ahorts 's review for:

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

3.75

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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At times I found parts of this book very tiring to read. However, it is such an incredibly researched book that I found myself in awe of it and stuck through to the end. The murder/abbey mystery was enough to keep me going. Now that I’ve finished it, I kind of miss its inexhaustible passages on architecture, schism theology and its historical context, and the Christian debate on the morality of laughter. I can’t imagine knowing as much about anything as Umberto Eco knows about medieval religion. May read this one again at some point. There’s not much out there quite like it and I feel like I actually learned quite a bit through osmosis. It’s one of those books that does not over explain, you pick up the pieces and context while reading even if it isn’t always clear what the hell the characters are talking about.