The Island of the Day Before

This beautiful softcover edition is in fine condition, with no marks or tears and only minimal shelf wear. The pages are tight, appear unread, and the book is tight, square, and unmarked. The Island of the Day Before (L'isola del giorno prima) is a novel by Umberto Eco, published in 1994. A historical novel infused with philosophical themes, semiotics, and Eco’s signature playful intellectualism, it explores the boundaries between reality, time, and perception. The story follows Roberto della Griva, a 17th-century Italian nobleman who becomes stranded on a derelict ship near an island in the Pacific Ocean. Unable to swim, Roberto is trapped aboard the vessel, gazing at the island just beyond his reach. Set during the Age of Exploration, when European powers were racing to determine longitude, a key issue for navigation, the novel turns the island into a metaphor for time and unattainable knowledge, as it lies on the International Date Line, existing perpetually in the day before. A richly layered novel, The Island of the Day Before serves as a philosophical meditation on knowledge, time, and human limitation, inviting readers to question the nature of reality itself.