The Name of the Rose.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I read this novel by Umberto Eco recently and throughly enjoyed it. The only way I could describe it would be as a Sherlock Holmes style mystery set in a medieval Italian monastery. It also includes a great amount of detail on the religious and political situation during the era its set in. I haven't seen the film version but I've been told its quite a good adaption. What are other peoples opinions on it?

coffee_cake

It's been a long time since I read it, but I quite enjoyed it. I didn't realise there was a film version, I must look that up.

The only way I could describe it would be as a Sherlock Holmes style mystery set in a medieval Italian monastery.

Sums it up, all right

Giselle

I loved that book from top to bottom.:)

The film version starred Sean Connery and was very atmospheric, but as usual the movie covered much less than the book. Was very enjoyable though.

Denerick

One of my favourite books. Check out Baudalino if you're interested in Umberto Eco; its quite different, and gets engrossed in medieval mythology in the second half of the novel.

The film version is decent (Starring Séan Connery) but it struggles against the novel, which really is one of the great novels of the last half century.

hatful

It's a classic Foucault's pendulum is good as well but a little hard going in parts.

If you've read The Name of the Rose there's a good interview here with Umberto, he mentions that Dublin is a favorite city of his-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/133_wbc_archive_new/page2.shtml

Earthhorse

Hated the book. Loved the film.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Earthhorse wrote: »

Hated the book. Loved the film.

What did you dislike about the book, out of curiosity?

Earthhorse

Didn't care for his style at all. He has this way of describing things wherein his sentences essentially become interminable lists. Found that really irritating; it was as if he couldn't decide which of ten ways describe something and ended up settling on all ten. The chapter titles would also give away what was about to happen in the next chapter, thus dissolving a lot of the tension. I realise both these features were deliberate choices on the author's behalf but I found they really impaired my enjoyment of the book (to the point where I gave up on it).

Denerick

Earthhorse wrote: »

Didn't care for his style at all. He has this way of describing things wherein his sentences essentially become interminable lists. Found that really irritating; it was as if he couldn't decide which of ten ways describe something and ended up settling on all ten. The chapter titles would also give away what was about to happen in the next chapter, thus dissolving a lot of the tension. I realise both these features were deliberate choices on the author's behalf but I found they really impaired my enjoyment of the book (to the point where I gave up on it).

Theres your problem! This is a book you have to persevere with.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I liked the style of the book- it seemed like the way a man like Adso would actually have written his story. And I liked the chapter titles because they only gave away the vaguest details, meaning I kept reading to see what exactly would happen.

Asry

I would have liked to have liked it, if that makes sense, but I didn't. I just found it very detailed and dry...which is weird because I love Dickens and things like Gormenghast but for some reason I just wasn't hooked on this.

I too, gave up. /hide

Einhard

The book is one of my favourties. It's a cut above most things that I've read, and it's one of those books where erudition and education come together as one. I'm a medieval history geek, so I loved the setting, but what really struck me was how Eco seemed to get into the medieval mind. Obviously, his characters are fictionanal, but none of them felt obviously so, and one could read the work without doubting the period or the characters. I've started a thread on historical fiction because I've read Eco, and hope to read more like him. Unfortunately though, it seems I started at the acme of historical fiction, and from now on, it's all down hill.

Earthhorse

Maybe I need to give it another shot but I know my taste fairly well so I'm pretty sure I'll feel the same on a revisit.

Denerick

Einhard wrote: »

The book is one of my favourties. It's a cut above most things that I've read, and it's one of those books where erudition and education come together as one. I'm a medieval history geek, so I loved the setting, but what really struck me was how Eco seemed to get into the medieval mind. Obviously, his characters are fictionanal, but none of them felt obviously so, and one could read the work without doubting the period or the characters. I've started a thread on historical fiction because I've read Eco, and hope to read more like him. Unfortunately though, it seems I started at the acme of historical fiction, and from now on, it's all down hill.

*sigh*

I know that feeling. Once you've read Eco and Graves it all goes downhill

Blush_01

I forgot I was reading this a while ago. I must root it out (currently have 6 or 8 boxes of books in various locations around the house from when I moved at the end of Feb and anything I was reading is "somewhere"). From what I remember of what I had read, I really enjoyed it.

IvyTheTerrible

Oh I loved this book, gripped me completely.

Be||e

Oh man, I tried to read this book twice and failed! Both times I had it out of my college library so long it was overdue, and I left it back.

I find Eco really hard to read. I managed Foucault's Pendulum and conceded that it was worth the hard slog. I got about a quarter way into The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana before I'd had enough of quotes about fog. I do intend to return to The Name of the Rose as I was intrigued by the story - I'll have to buy my own copy next time!

I think I remember the place I got stuck on my second attempt. There was a really long, descriptive sentence about the inside of a church, as I recall. I remember reading it, thinking "this is one long sentence." I then looked back and realised that the sentence was about two pages long! :eek:

I don't know why I find Eco so particularly difficult - it's unusual for me to leave books unfinished... I blame the translation.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Be||e wrote: »

I think I remember the place I got stuck on my second attempt. There was a really long, descriptive sentence about the inside of a church, as I recall. I remember reading it, thinking "this is one long sentence." I then looked back and realised that the sentence was about two pages long! :eek:

Yeah, wasn't a fan of that bit myself!

Giselle

Earthhorse wrote: »

Maybe I need to give it another shot but I know my taste fairly well so I'm pretty sure I'll feel the same on a revisit.

Its probably a bit of a 'Marmite' book.

If you gave up the first time, there's probably little likelihood of you enjoying it more the second time if its just not your cup of tea.