What's in a Name: The Name of the Rose

The second book of my Unfinished Business saga is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Here's a little background on my relationship with this book: It was a required reading when I was a junior in high school (Lord knows why they would make teenagers read this difficult book). We weren't even required to read half the book; the teacher gave us a few passages to read and we had to analyze one or we could pick our own. I wrote about a passage where Adso, the narrator, ruminated on a passionate and illustrious depiction of Jesus and heavenly and hellish creatures on the doors of the church. The passage goes on several pages. I received a high grade for the paper and my teacher encouraged me to read the book in full in my own time. A few years later, the book was on sale on Amazon so I bought it in hopes of finally reading it. I didn't make it even to the passage from before.

It has taken me eight long years to read the book from beginning to finish. But by God, I've done it! I legit felt like Rocky at the top of the stairs. I may have done my own victory dance.

It is by far the hardest book I've read in my life. Sometimes, I have to spoil the end of a movie or book for myself just as motivation to get through dull parts because often times, the movie or book is great in its entirety but lacking in certain sections. This is what happened with The Name of the Rose and I'm glad I did it. Also, I was able to pick up on the foreshadowing then and foreshadowing always feels like a nod between the author and reader.

I'm surprised I liked the book as much as I did. It is a bit of a historical fiction about a murder mystery involving monks at an abbey in Northern Italy in 1327. Not exactly my normal read. I like books that capture my attention from the very beginning, and I thought this book would do that because of the opening, however, it was a slow build of a book that didn't completely hold my attention until the middle and even then, it wavered a little afterward. Now the scene that interested me was as Adso and his mentor, William of Baskerville, are climbing the hill to the abbey and they encounter a group of monks and servants in disarray. Through observation and deductive reasoning, William is able to discern that they are looking for the abbot's prized horse and which way the horse went, to the amazement of the group, Adso, and the reader. I thought I was in for some impressive sleuthing, but in fact, the investigation into the murders (yes, plural, a lot of them actually) became a confused mess for William and Adso and a dizzying read for the reader. The mystery was muddled by extraneous religious affairs of the past and an ongoing debate that had little to do with the mystery. Now, don't get me wrong, I thought the prose was smart in creating misdirection about who the murderer was and the conclusion of the truth was clever.

So here's a couple of my notes:

I have a great deal of respect for the research and attention to detail and world building. That being said, the religious debates and history was way too long and extensive. The utility of the details was to show how it trickled down to the abbey and the monks, and perhaps it may have had more of an impact if I cared about the religious unrest of the time, but I do not.

My favorite parts were the true mystery of it all, like when William and Adso got lost in the labyrinth of the forbidden library and the reveal of the murders and the conclusion.

Now this is only part one. Of course, a book that caused me so much mental power and endurance requires two parts. On Thursday, I will talk more in-depth about the actual story. Until then, happy reading!