{"product_id":"on-the-shoulders-of-giants-9780674240896","title":"On the Shoulders of Giants","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA posthumous collection of essays by one of our greatest contemporary thinkers that provides a towering vision of Western culture.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn Umberto Eco's first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Name of the Rose, \u003c\/i\u003e Nicholas of Morimondo laments, \"We no longer have the learning of the ancients, the age of giants is past!\" To which the protagonist, William of Baskerville, replies: \"We are dwarfs, but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants, and small though we are, we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn the Shoulders of Giants\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of essays based on lectures Eco famously delivered at the Milanesiana Festival in Milan over the last fifteen years of his life. Previously unpublished, the essays explore themes he returned to again and again in his writing: the roots of Western culture and the origin of language, the nature of beauty and ugliness, the potency of conspiracies, the lure of mysteries, and the imperfections of art. Eco examines the dynamics of creativity and considers how every act of innovation occurs in conversation with a superior ancestor. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn these playful, witty, and breathtakingly erudite essays, we encounter an intellectual who reads comic strips, reflects on Heraclitus, Dante, and Rimbaud, listens to Carla Bruni, and watches \u003ci\u003eCasablanca\u003c\/i\u003e while thinking about Proust. \u003ci\u003eOn the Shoulders of Giants\u003c\/i\u003e reveals both the humor and the colossal knowledge of a contemporary giant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMcEwen, Alastair:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Alastair McEwen is an award-winning literary translator. After nearly forty years in Italy he now lives in his native Scotland.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEco, Umberto:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Umberto Eco (1932-2016) was an internationally acclaimed writer, philosopher, medievalist, and professor, and the author of the best-selling novels \u003ci\u003eFoucault's Pendulum\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Name of the Rose\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Prague Cemetery\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as children's books. His numerous nonfiction books include \u003ci\u003eConfessions of a Young Novelist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSix Walks in the Fictional Woods\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Open Work\u003c\/i\u003e (all from Harvard). He was a recipient of the Premio Strega, Italy's highest literary prize; the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities; and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the government of France.","brand":"Belknap Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50514296406290,"sku":"9780674240896","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9271d7cb-6046-427a-91e4-605900981c47.jpg?v=1730978409","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/on-the-shoulders-of-giants-9780674240896","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}