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marxxx's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Sexual content, Homophobia, Death, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Cannibalism and Excrement
iirreeaadd's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book is long and overwritten. I found myself skimming or simply skipping chunks of this book that were basically long lists of things that were not relevant to the plot of the book at all. Despite this, I found the core murder mystery plot of the book to be engrossing, as well as the reasons for it. I was able to finish the book fairly quickly and felt engaged throughout as I wanted to know what happens next. It's definitely a bit dense at points but overall I found it a good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Classism, Sexism, Violence, Torture, Murder, Misogyny, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Homophobia
wildflower09's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Didnt particularly like the motivation of th villain, but I guess it's understandable for 14th century Italy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Gore, Death, Murder, and Sexism
erebus53's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read this as book club read (specifically the two-monthly thick book). It was a book that I had heard the name of and I had heard was a "classic" but I really had no idea what I was getting myself in for.
This is a book that is.. weighty.. and verbose. It is full of smatterings of French, Latin, Italian Arabic and German (deftly and comprehendibly narrated in the Audiobook!) that don't have any subtitles or footnotes, so unless your Latin is top notch, it is advisable to arm yourself with a companion or glossary.
The story is historical drama meets murder mystery ..less cozy more cloistered. (All the monk stuff reminded me of reading Anathem.. though it is a vastly different book.) The inquisitors and the politics crafted a labyrinthine theoretical minefield that made me wonder how people could ever seek truth in a place where philosophy could be so dangerous. Power, control, and orthodoxy, and their interaction with piety, truth, honesty and love, are in constant antagonism.
Through this all is strung a lot of dark humour. Holmes-like deduction baffles people who are unaware of the underlying logic, and intellect is lauded, while at the same time it recurs that truth is often uttered by the foolish or innocent who don't have the guile to hold their tongues. Major theological arguments about charity and poverty (is it ethical for the church to own riches?), and the use of humour to convince the commoners to follow a righteous path (because surely if they aren't taking their Faith seriously, then they are destined for ruin), are battled over many chapters. A lot of dry sarcasm is employed in ironic exploration of the values of humour.
As people seem to be dropping dead in Shakespearean abundance, there is some discussion of the use of herbs and healing things for making poisons. The use of hallucinatory herbs is in there, and I felt less in over my head when the monks were talking about herbs, of which I had previous knowledge. Along with hallucinations, visions and dreams there are a lot of demonic descriptions, some of which come from Classical mythology. All that time I spent reading the Revelation of John and Rick Riordan's Demigods was not wasted, as some of those slightly more obscure monsters were also familiar to me. I was reallly impressed with the way the narrator related a ridiculous fever-dream / prophesy(?) filled with historical and biblical characters and familiar characters from the story, gabbling at a fairly constant patter. Comedic indeed!
Depictions of women in this book are ... 12th century monastic misogyny? The main character falls for someone and thinks it's love despite never having had a conversation with the object of his desire. Homosexual relationships are telegraphed quite early in the peace and decried by the monks. Not every coupling in the story (none of which are particularly explicit, save maybe one(?)) is based in mutual consent, many being for payment or favours. Demonic visions get a bit bawdy and grotesque, as does the talk of bodily fluids.
I honestly think I would have never finished this if I was attempting to read it with my eyeballs, not just because I can only read in half-hour increments due to my eye injury, but just because it's lofty and dense and full of lengthy Latin quotes from other texts that I would have laboured over rather than getting an approximate understanding of. My Latin isn't super great, but it's not non-existent either.
I think the lumbering pace of the book knocks a star off. The mystery of it was not too taxing to figure out, and it was funny, but I won't be hustling to re-read it any time soon.
This is a book that is.. weighty.. and verbose. It is full of smatterings of French, Latin, Italian Arabic and German (deftly and comprehendibly narrated in the Audiobook!) that don't have any subtitles or footnotes, so unless your Latin is top notch, it is advisable to arm yourself with a companion or glossary.
The story is historical drama meets murder mystery ..less cozy more cloistered. (All the monk stuff reminded me of reading Anathem.. though it is a vastly different book.) The inquisitors and the politics crafted a labyrinthine theoretical minefield that made me wonder how people could ever seek truth in a place where philosophy could be so dangerous. Power, control, and orthodoxy, and their interaction with piety, truth, honesty and love, are in constant antagonism.
Through this all is strung a lot of dark humour. Holmes-like deduction baffles people who are unaware of the underlying logic, and intellect is lauded, while at the same time it recurs that truth is often uttered by the foolish or innocent who don't have the guile to hold their tongues. Major theological arguments about charity and poverty (is it ethical for the church to own riches?), and the use of humour to convince the commoners to follow a righteous path (because surely if they aren't taking their Faith seriously, then they are destined for ruin), are battled over many chapters. A lot of dry sarcasm is employed in ironic exploration of the values of humour.
As people seem to be dropping dead in Shakespearean abundance, there is some discussion of the use of herbs and healing things for making poisons. The use of hallucinatory herbs is in there, and I felt less in over my head when the monks were talking about herbs, of which I had previous knowledge. Along with hallucinations, visions and dreams there are a lot of demonic descriptions, some of which come from Classical mythology. All that time I spent reading the Revelation of John and Rick Riordan's Demigods was not wasted, as some of those slightly more obscure monsters were also familiar to me. I was reallly impressed with the way the narrator related a ridiculous fever-dream / prophesy(?) filled with historical and biblical characters and familiar characters from the story, gabbling at a fairly constant patter. Comedic indeed!
Depictions of women in this book are ... 12th century monastic misogyny? The main character falls for someone and thinks it's love despite never having had a conversation with the object of his desire. Homosexual relationships are telegraphed quite early in the peace and decried by the monks. Not every coupling in the story (none of which are particularly explicit, save maybe one(?)) is based in mutual consent, many being for payment or favours. Demonic visions get a bit bawdy and grotesque, as does the talk of bodily fluids.
I honestly think I would have never finished this if I was attempting to read it with my eyeballs, not just because I can only read in half-hour increments due to my eye injury, but just because it's lofty and dense and full of lengthy Latin quotes from other texts that I would have laboured over rather than getting an approximate understanding of. My Latin isn't super great, but it's not non-existent either.
I think the lumbering pace of the book knocks a star off. The mystery of it was not too taxing to figure out, and it was funny, but I won't be hustling to re-read it any time soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War
bookish_bry's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
First of all, despite my 5 star rating, this book really isn't for everyone. I myself have a degree in anthropology and enjoy reading rather dense books. It hit a perfect sweet spot for me as a reader, but if you are not one for philosophy, it likely is not a book for you.
This was honestly such a strange books at times and was often hilarious. Eco basically dropped a rather liberal stereotypical Sherlock Holms rip off into an abbey in 1327. The absurdity of the detective novel formula mixed with the setting and content often had me smiling in bemusement. (Which did fit well with one of it's major themes of humor.) If done poorly, the character of William existing in 1327 as a monk could have taken me out of the plot, but it was done very well here.
The mystery was well laid out and I managed to sus out some, but not all of the ending twist, which is the most enjoyable state to be in while reading a mystery novel for me. The events were well foreshadowed, but not in my face.
I really enjoyed the theme of signs throughout the book and I could probably write a research paper on the topic if I was still a student needing a topic for an English class.
"Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means." I will be thinking about the topics brought up in this book for a while.
This was honestly such a strange books at times and was often hilarious. Eco basically dropped a rather liberal stereotypical Sherlock Holms rip off into an abbey in 1327. The absurdity of the detective novel formula mixed with the setting and content often had me smiling in bemusement. (Which did fit well with one of it's major themes of humor.) If done poorly, the character of William existing in 1327 as a monk could have taken me out of the plot, but it was done very well here.
The mystery was well laid out and I managed to sus out some, but not all of the ending twist, which is the most enjoyable state to be in while reading a mystery novel for me. The events were well foreshadowed, but not in my face.
I really enjoyed the theme of signs throughout the book and I could probably write a research paper on the topic if I was still a student needing a topic for an English class.
"Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means." I will be thinking about the topics brought up in this book for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Antisemitism, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Cannibalism and Sexual content
There is sexual coercion mentioned.vmpyr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
4.75
I might change this to a five later I liked it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Suicide
It’s hard to say these things are *graphic* because everything is filtered through medieval sensibilities but they are graphic enough I think they need to be mentioned.devor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, Suicide, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Violence
nozomi's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Homophobia, Rape, Murder, and Misogyny
Moderate: Torture and Death
Minor: Suicide
lorechka's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I want to stab Umberto Eco.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
catapocalypse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
My feelings are very mixed about the book. As someone who enjoys a thick tome now and then, unfortunately I felt this one needed condensing. Some things were repetitive, including the few times things like the argument about poverty, the history of certain heretical groups (particularly those related to Fra Dolcino's movement), the argument about laughter, etc. came up. There were extended passages such as the dream/vision scenes that felt as if they were drawn out purely to flex Eco's knowledge of history, theology, and semiotics.
The mystery plot disappointed me on the whole. At the beginning, the narrator's mentor, William, performed a Sherlock Holmes-level deduction about an escaped horse. It set my hopes high, but William didn't operate at that level again in the nearly 600 pages that followed.
That said, I didn't hate the book, either. I appreciated the history and there were some compelling passages about books and knowledge I actually loved. I don't regret reading it, but I don't see myself picking it up again. I'd be willing to try more from Eco, but I'm going to need some time, first.
The mystery plot disappointed me on the whole. At the beginning, the narrator's mentor, William, performed a Sherlock Holmes-level deduction about an escaped horse. It set my hopes high, but William didn't operate at that level again in the nearly 600 pages that followed.
That said, I didn't hate the book, either. I appreciated the history and there were some compelling passages about books and knowledge I actually loved. I don't regret reading it, but I don't see myself picking it up again. I'd be willing to try more from Eco, but I'm going to need some time, first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death