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Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Warner Books (1986-10)
ISBN: 0446344109
EAN: 9780446344104
Mass Market Paperback
SKU: 17461
Condition: Collectable Very Goo
Comments: 1st edition. Trade SOFTCOVER and pages are in Very Good condition, clean & tight. Ships immediately. AIRMAIL.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The year is 1327. Franciscans 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. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where extraordinary things are happening under the cover of night. A spectacular popular and critical success, "The Name of the Rose" is not only a narrative of a murder investigation but an astonishing chronicle of the Middle Ages.
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Customer Reviews
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suspenseful and intelligent
Rating  (4)
Date: 2009-01-06
I am not much of a suspense/thriller fan, but this book captivated me completely, probably because it is not our contemporary "suspense" fiction. Obviously, it is extremely well written with vivid and lively scenes and characters, but also it is written on solid and skillfully layered foundations of universal curiosity on important issues and the conflicts between them. God, Devil, human intellect, free will, politics, and survival of political and religious entities in the intellectually mobile culture etc, bring so much depth to this book. Reading this book was a wonderful way of starting my new year.
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Early Postmodern Novel
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-12-20
I read "Il Nome della Rosa" in Italian, published by Bompiani, when I was sixteen and deeply loved it. In fact I devoured it, and then I read it again, and then again soon after. I was then in the midst of my classical studies, thus already quite equipped to decipher the countless references and allusions Prof. Eco makes.
Indeed, this is not an history novel, rather a meta-historical one, in which semiotics and postmodernism converge. What Wharol did for pop culture, making Marilyn Monroe (or Campbell soup cans) shine of hysterical, self generated light, Eco tries to do for high culture. References are made which are clear and shiny for the scholar, although they purposely do not compose themselves in an horizon of sense.
That is of course a lot of fun to read for those who can get it. So much so that, in fact, readers lamenting its difficulty, who find it hard or even painful, should simply not have attempted to read it in the first place.
In recent years, I tried to come back to it, but found myself disillusioned. What once seemed clever, now sounds a bit stale. Obvious allusion like William of Baskerville (both Ockham and Sherlock Holmes) or Adso of Melk, now ring, well... obvious. Of course the most beautiful woman is not as vain and self centered as a middle aged renewed scholar, and Eco is no exception - the readers of Diario Minimo might have noticed it before. Unfortunately, vestigial drops of brags percolate through this work as well, thus confirming my impression of postmodernism as "nihilism meets egocentrism".
Then again, it is hard to be too hard with a novel we loved as teenagers, and after all, compared to 99% of the materials published in the last 30 years, this is still remarkably good stuff. No kidding: a suspenseful plot, strange murders, a long dated historical mystery (the existence/disappearance of the second book of Aristotle poetics, that dealt with commedy), the interesting medieval framework (the heresies, the predicament of the franciscan order, the rediscovery of classics), powerful symbolism, an innovative style, truckloads of erudition and, yes, the nice feeling of accomplishment it might summon in the (young) reader.
So, a recommendable novel? Yes, but only to those equipped to enjoy it. A masterpiece? Perhaps not, but time shall tell. After all, stat rosa pristina nomine / nomina nuda tenemus.
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THE NAME OF THE ROSE (GRUPPO EDITORIALE FABBRI-BOMPIANI, SONZOGNO, ETAS S.p.A/1980)
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-12-13
REVIEW: As as literary phenomenon: Umberto Eco's "THE NAME OF THE ROSE" is also one of the oddest and most original novels of the last century. On the surface it details a very unusual and forthright murder investigation at an unnamed Italian abbey in the early 1300's. The crimes themselves are apocalyptic in nature as they seem to mirror the judgment of the seven trumpets as mentioned in the book of "REVELATION". The detective "on the case" (as it were) is a Franciscan monk (and former inquisitor) named Brother William of Baskerville, and his German-born "Watson" of a novice named Adso. Initially they are to visit the abbey as part of a meeting between delegates of Pope John XXII and the Minorite order of Franciscans (backed by the Emperor) who uphold the belief in the poverty of Christ in opposition to the Pope who upholds the belief that Christ authorized the "use of money for religious purposes" and as such the Church is authorized "to legislate over earthly matters." The implications are that if the Pope agrees to the Minorite demands to acknowledge Christ's poverty (and their desire to worship in poverty) then it could be argued that the Church itself should worship in poverty (thus relinquishing its power and hold over the common people). Against the backdrop of these theological debates: a shadowy murderer is disposing of one monk after another for a purpose that Brother William must uncover before the enemies of the Franciscan order arrive to herald that fateful meeting. "THE NAME OF THE ROSE" is a multi-faceted novel that defies easy catagorization. For certain, it is a murder mystery: but it is also a bleak commentary on the nature of how we perceive truth, a treatise on the necessity of reason and logic as opposed to superstitious fear, and a dissertation that champions faith and love as opposed to a hypocritical religious system that is regulated by monetary value and which ends up devaluing human life (especially the poor and uneducated who are downtrodden by those very same people who are supposed to exhibit Christian charity in helping them find a way out of their poverty by educating them). The tension between Brother William and the Papal authority of inquisitor Bernard Gui can be seen as a microcosm of the struggle between the Dark Ages and the coming Enlightenment whereby the power-mad corruption of the Catholic Church is rocked from its foundation of self-righteousness by the heroics of such people as Martin Luther and Tyndale. But author Eco goes even a step further than this: as he puts his scholarly expertise in semiotics (that is: the study of symbols and signs and their meaning and interpretation as such) and his love of books and learning into superb use throughout this story. From the correct translation of a code into Latin, to the layout of a labyrinthian library, to the discovery of several secret entrances and exits: Eco continues to challenge his investigators (and his readers) with the brilliance of his plot construction. As such: he is able to keep his myriad of themes and mysteries and overarching, historic implications in check until the final fifty pages, and a climax that will (literally) blow you away. This is a colossus of a book. HARSH LANGUAGE: about 10 minor words. VIOLENCE: about 36 instances and/or bloody scenes. SEXUAL REFERENCES: about 10 instances including one mild sex scene and several inferrences to homosexual and heterosexual relations.
THE MORAL COMPASS: Although not exactly an easy read (with all the Latin quotes and the theological debates one would do well to invest in Adele J. Haft's splendid commentary "THE KEY TO THE NAME OF THE ROSE"): Eco's book is a continually fascinating portrait of a long lost moment in time that fully lives up to its splendid coda at the end of Adso's manuscript "stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus" (or roughly "of the rose of the past; we have only its name"). And so it is that we have a story filled to the brim with characters brought to life in a moment in time, books that were only rumoured to exist but which are now lost forever (and thus, in a way, never really existed), and the face of a beautiful peasant girl whom Adso loves with his body and soul and yet remains ignorant of her name. All of these themes are invoked by the symbolism of the "Rose" in the book's title (which was chosen at random by some of Eco's friends from a list of possible appellations). And yet in spite of all its literary, historical, and cerebral merits: "THE NAME OF THE ROSE" is a wickedly funny novel and a most enjoyable murder mystery that has a lot of sinister going's on (indeed: almost all of the people in it wind up dead) as well as a brilliant showdown with the killer (or killers?) at the end. To put it mildly: I have never read anything quite like it. And if you enjoy reading, if you enjoy (as Brother William does) just wandering through a room filled with endless tomes containing boundless knowledge, or if you are just a plain old book-a-holic: then Eco's tour-de-force of a novel is for you. As far as the content goes: there is a smattering of (very) mild profanity, quite a lot of violence and bloodshed, one mild sex scene, and many discreet allusions to homosexuality and sex. As such the book should earn a strong CAUTIONARY rating for its adult subject matter.
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Learned and fast
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-11-23
Learned and fast because rarely does someone so intelligent find a way to jam so much thought into such a fast plot. THis book continues to be the best introduction to Eco's fiction, the one you should read before the others (and then you'll want to read the others too, but I'm not sure that the process would work the other way).
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Gripping mystery telling a story of religious life in another century
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-10-29
It's a fabulous WHODUNIT!!
The characters come alive with the author's fascinating description of physical characteristics, his telling from whence each person came to this abbey, and through personality traits. The reader feels like he is meeting each of them in real life.
The book starts out with one unsolved murder and the plot gets more and more involved as more people meet their demise.
Also, the observations of a seasoned veteran of the church are constantly compared to the thoughts of the novice, which provides different perspectives on the events that occur.
It is a hard book to put down, once you start. One of the most valued places described in this book continuously is the libary of major historic books. It is a shocking part of the book's ending when meetings in the library cause an event that the reader could never expect.
Clearly, I recommend it highly.
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