Resumo de The Name Of The Rose

Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

But then I am a great fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories - and make no mistake, this is, in all but detail, a Sherlock Holmes story. All the hallmarks are there - the clever deductions, the trusty side-kick-cum-scribe and the discomfitingly unconventional approach of a man who is, after all, invited to investigate merely as an incompetent, for the look of the thing. The man even delights in a Holmesian moniker; one William of Baskerville.

There is a great deal of historical detail - Eco seems to have done his research well - but then given his Italian antecedents, it is hardly surprising that he would be at least moderately well versed in the Catholic Church and its strictures. This history interests me greatly, because of my own undertakings - with which I will not bore anyone. Eco accurately namechecks a few historical figures. Bernard Gui, for example, was every bit the monster he is portrayed to be. Interestingly, though, he makes scant mention of the Pope, save for his part in the heresies Gui is sent in to police. This is an almost unforgivable omission, given that John XXII'sinfluencecould have played more of a part in the story.What we have, then, is basically a Sherlock Holmes chassis fitted with interesting mediaeval Catholic bodywork. Could we, therefore, say that the story is a little bit faux ? disingenuous and, perhaps, fraudulent? I personally think not, for whilst the story itself not so much rings bells of Sherlock Holmesian proportions but is a campanologist?s convention thereof, it is still enjoyable. As in Sherlock Holmes, there is much to make us emotionally wish our man Baskerville well on his mission. We love his idiosyncrasies, we delight at his cleverness, we grin at his superiority ? in almost every way, despite the age difference - over his novice helper, and we enjoy the banter between the two, especially when the novice gets the better of his elder-and-better at one crucial point. Also, as in Sherlock Holmes, there is plenty of suspense ? but unlike the more pedestrian stories of Conan-Doyle (remember, the spectre of the penny-dreadful was alive and well in Victorian England), we get more than a taste of the blood-thirsty nature of a paranoid mediaeval Catholic Church.So, in summary, what have we? It is interesting ? and a very good read, if a bit tortuous in places. I would have preferred that Eco had not cribbed so mercilessly from the methods and annals of The Great Detective, for this has only served to cheapen his efforts. Having said that, however, that is the only flaw in what would otherwise be solid literary gold.

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