A review by justinlife
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Boy is this book a doozy. It took a bit longer than I expected to get through. It is dense and at times unforgiving. The Name of the Rose offers a fictional glimpse of a monastery in the 1300s where people are dying right before a meeting between the Pope's entourage and the Emperor's where they discuss Christian theology. It's up to the monk, William, to solve the mystery.
At times the novel is intense and interesting, and at times it gets weighed down by it's own prose. It's fascinating, but man, it's dense. I never thought I would read a book that contained so many philosophical questions like "did jesus laugh?" or "was Jesus poor?" These concepts seem like something we all know and could discuss but it adds to a greater conversation about Christian thought. I think about this now as there are traditionalists that seem to pass off Christian teaching as set in stone when it's always been changing; it's always been morphing into something. This was really interesting to me. I never considered that St. Francis' teachings could have posed a threat to the church.
The paragraphs are long and the murder mystery is only one part of it. I really enjoyed it, but it did feel at times like a chore to read. It's a well researched novel though.
At times the novel is intense and interesting, and at times it gets weighed down by it's own prose. It's fascinating, but man, it's dense. I never thought I would read a book that contained so many philosophical questions like "did jesus laugh?" or "was Jesus poor?" These concepts seem like something we all know and could discuss but it adds to a greater conversation about Christian thought. I think about this now as there are traditionalists that seem to pass off Christian teaching as set in stone when it's always been changing; it's always been morphing into something. This was really interesting to me. I never considered that St. Francis' teachings could have posed a threat to the church.
The paragraphs are long and the murder mystery is only one part of it. I really enjoyed it, but it did feel at times like a chore to read. It's a well researched novel though.