Umberto Eco

Three editors, inspired by an extraordinary fable about a mystic source of power greater than atomic energy, begin feeding esoteric bits of knowledge into a sophisticated computer, creating an incredible game that begins taking over. Reprint.

Foucault's Pendulum

It is the year 1327. Franciscans in an Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, but Brother William of Baskerville’s investigation is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths. Translated by William Weaver. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

The Name of the Rose

i love how this book plunged me back into the shoes of a child reading adult literature, clumsy and stupid and relishing all of it...i love you, william of baskerville...i love you, adso of melk...i love you, gay monks who quarrel and murder and despair...

alice

In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate charges of heresy against Franciscan monks at a wealthy Italian abbey but finds his mission overshadowed by seven bizarre murders

My first Umberto Eco. Love the explosive ending. 4 stars because the pacing isn't my favorite, and there are some narrative decisions that just aren't for me. The abbey and it's inhabitants are absolutely enchanting, though, and I loved immersing myself in their messy, wild lives.

Acadia

The name of the rose

The degree to which this was up my alley simply cannot be overstated.

Dan Dugan

In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate charges of heresy against Franciscan monks at a wealthy Italian abbey but finds his mission overshadowed by seven bizarre murders.

Lindy

I admire this book a lot. Mostly because it completely avoids my common gripes about both historical fiction and detective fiction, two genres I find myself wishing I liked more than I do.

1) Most books claiming to be historical fiction are actually time travel stories, in that we have characters who think and act like modern day people dropped into the trappings of the past. Sometimes authors recognize the disjunction, highlight it, and it contributes to the theme of the novel, and that's great, but most of them don't seem to care and then I'm wondering what the point of reading/writing such fiction is in the first place. Eco takes a less common approach; the world and the characters' psychologies are obviously and intricately interwoven; these are potential people who could only have existed at a particular junction in time; Eco's doing everything he can do avoid the dissonance. This requires a ton of research and will upset readers who don't like that the characters are 'alienating.' For me, the alienation is what makes it worthwhile. 

2) At some point in the past, I realized that, given that blood splatter analysis and psychological profiling have roughly equal statistical accuracy to phrenology and drowning someone and seeing if she floats, the only detective fiction that isn't going to annoy me is going to use the plot as a hanger to drape essential questions of epistemology off of because in these fictional situations there is no meaningful difference between the natural (or scientific) and the supernatural (or magic). This rarely happens and consequently I am frequently annoyed. In The Name of the Rose the plot is epistemology and its constraints and the setting means everyone's arguing about the super/natural. 

3) This book is hilarious. The Secret History is also hilarious, but people tend to act confused when I say this and I suspect the same may apply here. (There are several different levels to read them on, and one of them is are as deconstructive spoofs.)

 I won't go around recommending that everyone must read The Name of the Rose or anything, but I'm glad I did.

readingsnmusings 

The island of the day before

Laura Mauler

This book fits the pattern I've come to expect in Umberto Eco's writing: an excellent story lost in a haze of random thoughts, obscure references, and all together too many words. I would love it if someone took this book's concept and turned it into the brilliant book that it deserves to be.

There is a lot that I missed because I don't know Latin, but it was still a great book. Maybe I should re-read, now that there are several Latin-English translation sites.

Wynter

Note to self: I must re-read this book when I am older and wiser. Surely I will be able to appreciate it even more.

Michael Springer

I would like to give this a 3.5, but it's a difficult book to give a rating because in numerous ways. The novel immerses you deeply in the feel of the middle ages, and gives you a vivid picture of monastery life at the time. However, it's a book that suffers from cullability: much could be culled without the book losing its essence. 

The end is very powerful, the plot is fun, and it's an enjoyable read. But, I found it wordy and slow. (Of course, I've also had little reading time, and it took me over a month to finish this. That might've increased this feeling for me.)

heleen de boever

So happy I persisted through the first couple of chapters. Sure, the historical references are pedantic, the descriptions verbose and the theological discussions somewhat alienating, but as soon as you accept those the book really creates a world of its own. Yum.

Prashanth Srivatsa

Never has occultism been so fascinating; dissected, ridiculed, and at the same time, respected. Eco plunges into the depths of countless secret societies, each with their unique origins, purposes and champions, but all of them converging towards a present point of a grand endgame involving three sarcastic and obsessed publishers.

Foucault's Pendulum.

Not really sure what to give this book. The bits that were good were great, but there were long, tortuous bits I could have done without, TBH.

Doug Belshaw

O nome da rosa

Nelson Zagalo

Vi o filme no cinema quando saiu por cá, na segunda metade da década 1980, e ao longo da década de 1990 vi-o em VHS mais de uma dezena de vezes, até que o arrumei na prateleira e na minha cabeça como objeto definido e fechado. Não tendo nesse tempo chegado a ler o livro e tendo depois ‘arrumado’ o filme, só agora, passados vinte anos, resolvi revisitar a biblioteca-labirinto na abadia medieval, mas resolvi fazê-lo através do livro. As primeiras páginas fizeram ressurgir todo o universo do filme, não sendo nunca capaz de superar as memórias que em mim existiam, mas ao chegar à última página vi-me obrigado a aceitar que as duas obras se distanciam, já que o filme se fica pela análise histórica envolvida por uma teia de crimes, enquanto o livro vai para além disto, apresentando toda uma camada reflexiva para o leitor que a ela se queira dedicar. Contudo, tenho perfeita noção que nada de novo tenho para dizer, e se escrevo as linhas que se seguem é apenas por necessidade pessoal de reflexão e verbalização sobre a obra.

[imagem]
A Abadia de São Miguel em Piemonte, Itália que serviu de inspiração a Umberto Eco

Eco teve imensa sorte com o sucesso conseguido com o seu primeiro livro de romance. Não é fácil para um académico passar da escrita densa e seca das reflexões escolares para uma escrita escorreita e envolvente como o romance obriga. O modo como realizou essa transição foi inteligente, já que optou por um caminho intermédio, ou seja criando uma obra de edutainment (entretenimento educativo), socorrendo-se de um género que se viria a tornar nos anos mais recentes altamente popular, o Romance Histórico. Mas não se ficaria por aí, aquilo que distinguiria este trabalho de Eco dos demais foi no fundo aquilo que lhe permitiu aliviar a transição entre géneros, ou seja, o modo como ele liga a sua área de especialidade académica (a semiótica, o estudo da criação de sentido) com a aventura romanesca (a procura de pistas). Guilherme de Baskerville não anda apenas à procura do assassino, anda também à procura do sentidos, fazendo-o de uma forma pouco ortodoxa para a época em que se encontra.

Assim Eco conseguiu de forma simples criar um romance em camadas, permitindo a um grande público seguir atrás da tradicional história de crime e mistério, enquanto uma outra parte do público se dedicaria a tentar compreender as restantes camadas "escondidas" pelo autor. Enquanto na camada mais visível temos Sherlock Holmes a ligar provas entre si, nas restante camadas temos Eco à procura de sentidos em palavras, gestos, textos e contextos, apresentando Guilherme como o homem renascentista que renuncia a Inquisição e ao obscurantismo, em busca da verdade suportada em evidência empírica. Este novo homem, espécie de Eco investigador e semiótico que regressa ao passado, dá conta de uma viragem crucial na história europeia, do momento em que se abrem as portas renascentistas ao mundo da Ciência. O conhecimento científico que viria a servir para retirar o ser humano do caminho das trevas religiosas, trocando-o pela auto-estrada do auto-conhecimento e consequente progresso humano.

O próprio centro da obra, a Biblioteca, é mais importante que os assassinatos. Repare-se como aqueles agarrados ao fanatismo religioso e ao status-quo tudo faziam para manter as trevas, impedindo o acesso ao conhecimento, escondendo-o dentro de labirintos inacessíveis e mortais. Uma biblioteca que não servia para dar a conhecer mas para esconder. Ou seja, Eco consegue unir o melhor do romance, o crime-aventura, com o melhor da busca de sentido, a ciência.

A obra final que serve de móbil aos crimes, o livro perdido da Poética de Aristóteles, o segundo tomo que se supõe versar sobre a Comédia, é um passo magistral. Tendo sido devidamente preservado no filme, durante muito tempo me questionei porquê um livro sobre o riso, apesar de ser evidente a intolerância da maioria das religiões ao riso não é muito claro a razão de tal. Sim, a religião exige a seriedade e o riso não se coaduna, mas não é só isso, não seria apenas por isso que Eco faria deste o objeto central da sua obra. Na verdade o riso acaba sendo fundamental, porque nos permite colocar a realidade em perspetiva, rindo da mesma, libertando-nos do medo.

“- O riso liberta o vilão do medo do diabo (..) Ao vilão que ri, naquele momento, não importa morrer: mas depois, cessada a sua licença, a liturgia impõe-lhe de novo, segundo o desígnio divino, o medo da morte. E deste livro poderia nascer a nova e destruidora aspiração a destruir a morte através da libertação do medo. E que seríamos nós, criaturas pecadoras, sem o medo, talvez o mais provido e afetuoso dos dons divinos? ”
(..)
“- O diabo não é o príncipe da matéria, o diabo é a arrogância do espírito, a fé sem sorriso, a verdade que nunca é aflorada pela dúvida. ”

O riso faz de nós criaturas capazes de duvidar, suportando a vontade de conhecer e descobrir quem somos, impedindo que nos limitemos a aceitar a verdade imposta na forma de dogmas.


Publicado no VI (https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...)

Alfredo santos

one of my all time favorite books. eloquent, cultivated and intriguing

Cams Campbell

Finally, I got to the end of this book! This was my second attempt at getting through it. The first time I got about half way. But, to the tale...

Some consider this to be the thinking man's Da Vinci Code. It follows three main characters who work for a publishing company in Milan. The company is cleverly split into two separate entities, one of which persuades so-called Diabolicals (any persons involved in secret societies such as the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucian and the Freemasons, conspiracy theories, etc.) to self-finance their own publications. The three characters decide to play a game with these texts, taking information from different sources and mixing them all up to come up with the Plan. However, once the Diabolicals learn of the Plan, it becomes real and the consequences are deadly. 

The first 100 pages were easy enough to get through, as were the last 100 pages. But please read this book with a dictionary by your side as some of the vocabulary is esoteric and the prose turgid. It is packed full with obscure references to philosophy, literature, science etc. and a knowledge of French would certainly be useful as well. It's the last 100 pages that bring the story together and changed my opinion of the book. For weeks now I've been stubbornly persevering, just wanting to get to the end of it so I can say that I read it and move on to something else. But now that I've finished it, I find myself wishing to read some more detailed reviews to learn more about the references. I will not be giving this book away as I intend to read it again, at which point I expect it to make more sense, now that I know the ending. 

For anyone who read and enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, I'd certainly recommend giving this book a go. For anyone who read some of it and quit as I did the first time around, it's definitely worth reading to the end.

El Nombre De La Rosa

Detective novel, intriguing and captivating. Set in the Middle Ages, it recounts the investigation of some crimes in an abbey in northern Italy. The narration is gripping and fast-paced. It is a story full of philosophy, history and mystery.

Carolina Grajales 

Amir M 

I listened to the audiobook adeptly narrated by Sean Barrett. All in all, I liked the book. Though I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it. Specially the huge chunk of information about religion that I didn't fancy receiving. The author's sense of humor was what kept me going through it.
Maybe I revisit this book in some time, if I live long enough!

jiaqi kang

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

first few pages were p slow (as eco justifies in the postscript) so it took me a while to get into it but know that i devoured 90% of this book in 2-3 days because Damn

an email I wrote to my high school vice principal: 

"hi mr smith,

Woooooooooooooooow. You probably don’t even remember this but when we were looking over my TOK essay you recommended me Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and I’ve now read it and HOLY SHIT! The postscript especially should be required reading for anyone who ever writes and someone needs to email it to jk rowling right now 

While reading this i had a couple of interesting conversations, one about how it’s crazy that we take our culturally informed mindsets for granted and how past ideas shape the way we think and who we are, often without us even realising it (eg every time we say “subconsciously” we’re inadvertently referencing freud, and when u read derrida (if u can get actually get to the bottom of what he’s saying) it’s kind of like “well, duh, that’s just a fancy way of saying the obvious”). what was avant-garde in art, literature, philosophy etc 50 years ago has dissolved into what we know and become mainstream which is pretty cool. and the second conversation was about all books being about other books and the conclusion of that was whether it would be ethical to raise a child to never consume any media ever so that they’re totally shielded from existing culture and then ask them to create art. what would it be like? 

i would let roland barthes murder me tbh

anyway i hope you are having a great holiday and thank u for this book!! 

jiaqi"

Name of the Rose (Picador Books)

Kwan Ann Tan

** spoiler alert **
           I begin at the end: that mysterious, chimeric letter pieced together from the ruins of the abbey's library, the windows which were 'empty sockets whose slimy tears were rotting vines', the motif of lovesickness (both spiritual and secular) that is echoed again and again in the cycle of each day!!! 

The William & Adso duo works so well–aged wise detective/monk and his novice sidekick, obviously delightful trope to have transposed into a medieval setting! 

i would say, if you're still reading this review, to beware of the intense discussion of Christian sects & etc that go on in this book, and as a coursemate of mine said, 'I cannot in good conscience recommend a book to someone where the author describes a door for five pages'. Be prepared to lower yourself into a deep well of Christian sects and petty religious/theological schisms. 

the only thing that was ??? to me was that random sexual encounter that Adso had in the kitchen–I suppose it was an attempt to make us feel that he too had been initiated into the world of secrets & lies & sin, another layer of glass for him to look through to the world at, but it just didn't sit well with me that in trying to argue that such love is natural, umberto eco once again fell into the trap of using a woman as a foil, an object from which all perceived sin starts. bah! he innovated so many other things but this instance was just sloppy! 

and of course the moment I was most struck by comes when jorge, driven to madness by his need to control what truth is, truth, at the center of every human endeavour–understanding–devours the book whole: 'He spoke, and with hi fleshless, diaphanous hands he began slowly tearing to strips and shreds the limp pages of the manuscript, stuffing them into his mouth, slowly swallowing as if he were consuming the host and he wanted to make it flesh of his flesh.' my only gripe is that ok... manuscripts aren't that easy to tear and eat because they ARE animal flesh and are still tough despite the years but hey? am I going to reject the symbolic destruction of knowledge through reckless consumption? no! 

amazing book, this has changed my life and is going to haunt my work for years to come

Darima

Bored with their work, three Milanese editors cook up "the Plan," a hoax that connects the medieval Knights Templar with other occult groups from ancient to modern times. This produces a map indicating the geographical point from which all the powers of the earth can be controlled—a point located in Paris, France, at Foucault’s Pendulum. But in a fateful turn the joke becomes all too real, and when occult groups, including Satanists, get wind of the Plan, they go so far as to kill one of the editors in their quest to gain control of the earth.Orchestrating these and other diverse characters into his multilayered semiotic adventure, Eco has created a superb cerebral entertainment.

Sofía Rodríguez

I hate how much I enjoyed this book. In the end it squished my brain and I felt scared for a while. The book is very complex, it develops slowly, and the turning points are heart racing.

Safiya 

"Because learning does not consist only of knowing what we must or we can do, but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do.”

Ryan Nylander

The Name Of The Rose is meticulously written and researched, and beautifully poetic. It is also incredibly laborious to read. I was quite surprised to learn that it was a huge popular hit in the 80's.

Rose is filled to the brim with intricate historical detail and period-accurate dialog. Eco prioritizes immersive narrative techniques over all else, even at the expense of fun. The "murder mystery" is little more than a narrative framework on which to hang various philosophical musings, elongated digressions and vivid medieval-style litanies (which can show up at any time, like unexpected land mines that interrupt any sense of forward momentum).

Assuming that you have a monk's patience and enthusiasm for medieval philosophy, then, we come to the problem of the book's characters, of whom only Adso, William, and Bernard stick out in my mind. The rest of the cast of monks scarcely develop any identifying traits before they become casualties, making it difficult to remember the motives that are posited for their deaths.

Forge onward through the dense narrative mire, however, and you will be rewarded as something quite intricate and lovely takes shape. The Name of the Rose is a rich artistic work in which every element of the plot serves to underscore the themes of apocalyptic prophecy, fear and repression of dissidence, and intellectual ambition versus piety. As the final pieces fall into place, we join the characters in melancholic reflection, sad to say farewell to this vividly realized world.

Jeni Enjaian

I should not have bothered with this book. I have no recollection of why I put this book on my to-read list to begin with. (Of course, I did put this book on my list six years ago so that's part of the problem.)

When I first checked out the ebook, I thought I should perhaps abandon it then. I could not understand the book or the purpose. It seemed from the first page that I was in for a boring read. I thought that, perhaps, things might improve. Alas, they did not. They descended into an abyss of boredom.

At times Eco's narrative peeked out through the curtain of obscure religious nonsense but then quickly disappeared as if allergic to the sunlight.

I persevered to the end because I am stubborn and refuse to abandon books once I've started unless there is something absolutely objectionable in it. (I think I have abandoned less than 5 books in my life.)

I do not recommend this book at all.

Foucault's Pendulum

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