A review by yak_attak
The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco

5.0

In which a captivating tale about murders in a 14th century monastery serves as lens and codex for thoughts and philosophy on religion, symbolism, writing, books, and the power of knowledge. Some large historical digressions, which are a bit more dry and can be hard to get through. The whole is full of beautiful, thoughtful language. The framing device is utterly brilliant, the form and function horribly clever - ensure you get a version with the postscript in which Eco dives into his thoughts on writing the book, it's an essay as captivating as the book is itself.