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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Ik vind De Naam van de Roos een bijzonder boek en ik snap goed waar het verhaal heen wil. Het taalgebruik is uniek — en verrassend genoeg niet eens zo zwaar als ik van tevoren had verwacht.
Toch ga ik hem DNF'en.
Niet omdat het slecht geschreven is, maar omdat ik er simpelweg niet ín kom. Het boeit me inhoudelijk minder dan gehoopt, en ik merk dat ik mezelf steeds moet aansporen om verder te lezen. Soms moet je gewoon accepteren dat een boek op dat moment niet bij je past — en dat is oké.
Wie weet geef ik het ooit nog een tweede kans, maar voor nu: gesloten, met respect.
Toch ga ik hem DNF'en.
Niet omdat het slecht geschreven is, maar omdat ik er simpelweg niet ín kom. Het boeit me inhoudelijk minder dan gehoopt, en ik merk dat ik mezelf steeds moet aansporen om verder te lezen. Soms moet je gewoon accepteren dat een boek op dat moment niet bij je past — en dat is oké.
Wie weet geef ik het ooit nog een tweede kans, maar voor nu: gesloten, met respect.
De eerste 100 blz waren lastig, maar daarna werd het boek alleen maar beter. Blij dat ik 'm gelzen heb. Minpuntje; al die Latijnse zinnen hebben voor mij geen meerwaarde, maakt het enkel lastiger om te lezen.
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was so brilliantly written, I didn’t think I could finish it when I first started but I think this has become one of my favourite books of all time! There is a lot of long philosophical and theological debates between characters that are somehow relevant to the plot? I like how everything ties together, can’t wait to reread this.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel is a sublime experience. It's a medieval monastic murder mystery, a religio-political thriller, a meditation on knowledge and the purpose of libraries, and much more. Settle in, read by candlelight, and step into 1327.
Highly recommended for those itching for great medieval historical fiction, and oddly enough, fans of the video game "Disco Elysium". Be sure to grab a used copy, you'll want to feel the weathered pages between your fingers.
Highly recommended for those itching for great medieval historical fiction, and oddly enough, fans of the video game "Disco Elysium". Be sure to grab a used copy, you'll want to feel the weathered pages between your fingers.
The novel grew on me in the final third. Honestly, I was underwhelmed by it until this point. After the fun wore off of Eco painting the medieval world of the monastery, I grew impatient, despite William B's discourses and the church heresy stuff. However, boy, the final third really got me. as the novel began deconstructing itself, becoming less about the solving "the mystery" (a la a detective novel) and more about intertextuality, semiotics, and Derridean deconstruction. Speaking of Derrida, is there a more Derridean novel out there? THERE IS NOTHING OUTSIDE THE TEXT. And (something like) text begets and refers to text. And (something like) there is no plot, only accident.
I mean, as such, the novel contains a literary bomb in its core, disguising itself in the garb of the late Middle Ages, only to blow up stories, narrative, and even the sentence-by-sentence act of deduction that is reading a novel. And all of this nestled inside the setting of a world, the standard view of which is that it contained a stable and unified view of the cosmology, that is supposed to be hermetically unified as it gets. So hats off, Umberto.
I mean, as such, the novel contains a literary bomb in its core, disguising itself in the garb of the late Middle Ages, only to blow up stories, narrative, and even the sentence-by-sentence act of deduction that is reading a novel. And all of this nestled inside the setting of a world, the standard view of which is that it contained a stable and unified view of the cosmology, that is supposed to be hermetically unified as it gets. So hats off, Umberto.
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
What a tedious and self-indulgent book. I can see how this would appeal to a specific audience, perhaps clones of Eco and the occasional masters student of Monastic Life and Extremely Niche Catholicism, but not me. I am not the target audience, though the blurb led me to believe I was. Murder mystery, antichrist, labyrinthine libraries, dangerous books, cold abbeys? Sounds fantastic. Count me in. It did have that for a bit--the first and last 100 pages or so. Everything in between was a mishmash of academic discussion, too much theological debate to be casual, and so many lists of literally anything Eco has niche knowledge on. It was charming at first. I did enjoy the whole insane chapter dedicated to the church door but when he started pulling the same trick over and over again it became taxing, like the majority of this book.
We follow William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso as they are called to investigate a series of murders in an Italian abbey. After a fruitless many days of only deducing that all the murders trace back to a mysterious book and a hidden section of the library, they finally unveil the master murderer who Eco earlier took great pains to dismiss as the main suspect - Jorge of Burgos (reference to Borges). Jorge reveals that there is no actual murder plot, just a series of coincidences that happen to reflect his apocalyptic view on the fate of the world. The ensuing fight burns down the precious library and the entire abbey. This could have been a 200 page book.
Heavyhanded in its metaphor and symbolism. The faithful became too greedy - with material wealth, knowledge, and overzealous faith - that it led to their doom. I accept that. I did like some things: the occasional humorous banter between William and Adso (You Teuton animal! You turnip!), the rich and inventive architectural descriptions of the abbey, and the love for books. However, this was few and rare in between, and I seriously hated reading this book so much I binge read it just to get it over with and move on with my life.
We follow William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso as they are called to investigate a series of murders in an Italian abbey. After a fruitless many days of only deducing that all the murders trace back to a mysterious book and a hidden section of the library, they finally unveil the master murderer who Eco earlier took great pains to dismiss as the main suspect - Jorge of Burgos (reference to Borges). Jorge reveals that there is no actual murder plot, just a series of coincidences that happen to reflect his apocalyptic view on the fate of the world. The ensuing fight burns down the precious library and the entire abbey. This could have been a 200 page book.
Heavyhanded in its metaphor and symbolism. The faithful became too greedy - with material wealth, knowledge, and overzealous faith - that it led to their doom. I accept that. I did like some things: the occasional humorous banter between William and Adso (You Teuton animal! You turnip!), the rich and inventive architectural descriptions of the abbey, and the love for books. However, this was few and rare in between, and I seriously hated reading this book so much I binge read it just to get it over with and move on with my life.