Mr. Eco is famous for his understatement, and for his subtle “piedmontese” humour: he wrote for years a column on the magazine L’Espresso analyzing Italian quirks and habits through his peculiar pop-semiological lense. Even his masterpiece, Il nome della rosa, portrayed the utterly tragic period of Italian terrorism behind the story of the cracking clerical power in the Middle Ages, and the hectic alternation of heresies and repression.

But the very idea of other 5 years under a Berlusconi-led government are too much even for his sense of humour and for his erudite love of witty metaphors and non direct references: here you can find his call to Italians, for next month’s political elections (sorry, only in Italian). Here’s the incipit:
“We are facing a dramatic appointment”.

When even Umberto Eco is not having fun anymore, it’s time to get really worried.