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The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Published: 1980
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Format: Paperback, 536 Pages, Own
Rating: 3 stars
Publisher's Summary:
The year is 1327. Benedictines in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon—all sharpened to a glistening edge by wry humor and a ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey, where “the most interesting things happen at night.”
My Thoughts:
I never thought I'd enjoy a book set in the 14th century at a monastery would be so intriguing! But It was. And I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Brother William and how he uses his logic and knowledge to figure out who is murdering all the monks!
The story is told through his novices eyes but when his novice is an old man and can look back on these events with a more discerning eye.
Now, I'm not going to give it 4 or more stars because there are a lot of really slow parts, especially at the beginning that introduces us to the history of the time with the Pope and the kings and the different branches of sects that were dueling it out for power. Eco explains in an afterward section that he purposely added those boring sections to weed out his readers! Well, I stuck with it. lol.
And while it's a mystery in the sense that there are monks being murdered and Brother William is there to figure it out, I felt it was more about philosophy in novel form. How can logic and emotion fail us in equal measure? Well, this book will let you know!
Not quite what I expected but overall glad I read it. I see why it's a modern classic.
I remember reading this book when it first came out. I stuck with it, too, even though there were lots of slow parts. It's fascinating that the author admits he put those in to weed out his readers.
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