Umberto Eco (January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016) was a towering Italian intellectual: a medievalist, philosopher, semiotician (expert in signs and symbols), novelist, cultural critic, and professor.
He blended deep scholarly knowledge with accessible, often playful storytelling, making complex ideas about language, interpretation, history, and culture engaging for broad audiences.
His books have been a huge commercial success — over 50 million copies have been sold. The Name of the Rose published in 1980 is probably his most well known work. It was turned into a movie with Sean Connery.
An interesting facts about Umberto Eco:
Eco owned over 50,000 books. He famously defended owning far more books than one could ever finish, comparing it to not needing to use every tool in a toolbox before buying more. His collection was later donated to the University of Bologna.
His quotes on writing:
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“All the stories I would like to write persecute me. When I am in my chamber, it seems as if they are all around me, like little devils, and while one tugs at my ear, another tweaks my nose, and each says to me, ‘Sir, write me, I am beautiful.’”
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“To survive, you must tell stories.”
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“I think a book should be judged 10 years later, after reading and re-reading it.”
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“I am mimetic. If I write a book set in the seventeenth century, I write in a Baroque style. If I’m writing a book set in a newspaper office, I write in Journalese.”
I’m currently reading Foucault’s Pendulum so I did some searching on YouTube to find out more (as one does). I stumbled upon this video.
And this video struck me in a deep place. Umberto says that he can not understand novelists who publish a book every year. They lose the pleasure of spending six, seven, or eight years to prepare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMSOvDAyH5c
That started me on a thought journey about how writing is a gift to us personally. Often we’re looking for the results (I get it) and sometimes we can and want to rush the process.
Of course we want our books to be rich and deep. But sometimes our books are waiting on us to become rich and deep.
That can only happen by living.
So next time you want to get out the “cat of nine tales” and go in for a session of self flagellation, default to grace instead. There are often larger things at play than just a publishing contract.
We’re being transformed by our stories. Often we have to grow up into our stories in order to finish the job.
Time must pass. Seasons must change. We must improve and be stretched.
It’s not very glamorous and it’s not popular advice. But I’m talking about creating something that will resonate deep with readers — life changing literature, as one of my mentors used to say.
Yes, there is a need and a place for entertaining stories that can be written quickly, but don’t be afraid to work on the deeper ones too.
There’s such a temptation to think of yourself as less than when you see others getting all the contracts, and etc. But what if you have been tasked with a deeper work?
Stay the course.
Work on those stories that are calling your soul. Realize the importance of what only you can do.
And hey — I’m not judging you if you write a book every couple of months. Mostly I’m preaching to the choir here because my third novel has been sitting on my computer for ten years.
It’s the grace message. It’s the “you can do it” message.
Keep going.
I’m cheering you on.