Eco: Foucalt's Pendulum by eco foucault (ebook smartphone .txt) 📕

teeth. However, he doesn't have all thatmuch packing to do. Normal publishers ship to booksellers, butLuciano ships only to authors. Manutius isn't interested inreaders...The main thing, Signer Garamond says, is to make sure theauthors remain loyal to us. We can get along fine withoutreaders."

Belbo admired SignorGaramond. He felt the man possessed a strength that he himselflacked.

The Manutius system isvery simple. A few ads are placed in local papers, professionalmagazines, provincial literary reviews, especially those that tendto survive for only a few issues. Medium-size announcements, with aphotograph of the author and a few incisive lines: "A lofty voicein our nation's poetry," or "The latest narrative achievement bythe author of Floriana and Her Sisters."

"At this point the netis cast," Belbo explained, "and the SFAs fall into it in clumps, ifyou can fall into a net in clumps."

"And then?"

"Well, take DeGubernatis for example. A month from now, as our retired customsofficial writhes with anxiety, a call from Signer Garamond willinvite him to dinner with a few writers. They'll meet in the latestArab restaurant: very exclusive, no sign outside, you ring the belland give your name through a peephole. Deluxe interior, softlights, exotic music. Garamond will shake the maitre d's hand, callthe waiters by name, and send back the first bottle of wine becausethe vintage isn't right. Or else he'll say, ¡¥Excuse me, oldfriend, but this isn't couscous the way we eat it in Marrakesh.' DeGubernatis will be introduced to Inspector X; all the airportservices are under his command, but his real claim to fame is thathe is the inventor and apostle of Cosmoranto, the language ofuniversal peace now being considered by UNESCO. There's alsoProfessor Y, a remarkable storyteller, winner of the Petruzzellisdella Gattina Prize in 1980, but also a leading figure in medicalscience. How many years did you teach, Professor? Ah, those wereother times; education then was taken seriously. And finally, ourcharming poetess, the exquisite Odolinda Mezzofanti Sassabetti,author of Chaste Throbs, which you've surely read."

Belbo told me that hehad long wondered why all female SFAs used a double surname:Lauretta Solimeni Calcanti, Dora Ar-denzi Fiamma, CarolinaPastorelli Cefalu. Why was it that important women writers had justone surname (except for Ivy Compton-Burnett) and some (likeColette) had none at all, while an SFA felt the need to callherself Odolinda Mezzofanti Sassabetti? Perhaps because realwriters wrote out of love of the work and didn't care whether theywere known¡Xthey could even use a pseudonym, like Nerval¡Xwhereasan SFA wanted to be recognized by the family next door, by thepeople in her neighborhood, and in the neighborhood where she usedto live. For a man, one surname is enough, but not for a woman,because there are some who knew her before her marriage and somewho only met her afterward. Hence the need for two.

"Anyway," Belbo went on,"it is an evening rich in intellectual experiences. De Gubernatiswill feel as if he's drained an LSD cocktail. He'll listen to thegossip of his fellow-guests, hear a tasty anecdote about a greatpoet who is notoriously impotent, and not worth that much as a poeteither. He'll look, eyes glistening with emotion, at the latestedition of the Encyclopedia of Illustrious Italians, which Garamondwill just happen to have on hand, to show Inspector X theappropriate page (You see, my dear friend, you, too, have enteredthe pantheon; ah, it is mere justice)."

Belbo showed me theencyclopedia. "Just an hour ago I was preaching at you, but nobodyis innocent. The encyclopedia is compiled exclusively by Diotalleviand me. But I swear we don't do it just for the money. It's one ofthe most amusing jobs there is. Every year we have to prepare anew, updated edition. It works more or less this way: you includean entry on a famous writer and an entry on an SFA, making surethey're in alphabetical proximity. And you don't waste space on thefamous name. See, for example, under L."

LAMPEDUSA, GiuseppeTomasi di (1896-1957). Sicilian writer. Long ignored, achieved fameposthumously for his novel The Leopard.

LAMPUSTRI, Adeodato(1919- ). Writer, educator, veteran (Bronze Star, East Africa),thinker, novelist, and poet. Looms large on the contemporaryItalian literary scene. Lampustri's talent was revealed in 1959with the publication of The Car-massi Brothers, volume one of atrailblazing trilogy. Narrated with unrelenting realism and noblepoetic inspiration, the novel tells of a fisherman's family inLucania. The Carmassi Brothers won the Petruzzellis della GattinaPrize in 1960 and was followed a few years later by The Dismissedand Panther Without Eyelashes, both of which, perhaps even morethan the author's initial work, exhibit the epic sweep, thedazzling plastic invention, the lyrical flow that distinguish thisincomparable artist. A diligent ministry official, Lampustri isesteemed by those who know him as a man of upright character, anexemplary father and husband, and a stunning publicspeaker.

"De Gubernatis," Belboexplained, "will want to appear in the encyclopedia. He's alwayssaid that the fame of the famous was a fraud, a conspiracy on thepart of obliging critics. But, chiefly, he will want to join afamily of writers who are also directors of state agencies, bankmanagers, aristocrats, magistrates. Appearing in the encyclopedia,he will expand his circle of acquaintances. If he needs to ask afavor, he'll know where to turn. Signor Garamond has the power tolift De Gubernatis out of the provinces and hurl him to the summit.Toward the end of the dinner, Garamond will whisper to him to dropby the office the next morning."

"And the next morning,he comes."

"You can bet on it.He'll spend a sleepless night, dreaming of the greatness ofAdeodato Lampustri."

"And then?"

"Garamond will say tohim: ¡¥Yesterday, I didn't dare speak¡X it would have humiliatedthe others¡Xbut your work, it's sublime. Not only were the readers'reports enthusiastic¡Xno, more, favorable¡Xbut I personally spentan entire night poring over these pages of yours. A book worthy ofa literary prize. Great, really great.' Then Garamond will go backto his desk, slap the manuscript¡Xnow well worn by the lovingattention of at least four readers (rumpling the manuscripts isSignora Grazia's job)¡Xand stare at the SFA with a puzzledexpression. ¡¥What shall we do with it?' And ¡¥What shall we dowith it?' De Gubernatis will ask. Garamond will say that the work'svalue is beyond the slightest dispute. But clearly it is