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A review by kimcanread
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
3.0
This one had all the makings of a book I would usually love. Many pages, a murder mystery, some historical fiction to teach me about information I probably should know more about but don't.
I found it didn't suck me in as I anticipated. It rambled in places and felt unnecessarily long. The constant references to how people died on the stake or were banished and considered heretic for having different beliefs and embracing different ideas, although true, upset me and made the book harder to enjoy. This didn't impact on my rating per se but made it feel more like a chore to read.
The character of William was enjoyable to me. Many lovely quotes. Lots of layers with regards to various mysteries to uncover which I appreciated. I was curious about why William was portrayed as an Englishman from an Italian author. The summaries at the beginning of each chapter annoyed me at first but I came to appreciate and found I needed to help focus me.
Side note, I started reading it but mostly listened to the audiobook. I thought the narrator did a good job of the different voices and that kept me engaged. But perhaps had I read more I would have processed it differently.
Stimulating book club discussion and I'm glad I read it. I kept thinking there was a lot too it that would benefit from a re-read but I just don't see myself wanting to read this book again and I'm pretty sure I only finished it because of the meeting day deadline.
Would likely recommend to some people but probably not ever going to be my top go to recommendation. I'm interested to see how I feel about this one after a year or two
I found it didn't suck me in as I anticipated. It rambled in places and felt unnecessarily long. The constant references to how people died on the stake or were banished and considered heretic for having different beliefs and embracing different ideas, although true, upset me and made the book harder to enjoy. This didn't impact on my rating per se but made it feel more like a chore to read.
The character of William was enjoyable to me. Many lovely quotes. Lots of layers with regards to various mysteries to uncover which I appreciated. I was curious about why William was portrayed as an Englishman from an Italian author. The summaries at the beginning of each chapter annoyed me at first but I came to appreciate and found I needed to help focus me.
Side note, I started reading it but mostly listened to the audiobook. I thought the narrator did a good job of the different voices and that kept me engaged. But perhaps had I read more I would have processed it differently.
Stimulating book club discussion and I'm glad I read it. I kept thinking there was a lot too it that would benefit from a re-read but I just don't see myself wanting to read this book again and I'm pretty sure I only finished it because of the meeting day deadline.
Would likely recommend to some people but probably not ever going to be my top go to recommendation. I'm interested to see how I feel about this one after a year or two