On the shoulders of giants

Umberto Eco's latest volume of essays, compiled after his death, contains twelve writings, the so-called He wrote on the occasion of the Milanesiana festivals and read them at these festivals held annually in Milan from 2001 to 2015. Since 2008, the Milanesians have always been organized around a single theme, such as beauty, ugliness, fire, the absolute, the invisible, the conspiracy - not one of which Eco himself suggested to the organizers. The title essay dissects the literary and philosophical, cultural and social aspects of the struggle of the generations from antiquity to modernity: "The ancients were, of course, vast in comparison to us; "like them" - the author quotes the classic aphorism, and at the same time raises the question of what perspective the future holds for us: will the dwarves be forced into the necks of dwarves, or will new, hitherto unknown giants appear? The writings in this posthumous volume also carry Eco's distinctive approach, being a Renaissance man, his wit, his sparkling style, his humor, his disarming elegance.