[The Name of the Rose]

Anyone else like Eco's The Name of the Rose? Defintely one of my favorite historical mysteries, and besides, William of Baskerville ranks easily with Holmes himself on my list of favorite sleuths (that I have a preference greater still for Lord Peter is really a mater of personal taste).

I love The Name of the Rose! It's one of those books I can read again and again, and still be swept away.

I'm also a big Ellis Peters fan, probably because I spent so much time watching the Cadfael mysteries on tv with my mom.

I haven't tried the Cadfael mystries myself - would you recommend them?

If you enjoy medieval mysteries, they are quite fun. They aren't anything approaching the complexity or depth of Eco's works.

Another fun series is Michael Jecks Medieval mysteries. They take place in Devon in the 1320's.

I was just reminded that Sharon Kay penman has a mystery series as well. It's not utterly fantastic, but it is enjoyable.

What about Sharan Newman's Catherine Levendeur (sp?) series set in 12th C. France? I've only read the first few so far and have enjoyed them, but to date, the debut (Death Comes as Epiphany) remains my favourite.

Ha! I just noticed that the Sharan Newman books are amongst the Most commonly shared books amongst the group members. *g*

I love The Name of the Rose and Lord Peter is always good too.

I have a Sharan Newman book waiting on my TBR pile. I'm looking forward to it

cadfael is a fun read, kinda like a light version of The Name of the Rose

I got frustrated with The Name of the Rose. Might be something to do with Eco's style, but I haven't (as yet) read another book of his so I can't be sure.

I've tried another three books of Eco's, and only managed Baudolino, though I've liked both of the ones I've finished.

I think I'll definitely have to look into Cadfael, but is it a pure chronological series? Do I have to start at the beginning and read my way through?

Usually any references to previous events are explained a bit. It helps to read them in order, but mostly so you can watch the development of the relationships of the recurring characters.

I am sorry to say I was unimpressed with The Name of the Rose. I thought it started off very well, but as the body count rose it got increasingly baroque and incoherent and never really came back together for me.

I'd have to go back and read it, but at the age of 18 I remember that I enjoyed it, as long as I cut out the bit about the labyrinth and the meanings of the various parts thereof ;)

I loved the Name of the Rose because of its baroque style! But then, I was forced to wade through many, many, many medieval texts in the course of my overeducation, so I appreciated that almost as a literary in joke of some kind.

I read name of the rose and enjoyed it but foucault's pendulum left me cold. I found it a bit pretentious really.

I haven't read The Name of the Rose, but I am reading Eco's The Island of The Day Before. I'd recommend it.

Personally I can't stand Umberto Eco. I liked The Name of the Rose at first... but then I started to realise that his introduction explaining how he had discovered the manuscript couldn't be true, and my Inner Historian was angered. It was clever enough but I agree with quartzite that it fell apart and never came back together.

But, but... Your inner historian needs to give way to your inner reader! Framing techniques are perfectly valid literary devices. See, for example, Shelly's Frankenstein.

I enjoyed The Name of the Rose, The Foucault's Pendulum and Baudolino quite a lot, but I could not finish The Island of the Day Before and, more recently, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. Both of them had some interesting parts, but the lack of a good story did not allow me to get into them, it was like all of his erudition crammed together, without anything to lighten it up for us mortals.

Interesting - I thought Mysterious Flame had quite an interesting narrative - broken up as it were and rearranged by the individual emerging from amnesia. It left everything in question - self history, perception of identity, concept of self, reality of narrative. A great little semiotic semiotics ghost story.

Eumenides - I've been so busy joining groups that I've been forgetting to read them! Sorry about that. My inner historian does need to learn to give way. Somehow I can do that more easily with light things like mysteries than with works like Eco's which are deadly serious. I did enjoy it at first, before I started nitpicking!

Frankenstein is a great example; I need to read it again.

Truly, The Name of the Rose is a difficult book. It helps to have a degree in Medieval History, Theology, Latin, or all of the above.

There is a companion text, cunningly named, The Key to "The Name of the Rose" by Adele J. Haft, Jane G. White, and Robert J. White.

It is currently in print from The University of Michigan Press.

Adele Haft and Robert White are professors at Hunter College, and Jane White is a Foreign Language teacher at a private school in New Jersey.

They do have the credentials to explain it all, and they provide an excellent companion to the book. (If really, really want to know the Latin quotations and the history in the context of the book, that is.)

Moreover, if they are any Audio Books' fan, both the Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum are available (on cassette only, I think. But with iTunes you never know) from Audio Renaissance Tapes.

The eminent stage actor, Theodore Bikel is the narrator of "The Name of the Rose" and everybody's favorite transexual vampire (by way of the Rocky Horror Picture Show), Tim Curry, narrates "Foucualt's Pendulum".

While both productions are abridgements, they are works of performance art.

If you found the books inaccessible, listen to the audio books, and they'll really grab you.