Reviews

The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco

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spiderman15's review

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adventurous challenging funny reflective

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

angela_king's review

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

ketutar's review against another edition

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5.0

Warning for animal abuse!

Umberto did it again... :-)

I wouldn't mark this as magical realism, because the only magic in it is what is in reality, the beauty of the world and universe and everything.

It is a story of a young man who got shipwrecked to rescue himself on another ship without a crew but filled with natural samples, like plants and birds. Umberto toys with the idea of that on the 180th latitude, an island just 10 meters away, is still in yesterday, while we are already in tomorrow.

It is a fascinating story filled with ideas, but also an adventure story reminding me of Alexandre Dumas' stories, with spies and Richelieu.

monsterburgee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a super slow book but I think it had to be for this story, that was the theme and atmosphere of the book. Since so much of the book was about the passage of time. I liked the weird main character. Also there was a ton of information in there.
Not my favourite book but I really appreciate it. Takes real skills as a story teller to write this book. 4/5