of Umberto Eco that you haven't seen before . . . and I think you will like it . . . especially if you found the references in The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum to be a little too much for you.

The book's premise is much like that of The Arabian Nights, an excuse to introduce an interesting story teller who unravels a fascinating tale that could go on endlessly. In this case, the device is a stroke which causes Yambo to lose his memory of most everything (including his name) except what he has read. Recuperating from his stroke, Yambo receives hints from his wife and best friend about what he's like . . . and discovers that he has a weakness for the ladies. What does that mean about his relationship with his beautiful, young assistant?

Soon frustrated by his memoryless life in Milan, Yambo goes back to his childhood home to see if anything there resurrects any memories. He discovers a house and attic full of the past through which he relives the history of Italians his age. Later, a second stroke restores his memory, and he relives his life as it happened . . . with a little fantasy attached.

It's a witty commentary on the vacuity of the "official" record of our times to see how little of Yambo's life the effects of his life captured.

For those who aren't Italian, the book offers deep and thoughtful look at what it meant to live in Italy under the Fascists. At times, it seemed like the musical comedy version of Gunter Grass's books about Nazi Germany.

The book dazzles most, however, with its many full color illustrations from books, magazines, posters and other cultural icons. These images make the mental pictures conjured up by Eco's words stronger and more lasting. Be sure to check out the section on sources of citations and references that begin on 451. These details will add to your enjoyment of the illustrations.

As I read the book, I wished that I knew a few more languages (especially German and Italian), but most of the references were either easy to appreciate or covered in context by another reference that I understood. Naturally, some Ph.D. student will write a dissertation that firmly fixes all of the references, but that will be too stuffy to read for this breezy, charming effort.

What is life? What is memory? What is reality? These fundamental questions are all beautifully addressed in both sublime (images of perfect love) and the mundane (relieving oneself among the vineyard rows.

It's great fun, and I highly recommend this book to you. It's the high brow's perfect beach read!

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars spell-binder, Jan 27 2007

By	Shemogue (New Brunswick) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana: An Illustrated Novel (Hardcover)

There isn't much I can add that the previous reviewer hasn't already - and very eloquently -- written about this unusual book.

As a life-long reader & amasser of books, I knew by the time I reached page 30, I was hooked. The narrator, having lost his memory, returns home from hospital and is led by his wife to a long room crammed with books whose titles he recognizes & begins to examine:

"I have so many books. Sorry, we do."
"Five thousand here. And there's always some imbecile who comes over and says, my how many books you have, have you read them all?"
"And what do I say?"
"Usually you say: Not me, why else would I be keeping them here...As for the five thousand I've already read, I gave them away to prisons and hospitals. And the imbecile reels."

At last, thanks to Mr Eco, I have a snappy reply for the next person who says to me, what a lot of books you have, have you read them all...

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 2 customer reviews...