Friday, December 22, 2006

The Name of The Rose, by Umberto Eco

Whether you've seen the film by Jean-Jacques Annaud or not, this is a book definitely worth reading. Don't let people's comments that this is a heavy read intimidate you: somehow they say this about most of Eco's books (see review above), but the fact is he writes like a true scholar and thus reading him is not the same as reading comic books. The book comes loaded with history facts and perhaps this is what discourages most readers. If you let yourself get into the plot of the misterious series of deaths in a medieval monastery, the history that some find thick will create a wonderful and solid background for this story.

An English monk, William of Baskerville, who is sort of a medieval Sherlock Holmes type, is called to solve an unlikely crime in this monastery when suddenly it becomes much more than a single death threatening to expose the cloud of hypocrisy that looms over this ominous place. Innocent sinners and blasphemous holy men, intrigue, poison, blood, fire, the inquisition and great characters wait inside, so dig in and think about playing that gregorian chant CD you have while you read this.

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