diana7011 's review for:

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

5.0

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This was a difficult read for me and highly challenging. The author, in this work tells the story of a 14th century monastery in Italy, the library has a volume of work which revealed could cause more divisions in an already divided Roman Catholic doctrine. The protagonist Friar/Father William is sent to this monastery to bring together the different fractions of the church together as a sort of liaison for the King of France with those loyal to the Pope. Upon arrival he is involved in solving a mystery of a monk who was found deceased under mysterious circumstances. The companion and narrator of the story is a young novice Adso. At times the discourse between the two reminds one of Holmes and Watson. I found the story albeit a interesting, intriguing murder mystery didn't flow because of all the theology that was woven into the work. However, the author by incorporating so much rhetoric (and it's clear that he is very well educated in church theology) in such a skillfully manner I cannot fault him. He conveyed to the reader that the church was fractured during this time, so many different points of view on church doctrine and interpretation of the Scriptures. The ending was not at all what I expected.