Although the Norman Kemp-Smith version is a far superior one, the genius of Kant still comes through. This is literally the most important book ever written, wildly misunderstood and extremely difficult. I would recommend a good analytical philosophy course in order to make sense of it.

While this book falls short of being a masterpiece, it is an enjoyable and engaging story about an unusual character. What it lacks in characterisation, it makes up for in humour, emotion and surprise.

It is brilliantly written, and an absolutely worthwhile read.

This kind of book always lends itself so nicely to academic attack. It is easy to see its pitfalls as weak characterisation, pomposity and over-intellectualisation. In addition, it displays the remarkable intellect and virtuosity of Eco himself so well that one might be tempted to regard it as a tour de force of his intellect, rather than a novel.

With all this said, I believe this book is one of the masterpieces of fiction of the 20th century. Not only is it crammed full of riveting information from the most diverse sources imaginable, but it weaves it together in a spectacular web of intrigue. The reader is pulled endlessly along by a series of awesome revelations, always moving deeper into the mystery. The aim is to get the reader to buy into the lunacy of the plot premise, to believe its every turn, and to be able to substantiate it with hard evidence.

The ending is brilliant, providing one of the most valuable reflections on the meaning of complexity that I have ever read.

One can read this book on many levels, and indeed it is almost impossible to read it too deeply without a background in every conceivable area of academic study. Still, that really isn't the point. This book makes a philosophical statement that is every bit as profound as "I think, therefore I am" and is essential reading for anyone who questions the meaning of the world around them. It's also a lot of fun.

This is actually a really bizarre book, in that it is as much an autobiography of Dr Norman's experiences in his own home as it is about design. Dr Norman is like the Charlotte Bronte of engineering -- although appaerently trapped in his own little world, he manages to discover universal truths that are relevant way beyond it.

Don't be confused: this is a rather tiresome book to read, as Dr Norman evaluates the design and usability of taps, light-switches, telephones and door handles (lots of door handles), but in a cosmic sense, worthwhile.

In short: I am glad to have read it, even though the reading was pretty dull.

Contrary to some of the reviews posted here, I found the advice in this book very worthwhile. The first half makes a promising venture into the uncharted territory of navigation design for the Web, and is particularly good where the process of Web development is concerned. In many ways, I felt that chapter to be even better than David Seigal's superb book on the subject.

The second half is, as far as I am concerned, padding to make this book look bigger than it is. The analysis of sites like Amazon.com (yawn) and IBM (yawn) is deeply unenlightening, and pedestrian. The sites chosen are very 'missionary position', and there's not much more to be learnt than by just browsing them yourself.

Overall, I'd recommend this book for all Web architects, particularly experienced ones who will appreciate the lucidity of the first half. But purchase it knowing that it's a quick read that really only starts the project of illuminating the rules of navigation structures.

This book was clearly ahead of its time when it was written, and tackled some important issues. The focus on screen layout, browser technologies and other paradigm issues was, no doubt, of much assistance in its day.

This being said, the book is now almost three years old and -- for the Web -- that pretty much renders it irrelevant. It still focuses on Netscape 2.0 as a "next generation" browser and words like LiveScript are likely to baffle anyone who wasn't around in the good old days.

I would recommend the book to anyone who wanted a bit of a history of the Web, and some very basic initial guidelines as to the thinking and structures of the medium. But be warned: this book contains a <b>lot</b> of information that has changed, and should be followed up quickly with a book like "Secrets of Successful Websites" by David Seigal, which is infinitely superior.

As a conclusion, I believe it is quite irresponsible of the authors to leave this book as it is and not publish an update. This is not nearly as useful as it could be, and I'm sure many have purchased it and found it quite disappointing.