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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like I need to study latin and religion to truly understand this book. As it stands, it was interesting but I think I missed a lot of things (maybe I should have bought an annotated copy, if those exist, even)
Too slow in development for my tastes. The story isn't bad just plodding, maybe a bit over written.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
RIP brother Umberto!
this second reading of this book (i read it first back in the late 80s) was made all the more poignant by the death of the author.
what a splendid book. not an easy book by any means, but amazing nonetheless.
this second reading of this book (i read it first back in the late 80s) was made all the more poignant by the death of the author.
what a splendid book. not an easy book by any means, but amazing nonetheless.
I really wanted to like this one and stuck with it for longer than I would other books. It has some good moments of mystery and the scenes through the labyrinth etc are nicely done. I like William, who I consider the main character, even though Adso is the narrator. Even the main plot interested me.
The main problem for me is the book kept throwing in huge info dumps and theological/historical debates. It's filled with pages and pages of uninterrupted information about various sects, bishops and religious historical tidbits. After a while I started to skim these info dumps, picking out enough to carry on reading. The problem is, it's usually the characters themselves dumping all this information through their dialogue.
A secondary problem with the book is often the narrator (Adso) goes into huge detail while describing concepts like love and also in his description of physical objects. I wanted to reach into the book, grab Adso by his tunic and shake him. It's almost as if he goes into a weird trance while he experiences things. To us it's a pair of glasses. To Adso, it's a pair of glass lenses, each several millimetres in thickness set into a fine metal fork that sits upon the nose. To us, a character had sex and felt guilty about it. To Adso, that description requires something like 1000 - 2000 words.
I read fiction to entertain myself and although the book had some moments I appreciated, those moments were separated by long sections of info-dumping and needless description. If the book were 40 - 50% shorter, I would have enjoyed it.
The main problem for me is the book kept throwing in huge info dumps and theological/historical debates. It's filled with pages and pages of uninterrupted information about various sects, bishops and religious historical tidbits. After a while I started to skim these info dumps, picking out enough to carry on reading. The problem is, it's usually the characters themselves dumping all this information through their dialogue.
A secondary problem with the book is often the narrator (Adso) goes into huge detail while describing concepts like love and also in his description of physical objects. I wanted to reach into the book, grab Adso by his tunic and shake him. It's almost as if he goes into a weird trance while he experiences things. To us it's a pair of glasses. To Adso, it's a pair of glass lenses, each several millimetres in thickness set into a fine metal fork that sits upon the nose. To us, a character had sex and felt guilty about it. To Adso, that description requires something like 1000 - 2000 words.
I read fiction to entertain myself and although the book had some moments I appreciated, those moments were separated by long sections of info-dumping and needless description. If the book were 40 - 50% shorter, I would have enjoyed it.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Really thick with philosophical and theological debates in addition to the murder mystery so it is a little slower than other mystery novels but I still enjoyed it and learned a lot of interesting history about Christianity in the 1300s
Who would have thought that mystery and philosophy would be able to blend into a great novel. William and Adso are like the Holmes and Watson of the 14th century. I never thought I'd like this book, but surprised myself by really enjoying it.