1001 Book Challenge - The Name of the Rose

For any murder mystery, medieval or gothic enthusiasts out there, this book is for you! It is northern Italy in the early 1300s. The Papacy and entire Catholic religion is plagued by religious discord and upheaval. A council is arranged in an isolated Benedictine monastery to try and resolve these issues. It is here that a series of gruesome and baffling murders take place. It becomes William of Baskerville’s task to solve them, and quickly, for the monks superstitiously believe the deaths are being enacted by some divine prophecy––and any one of them could be next. Umberto Eco is possibly the world’s most respected semiotician and this novel shows why. Crammed with symbols and signs, it is hard not to be amazed by his knowledge––of monastic life, religious cults, art, literature, to name just a few. It can be read on all these levels or just one, if one chooses, for it is Eco’s talent to weave them together as not to be alienating. And for the sensationalist he includes sex and homosexuality: no kind of taste is left out in this brilliant story! It's not the world's easiest read by any means, but if you finish it you'll be so glad you did--even if it's because you'd then have legitimate bragging rights for saying poshly, "Oh, the book is so much better than the movie" (which it is). The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco