Customer Reviews

Name of the Rose

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One reviewer here on Amazon was right on the money when he said that reading a novel by Umberto Eco instantly raises your IQ by a couple of points. The Name of the Rose has been my first encounter with Eco's work, and I was for the most part very impressed with his skillful murder mystery set in a 14th century Italian monastery.

The novel works on many levels. It is a compelling murder mystery, as young narrator Adso of Elk accompanies the wise William of Baskerville as he uses logic and semiotics to not only solve a murder mystery, but to decipher labrynths and hidden secrets of the vast monastery library. Interwoven with the murder mystery is a virtual course on philosophy and late Middle Ages religion, as Eco provides detailed accounts of the histories of various sects, includes scholarly debate on topics such as the poverty of Christ, and a history of the Catholic Church leading to the establishment of a papacy in Avignon, France.

One is reminded of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as William and Adso use logic and determination to piece together numerous bizarre deaths and occurences at the Abbey, while encountering obstacles and outright hostility by the Abbot and his librarian, to name a couple. The setting of the novel, and the glimpse into a culture that few of us can even imagine, is reason enough to read The Name of the Rose.

The book is not without its faults however. I think the book should stand alone, (ie you should not have to buy a separate "reader's guide") and I was very frustrated at the numerous Latin phrases that are included throughout the novel with no translation. Perhaps this is more the fault of the translator than Eco himself, but it makes for a difficult reading experience. One does not need to know the meaning of every word in the book to follow the plot, but it is aggravating to stumble across paragraph-long passages or insciptions that are completely foreign to most readers, without so much as a footnote. There are also fairly long digressions involving topics of religious debate or history of minor sects that, in my opinion, were extraneous and contributed little overall to the success of the novel. However, overall, I thought the novel was rewarding, both informative and suspenseful.

I'd like to add to the many reviews of this book only a few comments about the meaning of the famous Latin sentence "Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus". Literaly it can be translated as "The ancient rose subsists thanks to its name, we have only bare names". It is an ancient sentence often quoted by s.c. nominalist philosophers of Middle Ages who thought that our mind isn't able to discover the true essence of things and so it isn't able a fortiori to have the minimum idea of God. In fact in medieval philosophy God was often compared to the figure of a rose; the nominalists wanted to say with the sentence that even God, the supreme being, persists only through its name, i.e. persists upon an extremely frail thing. Names were seen as simple "flatus vocis", "emission of voice" without value. The nominalist philosophers who declared that even God was a flatus vocis were condemned as heretics (a theme that recurs often in the novel). But here the sentence isn't quoted only for its historical value, but also because it can be applied also to the love of the young monk Adso; he meets in the monastry a young woman and perhaps falls in love with her. In his mind she is just the "rose", i.e. God, of whom he doesn't know the name (the woman and Adso speak different languages). It is then a very pitiful and sad thing that of the woman he doesn't know the name, because, if nominalist theories were true, he won't be able to keep with him, in his heart and mind, in his future life and old age, the remembrances of that encounter and of those days which changed his life and mind forever (cf. the pages of the novel where the old Adso comments on those evets).

It is November, 1327. Adso of Melk, the narrator, has accompanied William of Baskerville to a remote, wealthy Franciscan abbey in the mountains of northern Italy. Upon arriving, William discovers that a murder has taken place and the body of the monk, Adelmo, has been discovered outside the abbey walls. The abbot, Abo, is very concerned and charges William with solving the murders. For, not only is the safety of the monks in jeopardy, a papal delegation from Pope John XXII in Avignon could well use the murders as an excuse for investigating the abbey, something Abo definitely wants to avoid. By the time the papal delegation, led by two inquisitors arrives, the situation at the abbey has worsened. Two more monks are dead and two more die soon afterward. The abbot's worst fears are realized when the papal inquisitors learn he has been sheltering monks who were once followers of the condemed heretic, Fra Dolcino. Although the abott dismisses Willliam, he remains and a few hours later, the mystery is solved, two more monks have died and the monastery has been consumed by fire. The Name of the Rose is first and foremost a mystery of the highest order, and it is possible to enjoy it on that level alone. But it is also a charming roman a clef, something I think many readers have missed. We don't have to look far to realize Sherlock Holmes in the guise of William of Baskerville or Adso as Dr. Watson. The blind Spaniard, Jorge of Burgos is easily recognized as the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. Eco also challenges us by thinly disguising figures from postwar Italian politics as various other members of the abbey. The figures in the book thus correspond to other figures in different books or in real life. Each figure also represents a metaphysical concept: William, reason; Adso, mysticism; Jorge, evil, and then, in true medieval fashion, characters are thus pitted one against the other as opposing forces. I hate to see comparisons of this marvelous work of literature to Iain Pears's, An Instance of the Fingerpost. The books are as unlike as night is to day. While An Instance of the Fingerpost goes to great lengths to point out that ultimate truth does exist and can, indeed, be realized, The Name of the Rose is, at its heart, a book about uncertainty, especially the uncertainty of truth. In An Instance of the Fingerpost, the reader is asked to interpret a collection of signs and symbols, which, when interpreted in the one correct manner, will inevitably lead to the identity and motive of the criminal, i.e., the truth. In The Name of the Rose, the search for ultimate truth is far more ambiguous. Near the end of the book, William tells Adso that many hypotheses, false though they may be, can still lead one to a correct solution. And, while certainty is what's pursued in An Instance of the Fingerpost, certainty remains an impossibility in The Name of the Rose. As William says to Adso, "The only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from the insane passion for the truth." Umberto Eco's strength lies in his plotting and his layering. His books are like a collection of boxes, each one opening to reveal yet another and another. I found no such layering in An Instance of the Fingerpost. And, finally, while An Instance of the Fingerpost was certainly a phenomenon, The Name of the Rose is definitely much more. This book is literature, a timeless classic to be enjoyed by many generations yet to come.

Forget the movie version of THE NAME OF THE ROSE. This brilliant book by Umberto Eco is meant to be read, absorbed, considered, held close to your chest before you reluctantly put it down. Filled with complexities - philosophy, historical details, superb characterizations - it does not make for easy reading. I'm a seasoned reader of classics and literary fiction, and yet I struggled through the first pages. What a mistake it would have been to give up! Once I reached page 50 or so, I couldn't put it down.

By now, the plot is well known: a monk and his young assistant (the narrator) arrive at a monastery to investigate heresy at the height of the Inquisition. No sooner do they arrive when their focus is shifted to a series of mysterious murders. Who is behind the atrocious acts, and why? Is there greater meaning to the deaths than first appears?

While the suspenseful plot keeps the story moving forward at surprising speed (surprising, given the language and wealth of historical details), the philosophy of the era is the soul of the novel, lending credulity to the characters and their situations as well as having implications for those living in the 21st century. Issues of censorship, free thought, the power of the written word, and the need for rational thought in chaotic times all come into play.

THE NAME OF THE ROSE is a magnificent example of fiction destined to last. I highly recommend it for serious readers of all tastes.

I loved this book when I first read it 6 years ago so much that it was one of the few things I took with me when I came to US. Reading NR is a many-fold experience, so many reviews are right about it. However I was deeply disappointed with the way Eco is published in English. You see, my Russian edition has about 70 pages of comments ranging from historical to theological ones. Who in this modern world remembers Dolcino or a difference between katars and minorites ?? It is nice when a reader is well versed in both Latin, medieval Deutch and some Italian but at least my Russian translator and editors went to great pains to help me, a reader, along the way. You can see so many comments (read those about "Pendulum", for example) that blame Eco for being a pompous intellectual while it is really the result of modern day education that does not prepare an average reader to deal with such a multi-layered work. Otherwise we would not have people asking about the meaning of last words in novel.

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.

With the past name of rose, names are shed (naked) in future.

This is not a proper review, more a couple of comments about things which the first few reviewers missed (I didn't read all 157 reviews).

One of Umberto Eco's perennial themes, expressed elsewhere in essays, is what he sees as the the similarity between the society of the "dark ages" and that of today. For instance he draws explicit parallels between the heretics and utopian communities of the past and contemporary cults such as Jim Jones, the SLA, the Red Brigades and so forth. This book needs to be read in the light of that; it's not just a historical novel about monks.

There are also obvious references to the work of Borges in this novel, as well as to Sherlock Holmes (William of Baskerville?).

And of course the theme of rationalism versus superstition (not to mention religious war) has been brought into considerably sharper focus by world events since the book was written.

Overall, I can't see why people regard this as a hard book to read. Although there is a lot of historical background, (accurate rather than as some have suggested pseudo-philosophical or invented) it's presented in a vivid and entertaining way, the story keeps you turning the pages, and it's surely the only serious novel to include a recipe for fried cheese.

Before I say anything about the book - I think the Editorial Review and the first Synopsis that appears above should be deleted. The Editorial gives the plot and the villain away and the Synopsis is just plain wrong - it's not the Franciscans suspected of heresy that William is after! Also, he initially arrives to the Benedictine abbey on a diplomatic mission, and gets involved only later in the investigation, and this of the murders, and not the stray Franciscans! Anyway, I first read The Name of the Rose in college, in a well-annotated Korean edition, and at that time I thought it was a great mystery but the historical/argumentative parts bogged it down a bit. Now I am reading it again in English, with a lot more appreciation and interest in Middle Age civilization and politics, and I am savoring every detail. It helps to have The Key to the Name of the Rose at hand, since the English edition doesn't offer any explanations on the Latin or the numerous historical figures mentioned (but The Key isn't perfect either - sometimes the glossary doesn't seem to offer enough pertinent information). I find myself laughing out loud at William's wickedly done impersonations of Sherlock Holmes. As Eco himself says, this is a story of and for people who love books, with all the usual possessiveness, curiosity and jealousy, and it is a really great read.

OK there isn't much I can add to the already large volume of reviews devoted to this book.

Personally I think its one of the best books I've read - I first read it because I had to read something for a school English dissertation and I chose this on a recommendation. It did a pretty good job in providing me with lots to say then and helping me get into university so I've always been grateful to Umberto Eco ever since and I've reread it several times over the last decade and a half since then each time getting a little more out of it which is surely one of the hallmarks of a great book.

Many people have said that this works on a number of levels - detective story, historical novel set in a lost world of great religious and political turmoil, on a more abstract level as a philosophical novel tackling problems relating to our knowledge of the world, of faith versus reason etc. This what to me is so great about it - if it was just a detective novel with a clever plot I've had read it once for my long forgotten English essay and not returned to it since. Instead every time I've read it I've come away with some new thoughts having noticed some new detail or made sense of something that was previously obscure.

I don't agree with some of the other points made - first of all my latin is pretty much non-existent but I didn't have a problem with the latin - there isn't THAT much in there and much of it is more or less guessable from the surrounding dialogue. Ditto the odd piece of French, Middle High German and the scraps of what I think might be Provencal. I don't understand every word but it gives a good impression of a multilingual abbey full of latin speaking monks and adds to the background. Also you don't need to be a philosophy expert or a historian - almost everything I know about religious debates in that period I got from this book. I'm sure an expert in these fields would get even more out of this erudite tome but as it is you get plenty out of it anyhow and it all adds to the realistic quality of the setting.

Some people find the religious debates unnecessary. I think they are very necessary indeed - the book tackles themes of religious faith versus intellectual enquiry, the problems of knowledge, of how a totalitarian state controls the knowledge and freedoms of its subjects etc. These are not just dry intellectual topics they are matters with consequences for the world we live in these "digressions" into religion and history show us these consequences - in William of Baskervilles' world we see how the poor and oppressed flock to the likes of Fra Dolcino and become terrorists and oppressors themselves, we see problems of what happens when religious leaders and ideologues seek too much temporal power, how totalitarian states control and distort reality through the control of information and how they crack down on freedom of thought. Who can honestly say given the last 100 years these aren't relevant today?

I could go on for pages more about this book but I've got to stop somewhere. Clearly from other reviews not everyone will like this but I'd certainly recommend as many folk as possible to give it a go. At times sure it takes an effort but ultimately its worth it.

The year is 1327. A young novice, Adso, and his respected master, Brother William, are invited to an ancient abbey in Italy to discover the truth behind a curious suicide - or murder? - that has recently taken place. On top of this, two rival clerical factions, debating the legitimacy of a vow of poverty, are soon to be arriving at the abbey, and William's learned opinion is requested.

We view the unfolding events through the somewhat naive eyes of Adso. He is a youth plagued with the natural doubts and desires that afflict most every teenager, and on top of this, as the number of murders mount and the political intrigue heightens, he must tackle what seems to be an evil force of destruction, perverting the seven trumpets of the lord, and comes to terms with the not-so-perfect realities of life as a monk. There are times when Adso is unable to handle the unfolding events, retreating into visions and dreams, and occasionally breaking down. William is a strong guide, helping the young man face the realities that we all must face eventually - that our elders are not always our betters.

The murders take place at roughly one a day, each one more gruesome than the last. William and Adso are able to figure out that the murders all seem to be connected with the abbey's library, one of the richest and oldest in the Western world at the time. But unfortunately, the library is off-bounds, as per the abbot's instructions, and even when they do manage to enter the forbidden areas, the library reveals itself to be a labyrinth, filled with danger, mystery and knowledge.

Because we are viewing events 'as Adso', the young novice is a fairly passive character. He serves mostly to bounce questions off William so that the wise brother can solve the various puzzles he faces. William is an extremely intelligent man, able to solve difficult riddles with apparent ease, and we hold him in as much awe as does young Adso. Of course, the downside to this is that we, as the readers, are along for the ride, rather than helping to discover the mysteries for ourselves.

Which raises another problem. Eco is obviously a very intelligent man. Too many authors, writing in medieval times, 'cheat' by either poorly researching the times in which they are writing, or they gloss over places and events. Not so with Eco. He has an intimate knowledge of the time in which he is writing, and he is not afraid to share it with us. Whole chapters will be little more than history lessons, as we watch the Catholic churches in the final throes of its great power. Passages in Latin are casually thrown about by the narrator and the characters, and are not translated. Also, many of the logical puzzles are based heavily around obscure writings and scriptures, which has the unfortunate consequence that, unless you possess a Master's of medieval history, you will never figure the mysteries out on your own. Which, in a lesser author, might be a problem, but Eco manages to walk the fine line of intelligent writing and 'look at me, I am smart' literary boasting. We know he is smart, but we feel as though we are being warmly introduced to the knowledge he has, not beaten over the head with it. Adso functions as a fantastic foil for this sort of writing, as he is nearly as ignorant as we would be. Without the careful explanations of Brother William, we would both be lost.

The sub-plot dealing with the political intrigues of the church are very interesting, but unfortunately, they at times distract from the main story. It is quite possible to be so caught up in the debate on whether Jesus was poor or not that the murders piling up are forgotten, and when they return, with the requisite young monk screaming about the halls, it can seem forced. But at the same time, were these sections to be removed, the novel would suffer from not creating a full enough picture of fourteenth century Catholic life.

The ending is satisfying, and not entirely impossible to guess - though for perhaps the wrong reasons as those that William reasons - but again the problem of Eco's use of obscure medieval terminology and culture raises its head. For us, there can be no shared satisfaction in capturing the villain together, rather, we must sit back and congratulate William on his wisdom.

The main negative of the novel - Eco's intelligence - should not really be viewed too harshly. He is smart, and he does let us know that, but we are welcomed, not rejected for being ignorant. It is a delight to read the intelligent, witty conversations between monks who are extremely knowledgeable in their fields, and perhaps we can learn from that. And happily, through Adso, the comfortingly human, young and naive character, we are able to see this world with fresh eyes, and to be introduced to it rather than closed off.

Umberto Eco is the most complicated and most interesting authors in the world today (if you don't believe me, read Foucault's Pendulum). To call it a "mystery" is vastly oversimplifying things. The book is about discovery, and those who do not want things to be discovered. Shrouded in a cloak of historical reality (the poverty debate between the Papacy at Avignon and the ascendant Franciscan order), clever in even its most mundane details (the labyrinth of the library), the Name of the Rose is easily one of my top ten books of all time. Be forewarned: this book is not to be approached lightly; it is intellectual in every sense of the word, and despite its labelling as a mystery, it does not resemble contemporary mysteries at all.
A word of advice (for any Eco book): if you don't understand something, keep going. Either it will be explained or it will never come up again, in which case it need not be worried about.