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A review by astrangewind
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I'm not really sure if I liked The Name of the Rose.
The book was incredibly slow-moving, and written very densely, full of philosophical and literary references and tirades that I'm not well-read enough to understand. In general, I feel like philosophers (and their work) have a smugness about them that I find distasteful, which was true for the portions of this book that devolved into arguments or monologues about whether or not Jesus Christ laughed.
That said, I did find the plot compelling enough to finish the book. At times, it lulled, but the mystery was sufficiently mysterious to keep me reading. There was humor to be had, too; a 14th century monk talking about a perpetual motion machine made me chuckle. The ending was fascinating, and I genuinely couldn't put the book down at the last 70 pages or so. I'm sure there's some kind of allegory there, or other kind of metaphor or lesson, but even without the background to be able to understand it, I still enjoyed the plot for what it was.
The book was incredibly slow-moving, and written very densely, full of philosophical and literary references and tirades that I'm not well-read enough to understand. In general, I feel like philosophers (and their work) have a smugness about them that I find distasteful, which was true for the portions of this book that devolved into arguments or monologues about whether or not Jesus Christ laughed.
That said, I did find the plot compelling enough to finish the book. At times, it lulled, but the mystery was sufficiently mysterious to keep me reading. There was humor to be had, too; a 14th century monk talking about a perpetual motion machine made me chuckle. The ending was fascinating, and I genuinely couldn't put the book down at the last 70 pages or so. I'm sure there's some kind of allegory there, or other kind of metaphor or lesson, but even without the background to be able to understand it, I still enjoyed the plot for what it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Blood, and Islamophobia
Minor: Confinement and Torture