You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Listened as audiobook. Eco gets into raptures of annoying detail about unnecessary things and doesn't seem to know when to stop. Good story, but you have to suffer through various rants.
Oh what a tangled web we weave!
Like all great books this is about a lot of things. Like all great art this book has many layers. A philosophical, historical whodunit that's more than a philosophical, historical whodunit.
In the first paragraph we know everything we need to know:
"In the beginning was the Word..."
This book is about books...
"This [the Word] was in the beginning with God, and it was the duty of the devoted monk to repeat daily with chant-like humility the only unchangeable fact whose incontrovertible truth could be asserted. But videmus nunc per speculum et in aenigmate [1] and the truth, before we are face to face with it, manifests itself trace by trace (oh, how illegibly) in the error that is the world, so that we must spell out its veracious symbols, even there where they appear to us obscurely and almost weaved through by a will intent on harm." [2]
...it's about the importance of books, about the relation of books to reality, about reality in relation to books, about reality, about the importance of reality (among other things).
But wait, that's not really the beginning. That was just the prologue. First, there's a note by the author and a page declaring, "A manuscript, naturally". Here Eco tells us that he found (or was given?) this manuscript, which was a neo-gothic French translation of a 17th-century Latin edition of a work written in Latin in the 14th century by a German monk. Naturally, this book is Eco's Italian translation from the French.
So right away we know: the book itself is an interwoven web of stories and snippets, found and re-found, read and re-read, heard reheard and overheard...layers upon layers, stories upon stories...
And so we have a book about the search for truth, or at least a truth (whodunit?), about a book so important -- so dangerous -- that someone would be willing to kill for it (that's how important words are, that's how important stories are).
But the truth is not necessarily arrived at by rational means, or by "veracious symbols". We can get there "by mistake", by putting together the pieces of a different puzzle...
[1] Roughly, 'we see through a glass darkly.'
[2] My humble translation. If you want something more official go look on amazon ;-)
Like all great books this is about a lot of things. Like all great art this book has many layers. A philosophical, historical whodunit that's more than a philosophical, historical whodunit.
In the first paragraph we know everything we need to know:
"In the beginning was the Word..."
This book is about books...
"This [the Word] was in the beginning with God, and it was the duty of the devoted monk to repeat daily with chant-like humility the only unchangeable fact whose incontrovertible truth could be asserted. But videmus nunc per speculum et in aenigmate [1] and the truth, before we are face to face with it, manifests itself trace by trace (oh, how illegibly) in the error that is the world, so that we must spell out its veracious symbols, even there where they appear to us obscurely and almost weaved through by a will intent on harm." [2]
...it's about the importance of books, about the relation of books to reality, about reality in relation to books, about reality, about the importance of reality (among other things).
But wait, that's not really the beginning. That was just the prologue. First, there's a note by the author and a page declaring, "A manuscript, naturally". Here Eco tells us that he found (or was given?) this manuscript, which was a neo-gothic French translation of a 17th-century Latin edition of a work written in Latin in the 14th century by a German monk. Naturally, this book is Eco's Italian translation from the French.
So right away we know: the book itself is an interwoven web of stories and snippets, found and re-found, read and re-read, heard reheard and overheard...layers upon layers, stories upon stories...
And so we have a book about the search for truth, or at least a truth (whodunit?), about a book so important -- so dangerous -- that someone would be willing to kill for it (that's how important words are, that's how important stories are).
But the truth is not necessarily arrived at by rational means, or by "veracious symbols". We can get there "by mistake", by putting together the pieces of a different puzzle...
[1] Roughly, 'we see through a glass darkly.'
[2] My humble translation. If you want something more official go look on amazon ;-)
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
I've been keeping a little inventory of books that misuse and abuse the word palimpsest. It is, in my opinion, a bit of a trap of a word - arcane yet evocative, strange sounding with a compelling meaning that is particularly so for authors; what is more authorial than burying one layer of meaning behind another? And so it seems extraordinarily common for authors to shoe in the word where it is not appropriate, either through blatant misuse (I'm looking at you, [b:The Traitor Baru Cormorant|23444482|The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade, #1)|Seth Dickinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422463936l/23444482._SY75_.jpg|43007917]) or just like a bit of a stretch (it is not necessary to refer to dirty whiteboards as palimpsests, [b:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|58784475|Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|Gabrielle Zevin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1636978687l/58784475._SY75_.jpg|89167797]). Also, to [a:Homi K. Bhabha|109492|Homi K. Bhabha|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1289456153p2/109492.jpg], palimpsetical is most definitely not a word that needs to exist.
Anyways, The Name of the Rose is somewhat likely in my opinion to have the only justified use of the word in modern literature. A murder-mystery built around arcane hermeneutics in a labyrinth in a library in a monastery at the crux of an exegetical crisis. The perfect excuse to use weird old words that otherwise gather dust at the back of your mind. It is also I think just a pretty good book in general, even if you aren't all about pretentious word usage.
Anyways, The Name of the Rose is somewhat likely in my opinion to have the only justified use of the word in modern literature. A murder-mystery built around arcane hermeneutics in a labyrinth in a library in a monastery at the crux of an exegetical crisis. The perfect excuse to use weird old words that otherwise gather dust at the back of your mind. It is also I think just a pretty good book in general, even if you aren't all about pretentious word usage.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is simply phenomenal!.
So cleverly written and thought provoking. Dense yet incredibly rewarding.
For a week I was living in 1327 in an abbey in Italy, I was so lost in this world.
Adso is endearing and William, mind-blowing. Jorge? I have no words. I wonder what he would say to the standup comedy industry :)
An exceptional read, one I am not going to forget anytime soon.
“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...”
So cleverly written and thought provoking. Dense yet incredibly rewarding.
For a week I was living in 1327 in an abbey in Italy, I was so lost in this world.
Adso is endearing and William, mind-blowing. Jorge? I have no words. I wonder what he would say to the standup comedy industry :)
An exceptional read, one I am not going to forget anytime soon.
“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 only followed about 60% of what was going on, mainly plot. Most of the literary and religious references went straight over my head. However, the plot was better than any soap opera, so the book was still engaging for the less learned.
challenging
informative
mysterious
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
Common problem with these types of stories: the buildup is great and the filler has some interesting points, but the ending just doesn’t live up to expectations.
Read it for the esoteric theological debates, not for the murder mystery.
Read it for the esoteric theological debates, not for the murder mystery.