"(W)riting Is an Act of Love"

Sometimes, an author you don't always love can still give an interview well worth the reading.  Here is one such from Umberto Eco, with the Paris Review.

Image:  Wikimedia

(A) good book is more intelligent than its author. It can say things that the writer is not aware of.

I like the notion of stubborn incuriosity ...  You cannot be totally greedy.  You have to oblige yourself not to learn everything.  Or else you will learn nothing ...  For you and for me it is enough to know that Einstein proposed the theory of relativity.  But an absolute understanding of the theory we leave to the specialists.

To believe in the end of something is a typical cultural posture. Since the Greeks and the Latins we have persisted in believing that our ancestors were better than us. I am always amused and interested by this kind of sport, which the mass media practice with increasing ferocity.

It is not a quick read, but a fine one and well worthwhile.  Take a little time over a few days, maybe.  But savor it.  It's pretty good.