Umberto Eco’s The Role of the Reader is not just a dry academic text; it is a manifesto for intellectual engagement. It grants the reader power, but with that power comes responsibility.
An exploration of how repetitive narratives function in modern society.
Lucia went to Venice because the book had decided so. In the piazza she searched faces, corners, the cafés where scholars might sit, and the shadows of old columns. She showed the book to strangers, to baristas, to a pale man who claimed to teach semiotics. People smiled knowingly and then looked away. The city smelt of salt, pigeons, and old glue—the smell of printed paper warmed in sun.
