The second time with Eco's work is every bit as entertaining and captivating as the first. More, I had a better appreciation for the intricate layering of historical fact and speculation and outright audacity in the connections and characters. Trying to make sense of the visions and revisions of diabolical narratives is not really the point (seductive as these are) but the semiotic slippage between languages and characterizations, between credibility and credulity, the elusive and allusive, remains the marvel for readers and perhaps for all who obsess over truth. Do the final narrative reflections seem a bit too pat, too expositional? Perhaps. But by the end, I was ready to forgive anything.