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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4 stars for The Name of the Rose
Plot = 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters = 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting = 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**SPOILER ALERT**
I enjoyed reading The Name of the Rose. The story is set in an Italian monastery in the early 14th century. A monk named William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso come to the monastery to investigate the death of one of the monks. The next day, another monk is found murdered and the next day another and William and Adso realize the murders are following the pattern of the 7 parts of apocalypse told in the Book of Revelations. As William and Adso get further into their investigation, they discover a deep, dark secret held in the labyrinthine library at the monastery.
The setting made the book for me. Eco accurately captured the time period ie, technology - William’s rudimentary eyeglasses and a compass made by William to help he and Adso figure out the labyrinth - and Eco also went into great detail of that period in the Catholic Church ie, the Pope was seated in Avignon as opposed to Rome and the church’s war on and expulsion of various popular heresy beliefs and heretical groups that were popping up - (most notably the belief that Christ and his apostles were poor and didn’t keep material property and whether the Church should do that too). The setting of place at the monastery was also very well done (especially the Aedificium) and the labyrinth in the library was fascinating. The element of time over the 7 days and how it was broken up into the daily offices worked too. I was just pulled in by the setting of the book and really enjoyed that part of it.
The plot left a little bit to be desired - the dialogue and the history of the various heresies got tedious for me. However, it did end up being a big part of the plot though so all that tedious part did pay off in the end.
Eco created a microcosm of the Church and the world as a whole in this story. Adso’s dream near the end of the book and the eventual burning of the library illustrated a larger idea that the Church’s (and the world’s) perpetual struggle is to find a common ground amongst a plethora of competing beliefs. The difficulty in any aspect of religion or life for that matter is weeding out the right from wrong and tying it all together to create something that concatenates.
Would I recommend this? This definitely isn’t for everyone - I can easily see how another reader would not like it - the plot moves too slowly in parts and gets bogged down by the heresy and Inquisition. If you like historical fiction (especially of the Catholic Church and the early 14th Century) that alone might make it enjoyable. I am not Catholic myself but found the whole story to be interesting because it was a time period and history I knew nothing about. The mystery portion taken by itself is worthwhile too so I would recommend it based on these reasons.
I would love to see the movie to see how it plays out on screen - Sean Connery plays Brother William!
Plot = 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters = 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting = 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**SPOILER ALERT**
I enjoyed reading The Name of the Rose. The story is set in an Italian monastery in the early 14th century. A monk named William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso come to the monastery to investigate the death of one of the monks. The next day, another monk is found murdered and the next day another and William and Adso realize the murders are following the pattern of the 7 parts of apocalypse told in the Book of Revelations. As William and Adso get further into their investigation, they discover a deep, dark secret held in the labyrinthine library at the monastery.
The setting made the book for me. Eco accurately captured the time period ie, technology - William’s rudimentary eyeglasses and a compass made by William to help he and Adso figure out the labyrinth - and Eco also went into great detail of that period in the Catholic Church ie, the Pope was seated in Avignon as opposed to Rome and the church’s war on and expulsion of various popular heresy beliefs and heretical groups that were popping up - (most notably the belief that Christ and his apostles were poor and didn’t keep material property and whether the Church should do that too). The setting of place at the monastery was also very well done (especially the Aedificium) and the labyrinth in the library was fascinating. The element of time over the 7 days and how it was broken up into the daily offices worked too. I was just pulled in by the setting of the book and really enjoyed that part of it.
The plot left a little bit to be desired - the dialogue and the history of the various heresies got tedious for me. However, it did end up being a big part of the plot though so all that tedious part did pay off in the end.
Eco created a microcosm of the Church and the world as a whole in this story. Adso’s dream near the end of the book and the eventual burning of the library illustrated a larger idea that the Church’s (and the world’s) perpetual struggle is to find a common ground amongst a plethora of competing beliefs. The difficulty in any aspect of religion or life for that matter is weeding out the right from wrong and tying it all together to create something that concatenates.
Would I recommend this? This definitely isn’t for everyone - I can easily see how another reader would not like it - the plot moves too slowly in parts and gets bogged down by the heresy and Inquisition. If you like historical fiction (especially of the Catholic Church and the early 14th Century) that alone might make it enjoyable. I am not Catholic myself but found the whole story to be interesting because it was a time period and history I knew nothing about. The mystery portion taken by itself is worthwhile too so I would recommend it based on these reasons.
I would love to see the movie to see how it plays out on screen - Sean Connery plays Brother William!
It lost me with a description of an artwork that went for many, many pages.
Primarily a mystery novel with other trappings (done well enough that I won't call them gimmicks), chiefly books/their power and theology/politics, all done pretty nicely and entertainingly. The atmosphere is created effectively, and not quite over-the-top, but still felt as a bit of an intrusion (which might just be that the setting is so long ago, and might be because so much conscious effort is put into making it seem so). Lots of good fun with dramatic moments, absurd hypotheses, life imitating art in-story, etc. Some parts dragged a bit for me, as there are a lot of extended portions of descriptive language not super integrated into the story, and fairly lengthy conversations/debates based on a very archaic notions, but overall it was well-paced and engaging. To me, not particularly remarkable beyond being a solid detective story with an unusual premise that added some nice features, but I enjoyed it.
This was a difficult read for me and highly challenging. The author, in this work tells the story of a 14th century monastery in Italy, the library has a volume of work which revealed could cause more divisions in an already divided Roman Catholic doctrine. The protagonist Friar/Father William is sent to this monastery to bring together the different fractions of the church together as a sort of liaison for the King of France with those loyal to the Pope. Upon arrival he is involved in solving a mystery of a monk who was found deceased under mysterious circumstances. The companion and narrator of the story is a young novice Adso. At times the discourse between the two reminds one of Holmes and Watson. I found the story albeit a interesting, intriguing murder mystery didn't flow because of all the theology that was woven into the work. However, the author by incorporating so much rhetoric (and it's clear that he is very well educated in church theology) in such a skillfully manner I cannot fault him. He conveyed to the reader that the church was fractured during this time, so many different points of view on church doctrine and interpretation of the Scriptures. The ending was not at all what I expected.
I want to reread some bits tomorrow but my reaction is "HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS AWESOME!!!". It was seriously a fun book and I loved every single second of it.
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really thought I was gonna like this book. A medieval monk murder mystery sounded right up my alley. But man oh man. The LISTS. They go on and on and on. Also, there is a terrific amount of foreign language text. Also, William is enjoyable but unbelievable as man too far ahead of his time.
Excellent!! I just finished it and I want and will read it again! :)
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced