The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

The publication of Umberto Eco’s latest novel, The Cemetery of Prague, has created controversy in Italy. The criticisms are interesting, as they touch upon two themes that are particularly current in criticism these days – usually applied to less sensitive topics than antisemitism (which is prominent in the book): how to deal with the boundaries between the real and the fictional, and the need or otherwise to empathize with a novel’s characters. Additionally, the very public criticisms voiced by the Vatican backed Osservatore Romano newspaper, and the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni have raised eyebrows as well.

Eco, an academic, takes on freemasonry, conspiracy theories, forgery and the unification of Italy amongst other things in this latest novel, but at its core is anti-semitism and perhaps the most famous – and certainly the most pernicious – forgery in the world: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The main character of Eco’s novel, the fictitious* Simone Simonini, whom he describes as ‘the most hateful man in the world’, is a master forger in the employ of various secret services. Fueled by anti-semitism, he concocts the ultimate conspiracy theory, where a mythic meeting of the elders of Zion takes place in the Jewish cemetery in Prague, detailing their nefarious plan to rule the world.
It’s not the first time that Eco has examined conspiracy theories, or indeed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but this time the focus in particular on the most famous anti-semitic conspiracy theory, and his choice of a convinced anti-semitic protagonist has raised objections. I found it disturbing--both the text and the numerous lithographs that he includes in the book. it is just hard to read that much vitriol from a character and have it left unbalanced by anything else. There is no real opposing view--the reader is left to that job.