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Name of the Rose |  | Author: Umberto Eco
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Media: Hardcover
ISBN: 0151002134
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780151002139
ASIN: 0151002134
Publication Date: November 1995
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 The Reader - The Detective April 6, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
In the Name of the Rose, is in many ways a frustrating book to read, because the reader required as much perseverance as the monk-turned-detective protagonist, William. It is a very top heavy book, complete with Latin phraseology, which in spite of Umberto Eco's obvious gift for narrative, is testing to navigate; many will begin and not finish. However, if you are a curious sort, and love to unravel a good mystery, you will no doubt continue - seven deaths is no mean body count for a secluded monastery - and finally reap the rewards of crossing the halfway point. The unravelling of the plot is brilliant - it questions stereotypes, tests faith, interrogates purity and most of all entertains. The labyrinth at the centre of the monastery is in many ways a metaphor for how the plot unfolds, with one final room that one finds oneself outside, but cannot enter.
For the lazy readers, a tip; each chapter has a summary of its contents and so you can actually decide to skip some chapters if you want to get to the meat. In all honesty some chapters just serve to illustrate the intelligence of William of Baskerville or to discuss other works (underlining Eco's post-modernist outlook), so you can do that without missing much. This is exactly what I did my first time, but I enjoyed the end so much that I went back to do the hard work.
I recommend this book if you want an enjoyable but challenging literary read; if you want untaxing entertainment, forget it - or maybe watch the film.
 Thwarted January 25, 2008
0 out of 8 found this review helpful
Having heard so many people rave about this book, I had high hopes and desperately wanted to like it. I have now attempted to read it twice, and each time it has thwarted me. While the actual plot is interesting, it is buried under so much rambling that you lost the interest (and the will) to continue. I personally won't be recommending it to anyone else.
 A very good historical whodunnit October 29, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Having read this first and then afterwards most of Eco's other books too, "The Name of the Rose" still remains my favourite. There's a very good balance here between the pure historical whodunnit and the knowledge & learning conveyed in the book (and necessary to understand the whodunnit, while to my mind in the later books the 'learning' is much too predominant).
The atmosphere of a medieval abbey is very well done and, as it is secluded from the outside world, an abbey where a killer's on the loose is the perfect site to build up the tension. Add to that plenty of colourful characters and, in the right measure, a wealth of information on religious strife in the Middle Ages and what you get is a top-notch historical thriller!
A 20th century classic August 23, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The first time I tried to read this book as a 19 year old student desperately trying to impress my peers I abandoned it after less than a hundred pages as I found just too hard going. Several years later and at the insistence of several friends I tried again, this time determined to see it through to the end. It was, and remains, a revelation.
First of all, dispel any thoughts of the rather tame and dreary film that cam out in the 80s as it just did not do justice to this remarkable novel. Yes, it is frighteningly dark and sinister but there's a real warmth and kindly wisdom about Willaim of Baskerville and an endearing naivety from his young charge, Adso, to help the reader through the very grimmest of the plot developments.
While the setting provides a suitably unsettling backdrop to the grisly goings on, the heart of this book is in it's characters from the pious abbott, the disturbing Salvatore, the sinister Jorge and the downright terrifying Bernardo Gui of the dreaded Inquisition, all of whom are fleshed out with their own stories. Adso asks he questions the reader wants answered in a Dr Watson type way, while sleuthy William of Baskerville ( a none too subtle tip of the deerstalker hat to Arthur Conan Doyle by the author) provides the answers... and answers them with riddles.
The Name Of The Rose sheds a glimemr of light on a disturbing period of European history when plague and famine were a constant concern and religious fanatacism was the real power governing people's lives. While set several centuries ago, the theme of dogmatic zealots throwing their weight around to the peril of ordinary people is all too familiar in today's troubled times and modern day parallels are, sadly, all too easy to draw. That said, Umberto Eco does not launch an unbridled attack upon religion as he is very sympathetic to the genuine faith of many of the characters. Instead he targets those with blind faith who do not question themselves and use "the will of God" to subjugate and punish others, whether it is the men of the Inquisition or the heretical Cathars. That's not say it's a book about religion as that would miss out the murder mystery element, the sex, the architecture, the red herrings, etc.
Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose is a magnificent book of masterly storytelling and enlightening prose. Yes, it's hard work to get into, but then many great books are and the rewards are worth the effort so don't be put off. Ideal reading material for dark winter nights.
Read this, and don't bother with the film. June 19, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Films often fail to capture the essence of the books they are based on. Case in point, here. Admittedly verbose in places, with passages in Latin etc, this book is still a marvel. You just have to exercise your judgement: skip the bits you find boring and wonder at the rest.
The Name of the Rose is a fascinating look at a forgotten world - a turn of the (first) millennium Benedictine monastery. This book is part historical novel, part forensic whodunit, part apocalyptic prophecy, with an insight into the conflicts rocking the then Christian church - between Holy Roman Emperor and Pope, Franciscans and Dominicans, heretics and scheming clerics, librarians and infidel philosophers, destitute villagers and powerful church figures. This book reeks the rich tapestry of all that life.
If you've read any of the other reviews, you'll probably know the background. Brother William of Baskerville is a former Inquisitor, entrusted with a secret mission on behalf of the Emperor. He's also an amateur detective of prodigious skill (something that is brilliantly revealed when he arrives at the Monastery and meets the abbey's cellarer). With his pupil Adso (the book's narrator) in tow, Br William has been dispatched to prepare for a meeting between representatives of the Franciscan order and the Pope, at a Benedictine Monastery in Northern Italy - with the Benedictines acting as hosts. Only they've had a bit of bother with one of the younger monks, and the abbot wondered if Br William could take a quick look ...
And the ending. Truly apocalyptic.
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