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A review by dnae
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
2.0
What a tedious and self-indulgent book. I can see how this would appeal to a specific audience, perhaps clones of Eco and the occasional masters student of Monastic Life and Extremely Niche Catholicism, but not me. I am not the target audience, though the blurb led me to believe I was. Murder mystery, antichrist, labyrinthine libraries, dangerous books, cold abbeys? Sounds fantastic. Count me in. It did have that for a bit--the first and last 100 pages or so. Everything in between was a mishmash of academic discussion, too much theological debate to be casual, and so many lists of literally anything Eco has niche knowledge on. It was charming at first. I did enjoy the whole insane chapter dedicated to the church door but when he started pulling the same trick over and over again it became taxing, like the majority of this book.
We follow William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso as they are called to investigate a series of murders in an Italian abbey. After a fruitless many days of only deducing that all the murders trace back to a mysterious book and a hidden section of the library, they finally unveil the master murderer who Eco earlier took great pains to dismiss as the main suspect - Jorge of Burgos (reference to Borges). Jorge reveals that there is no actual murder plot, just a series of coincidences that happen to reflect his apocalyptic view on the fate of the world. The ensuing fight burns down the precious library and the entire abbey. This could have been a 200 page book.
Heavyhanded in its metaphor and symbolism. The faithful became too greedy - with material wealth, knowledge, and overzealous faith - that it led to their doom. I accept that. I did like some things: the occasional humorous banter between William and Adso (You Teuton animal! You turnip!), the rich and inventive architectural descriptions of the abbey, and the love for books. However, this was few and rare in between, and I seriously hated reading this book so much I binge read it just to get it over with and move on with my life.
We follow William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso as they are called to investigate a series of murders in an Italian abbey. After a fruitless many days of only deducing that all the murders trace back to a mysterious book and a hidden section of the library, they finally unveil the master murderer who Eco earlier took great pains to dismiss as the main suspect - Jorge of Burgos (reference to Borges). Jorge reveals that there is no actual murder plot, just a series of coincidences that happen to reflect his apocalyptic view on the fate of the world. The ensuing fight burns down the precious library and the entire abbey. This could have been a 200 page book.
Heavyhanded in its metaphor and symbolism. The faithful became too greedy - with material wealth, knowledge, and overzealous faith - that it led to their doom. I accept that. I did like some things: the occasional humorous banter between William and Adso (You Teuton animal! You turnip!), the rich and inventive architectural descriptions of the abbey, and the love for books. However, this was few and rare in between, and I seriously hated reading this book so much I binge read it just to get it over with and move on with my life.