The Name Of The Rose
(Eco, Umberto)
The Name of The Rose is a medieval thriller, that takes place in an
abbey well-known for its library, where an episcopal conference has to
begin in order to settle a theological dispute. The first persons who
arrive to the abbey are a monk with his apprentice; they are
immediately involved in several suspect deaths. The monk, helped by his
assistant, begins to investigate and understands that all clues point
to a book that was considered lost, but actually a copy was hidden for
a long time now into the abbey large library and discovered again by
chance.
It is not polite to tell the entire plot of a thriller, but I like to point out some aspects of this novel that makes it unique.
First of all, the tribute to Sherlock Holmes; the name of the monk is
William of Baskerville, a clear homage to the Conan Doyle's novel "The
Hound of the Baskervilles", the apprentice's name is Adso, whose sound
recalls the name of Dr. Watson, and the method the monk uses to solve
the mistery is very rational, as Sherlock's one. Remember that the
story told in this book takes place in the medieval period, when all
things were judged only with respect to their theological relevance;
William tried to use his rational approach also during the conference
to defend his point of view, but religious prejudices got the better of
him.
The second interesting point is the description of heresies that were
very common in that period. The people was profoundly divided by them
and a lot of wars and crusades were proclaimed against them by the
Popes and Bishops. The author discusses this subject in such way that
you may feel the desire to study in depth this period.
And last but not least, there are many cultural references, for
instance the name of the old blind librarian: he is named Jorge, as the
famous argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, blind he too. In my
opinion, it is very amusing to read this novel to find all of these
references.
Resumos Relacionados
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- The Hound Of The Baskervilles
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