The Name of the Rose Author:Umberto Eco (Translated by William Weaver) The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. His delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror. The body of one monk is found in a cask of pigs' blood, another is float... more »ing in a bathhouse, still another is crushed at the foot of a cliff.
Brother William turns detective, and a uniquely deft one at that. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon- all sharpened to a glistening edge by his wry humor and ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where "the most interesting things happen at night.
As Brother William goes about unraveling the mystery of what happens at the abbey by day and by night, readers step into a brilliant re-creation of the fourteenth century, with its herbal smells and dazzling architectural sights, its dark superstitions and wild prejudices, its hidden passions and sordid intrigues. And the author, Umberto Eco, conjures up this world with such grace, ease, wit, and love that the reader is utterly intoxicated with the place and time.
"The Name of the Rose": A gloriously rich blending of thriller and Gothic novel, intellectual fireworks and storytelling virtuosity.
*When this book was written in 1980 it was a bestseller in Italy, France, and Germany, the winner of Italy's two most prestigious literary prizes and the French award for best foreign work- a masterful tale set against the turbulence of medieval Italy.« less