Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Still not able to react sanely to what I read over the month while going through this book. This book will go down as modern day classic.
fast-paced
I've been dreading writing a review for this book because it put me in the biggest slump. After spending more than a month finishing it, I can say that I only really enjoyed half of this book; the other half was extremely boring.
What drew me in to this book was the murder mystery element. Attempting to decipher the mysteries of the labyrinth or who was behind the murders was the most entertaining aspect of this book, and I enjoyed every moment of it. However, despite their intended purpose of immersing the reader in the story and providing background information, there were so many filler chapters with long philosophical and religious discussions that I had to force myself to skim through them quickly in order to avoid falling asleep.
I went into this book knowing that it would take a lot of mental effort to follow the characters' conversations, but some of the sentences were so long and unnecessarily complex that it made for an unpleasant reading experience. That explains why it took me so long to finish it.
I can at least say that the final resolution was really well done. The way it all ended was almost metaphorical. The darker tone created by all the murders was so well-planned, with the numerous lies and secrets spread throughout the abbey. There was a sequence to everything that culminated in an inevitable end.
3.75/5 stars
What drew me in to this book was the murder mystery element. Attempting to decipher the mysteries of the labyrinth or who was behind the murders was the most entertaining aspect of this book, and I enjoyed every moment of it. However, despite their intended purpose of immersing the reader in the story and providing background information, there were so many filler chapters with long philosophical and religious discussions that I had to force myself to skim through them quickly in order to avoid falling asleep.
I went into this book knowing that it would take a lot of mental effort to follow the characters' conversations, but some of the sentences were so long and unnecessarily complex that it made for an unpleasant reading experience. That explains why it took me so long to finish it.
I can at least say that the final resolution was really well done. The way it all ended was almost metaphorical. The darker tone created by all the murders was so well-planned, with the numerous lies and secrets spread throughout the abbey. There was a sequence to everything that culminated in an inevitable end.
3.75/5 stars
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Superb as audiobook!
I've first read it years ago and naturally remember nothing about it except a vague recollection of the library. I've obviously missed 100% of the theological and historical parts of this book at the time - now I feel like I am at least capable of grasping of what's on the page. But basically, to sum it all up:
A normal detective story is like this:
'Name of the Rose' is more like this:
You can clearly see it's still a chair. Like, very clearly (William of _Baskerville_ is surely an Easter Egg?). But it's, as they say, very extra.
I've first read it years ago and naturally remember nothing about it except a vague recollection of the library. I've obviously missed 100% of the theological and historical parts of this book at the time - now I feel like I am at least capable of grasping of what's on the page. But basically, to sum it all up:
A normal detective story is like this:
'Name of the Rose' is more like this:
You can clearly see it's still a chair. Like, very clearly (William of _Baskerville_ is surely an Easter Egg?). But it's, as they say, very extra.
This classic by a "slumming" Eco is much more than "just" a mystery. Very satisfying. Probably the prototype for the intellectual historical mystery, a mystery which also comes equipped with all the themes necessary in a modern novel.
This book was somewhat tough for me to get through. There were definitely moments where I was absolutely ready to just give up reading just because. But even though the longevity of this book was making it tedious to read, the story was intriguing enough to stay motivated. After I finished reading I looked the book up to find out a bit more about the themes and symbols behind it, and that definitely improved this book for me.
Remind me to reread it in a year, perhaps I’ll have a better opinion of it then.
Remind me to reread it in a year, perhaps I’ll have a better opinion of it then.
I suppose this means I have to get serious about Ulysses now. : X
Eco's novel is a wonderful, thoroughly-realized spin inside the heads of some monks at a 14th century abbey trying to solve a series of murders. I mean, really - inside their heads. Probably 1/5 of the book is dedicated to the young novice narrator's gaining a greater understanding of the political and religious conflicts gripping the Church at that time, and his own doubts about his spiritual sincerity and - let's say - inclinations to the carnal. Eco does impressive work in grounding his story - only partially a crime thriller, and the lesser part - in theology from the time. What makes some apostates heretics and others saints? Does religion need to be such a serious affair or can we enjoy our relationship to God? What are you demanded to do when your Church doesn't live by its principles? How much knowledge can we attain before we become impious?
Especially dazzling - and, if I'm being honest, occasionally frustrating - is how it can keep the reader in the dark for much of the page count about how these questions will ramify on the central mystery, whipping that veil off with a flourish at the book's climax. It's not hard to find a murder mystery that reveals a twist villain or forgotten, incidental Chekhov's gun of a clue - it's somewhat more impressive for your twist to make all of the book's challenges and theses cohere in 50 pages.
Highly recommended if you're interested in the off-topic warblings of Middle Ages clergy, ecclesiastical history in general, or labyrinthine libraries that confuse everybody who enters them.
Eco's novel is a wonderful, thoroughly-realized spin inside the heads of some monks at a 14th century abbey trying to solve a series of murders. I mean, really - inside their heads. Probably 1/5 of the book is dedicated to the young novice narrator's gaining a greater understanding of the political and religious conflicts gripping the Church at that time, and his own doubts about his spiritual sincerity and - let's say - inclinations to the carnal. Eco does impressive work in grounding his story - only partially a crime thriller, and the lesser part - in theology from the time. What makes some apostates heretics and others saints? Does religion need to be such a serious affair or can we enjoy our relationship to God? What are you demanded to do when your Church doesn't live by its principles? How much knowledge can we attain before we become impious?
Especially dazzling - and, if I'm being honest, occasionally frustrating - is how it can keep the reader in the dark for much of the page count about how these questions will ramify on the central mystery, whipping that veil off with a flourish at the book's climax. It's not hard to find a murder mystery that reveals a twist villain or forgotten, incidental Chekhov's gun of a clue - it's somewhat more impressive for your twist to make all of the book's challenges and theses cohere in 50 pages.
Highly recommended if you're interested in the off-topic warblings of Middle Ages clergy, ecclesiastical history in general, or labyrinthine libraries that confuse everybody who enters them.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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:
No
I’ve tried to read Umberto Eco in the past and found his work impenetrable, so I was surprised that I flew through The Name of the Rose. It’s one of the most brilliant works of historical fiction I’ve ever read.
The story follows two monks - the young Benedictine novice Adso and his mentor, the scientifically-minded former Inquisitor William, a Franciscan - on a journey to a remote monastery at which they will be present for a historically significant meeting between representatives of the Franciscan Order and the pope, with whom they are in conflict over the question of what role poverty played in the life of Jesus and, therefore, should play for monks. But upon arriving at the monastery, William and Adso are confronted by a more immediate problem - one of the monks has died in a fall from a tower, possibly a suicide but just as likely a murder. The abbot asks William, who has a reputation for being able to solve mysteries, to figure out what happened before the conference can begin and the monastery’s reputation can be compromised. William begins to investigate and quickly discovers that the mystery is tied to the monastery’s library, a literal labyrinth to which very few have access.
This is a book that you can’t split into the good and the bad; it only has the aspects that work well, and those that work incredibly. The characters are definitely a strong part of the book. Adso is a fairly bland character, but that’s the point of that sort of naive, POV character; he’s there because he’s young and relatively ignorant and so he can be used to explain things to the reader. The real protagonist is William, our “detective,” who belongs on the list of great fictional detectives. William used to work for the Church’s Inquisition before he came to have doubts about their methods; he is an “Inquisitor” in the more literal sense, a person who solves mysteries by asking questions and following up on seemingly disparate threads. The workings of his mind are often beyond Adso, but Eco writes him so clearly that the audience understands his perspective. His insistence on rational inquiry in the face of superstition and emotion is admirable. I particularly enjoyed that William was far from infallible; he made mistakes, sometimes tragically, and came to conclusions that were wrong. For all his brilliance, he never actually solves the real mystery; he gets caught up in secondary mysteries and then the original one just gets solved in front of him.
The mystery itself is a twisty one, with a complex and intense ending. It’s very well spooled out through the story. Like (in my opinion) the best mysteries, it’s not one the reader will figure out themselves, but it is one where someone reading closely will have all the right suspicions before the final reveal.
The really excellent part of the story, though, is the way it handles its two genres. It’s difficult to talk about what Eco does with mystery without spoilers, so:I loved the way he played on the audience’s expectations. As the murders piled up, he introduced what seemed to be a pattern to the killings. William, the rationalist, was confused and disturbed by this pattern, like a sane man suddenly finding himself in a world ruled by the dictates of fictional storytelling should be, but the evidence continued to build for this pattern and so he felt he couldn’t ignore it. And yet, in the end, it turned out to be a trick; the pattern wasn’t real. Just as the characters had fallen for it because of their human desire to find order in chaos, the audience fell for it because we expect that sort of thing in a story. . As for the historical fiction aspect, The Name of the Rose immerses the reader in another time in a way few historical stories manage, not by making the story relatable to a modern reader but by not doing that at all. A huge amount of the action in the story is concerned with a specific thirteenth century conflict within the church around questions of poverty as they applied to people in religious orders. It’s not a period most readers will be familiar with, and it’s not one of those religious conflicts that still has resonance today. To understand it requires getting as deep into the mindset of the characters as possible. And yet Eco manages to make this conflict feel vital, so that when characters make decisions because of it, they feel real and believable.
The story follows two monks - the young Benedictine novice Adso and his mentor, the scientifically-minded former Inquisitor William, a Franciscan - on a journey to a remote monastery at which they will be present for a historically significant meeting between representatives of the Franciscan Order and the pope, with whom they are in conflict over the question of what role poverty played in the life of Jesus and, therefore, should play for monks. But upon arriving at the monastery, William and Adso are confronted by a more immediate problem - one of the monks has died in a fall from a tower, possibly a suicide but just as likely a murder. The abbot asks William, who has a reputation for being able to solve mysteries, to figure out what happened before the conference can begin and the monastery’s reputation can be compromised. William begins to investigate and quickly discovers that the mystery is tied to the monastery’s library, a literal labyrinth to which very few have access.
This is a book that you can’t split into the good and the bad; it only has the aspects that work well, and those that work incredibly. The characters are definitely a strong part of the book. Adso is a fairly bland character, but that’s the point of that sort of naive, POV character; he’s there because he’s young and relatively ignorant and so he can be used to explain things to the reader. The real protagonist is William, our “detective,” who belongs on the list of great fictional detectives. William used to work for the Church’s Inquisition before he came to have doubts about their methods; he is an “Inquisitor” in the more literal sense, a person who solves mysteries by asking questions and following up on seemingly disparate threads. The workings of his mind are often beyond Adso, but Eco writes him so clearly that the audience understands his perspective. His insistence on rational inquiry in the face of superstition and emotion is admirable. I particularly enjoyed that William was far from infallible; he made mistakes, sometimes tragically, and came to conclusions that were wrong.
The mystery itself is a twisty one, with a complex and intense ending. It’s very well spooled out through the story. Like (in my opinion) the best mysteries, it’s not one the reader will figure out themselves, but it is one where someone reading closely will have all the right suspicions before the final reveal.
The really excellent part of the story, though, is the way it handles its two genres. It’s difficult to talk about what Eco does with mystery without spoilers, so:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Some of the murders are pretty gruesome.
Ultimately found this book profoundly strange
I remain unsure what he actually set out to do, with a murder mystery muddied by religious treatise no better than an extensive religious history/ exploration inexplicably saddled with a dissatisfying mystery.
There's some excellent sections of writing in here but ultimately this was totally not for me and I won't be sorry to donate my copy to a charity shop.
I remain unsure what he actually set out to do, with a murder mystery muddied by religious treatise no better than an extensive religious history/ exploration inexplicably saddled with a dissatisfying mystery.
There's some excellent sections of writing in here but ultimately this was totally not for me and I won't be sorry to donate my copy to a charity shop.