res_curans 's review for:

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

1.0

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Trying so hard these days not to DNF, and over all I’ve been pretty successful… but this was a slog and I dropped it at about 50-60%. I’m more interested in and knowledgeable about Medieval philosophy than the average joe, less interested in but still game for a Sherlock Holmesian mystery… but this mashup of the two didn’t work for me. I would have preferred one without the other. The mystery, bogged down by philosophy and history, progressed waaayyy too slowly… Furthermore, although some of the ideas were clever (the labyrinthine library in particular), I was not attached to the characters and had little to no interest in the actual mystery. On the other side, the detailed history and philosophy, included for no other apparent purpose than to give a certain realism to the story — but also mixed up with fiction — seemed rather pointless. It’s presented sort of glibly, at arm’s length. It never goes very deep; there’s nothing here to challenge the reader beyond perhaps the mere intellectual exercise.

It’s well-written, and I can see how some people would enjoy it, but I dunno. Life’s too short.