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mmullerm 's review for:
The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco
4 stars for The Name of the Rose
Plot = 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters = 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting = 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**SPOILER ALERT**
I enjoyed reading The Name of the Rose. The story is set in an Italian monastery in the early 14th century. A monk named William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso come to the monastery to investigate the death of one of the monks. The next day, another monk is found murdered and the next day another and William and Adso realize the murders are following the pattern of the 7 parts of apocalypse told in the Book of Revelations. As William and Adso get further into their investigation, they discover a deep, dark secret held in the labyrinthine library at the monastery.
The setting made the book for me. Eco accurately captured the time period ie, technology - William’s rudimentary eyeglasses and a compass made by William to help he and Adso figure out the labyrinth - and Eco also went into great detail of that period in the Catholic Church ie, the Pope was seated in Avignon as opposed to Rome and the church’s war on and expulsion of various popular heresy beliefs and heretical groups that were popping up - (most notably the belief that Christ and his apostles were poor and didn’t keep material property and whether the Church should do that too). The setting of place at the monastery was also very well done (especially the Aedificium) and the labyrinth in the library was fascinating. The element of time over the 7 days and how it was broken up into the daily offices worked too. I was just pulled in by the setting of the book and really enjoyed that part of it.
The plot left a little bit to be desired - the dialogue and the history of the various heresies got tedious for me. However, it did end up being a big part of the plot though so all that tedious part did pay off in the end.
Eco created a microcosm of the Church and the world as a whole in this story. Adso’s dream near the end of the book and the eventual burning of the library illustrated a larger idea that the Church’s (and the world’s) perpetual struggle is to find a common ground amongst a plethora of competing beliefs. The difficulty in any aspect of religion or life for that matter is weeding out the right from wrong and tying it all together to create something that concatenates.
Would I recommend this? This definitely isn’t for everyone - I can easily see how another reader would not like it - the plot moves too slowly in parts and gets bogged down by the heresy and Inquisition. If you like historical fiction (especially of the Catholic Church and the early 14th Century) that alone might make it enjoyable. I am not Catholic myself but found the whole story to be interesting because it was a time period and history I knew nothing about. The mystery portion taken by itself is worthwhile too so I would recommend it based on these reasons.
I would love to see the movie to see how it plays out on screen - Sean Connery plays Brother William!
Plot = 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters = 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting = 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
**SPOILER ALERT**
I enjoyed reading The Name of the Rose. The story is set in an Italian monastery in the early 14th century. A monk named William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso come to the monastery to investigate the death of one of the monks. The next day, another monk is found murdered and the next day another and William and Adso realize the murders are following the pattern of the 7 parts of apocalypse told in the Book of Revelations. As William and Adso get further into their investigation, they discover a deep, dark secret held in the labyrinthine library at the monastery.
The setting made the book for me. Eco accurately captured the time period ie, technology - William’s rudimentary eyeglasses and a compass made by William to help he and Adso figure out the labyrinth - and Eco also went into great detail of that period in the Catholic Church ie, the Pope was seated in Avignon as opposed to Rome and the church’s war on and expulsion of various popular heresy beliefs and heretical groups that were popping up - (most notably the belief that Christ and his apostles were poor and didn’t keep material property and whether the Church should do that too). The setting of place at the monastery was also very well done (especially the Aedificium) and the labyrinth in the library was fascinating. The element of time over the 7 days and how it was broken up into the daily offices worked too. I was just pulled in by the setting of the book and really enjoyed that part of it.
The plot left a little bit to be desired - the dialogue and the history of the various heresies got tedious for me. However, it did end up being a big part of the plot though so all that tedious part did pay off in the end.
Eco created a microcosm of the Church and the world as a whole in this story. Adso’s dream near the end of the book and the eventual burning of the library illustrated a larger idea that the Church’s (and the world’s) perpetual struggle is to find a common ground amongst a plethora of competing beliefs. The difficulty in any aspect of religion or life for that matter is weeding out the right from wrong and tying it all together to create something that concatenates.
Would I recommend this? This definitely isn’t for everyone - I can easily see how another reader would not like it - the plot moves too slowly in parts and gets bogged down by the heresy and Inquisition. If you like historical fiction (especially of the Catholic Church and the early 14th Century) that alone might make it enjoyable. I am not Catholic myself but found the whole story to be interesting because it was a time period and history I knew nothing about. The mystery portion taken by itself is worthwhile too so I would recommend it based on these reasons.
I would love to see the movie to see how it plays out on screen - Sean Connery plays Brother William!