Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - The Name of the Rose

Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

25 reviews

laurajeangrace's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

zosiablue's review

Go to review page

challenging funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Was I thinking I was checking out the novelization of In The Name of the Father (IRA story) and not The Name of The Rose (13th century monk crime story)? Yeah but it's kind of fun when I accidentally step into a genre I wouldn't normally read. And so I stepped! This book was:

A murder mystery
A full-on escape room
About the dangers of syllogisms, books preserved but not read, and religious fervor
A what-if theory about the lost second book of Poetics,
and kind of horny.

It was fun but tedious, twisty but repetitive, and tender, no notes on that one. Glad I fell into it.

Content Warnings

directorpurry's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

bookish_bry's review

Go to review page

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

First of all, despite my 5 star rating, this book really isn't for everyone. I myself have a degree in anthropology and enjoy reading rather dense books. It hit a perfect sweet spot for me as a reader, but if you are not one for philosophy, it likely is not a book for you.

This was honestly such a strange books at times and was often hilarious. Eco basically dropped a rather liberal stereotypical Sherlock Holms rip off into an abbey in 1327. The absurdity of the detective novel formula mixed with the setting and content often had me smiling in bemusement. (Which did fit well with one of it's major themes of humor.) If done poorly, the character of William existing in 1327 as a monk could have taken me out of the plot, but it was done very well here.

The mystery was well laid out and I managed to sus out some, but not all of the ending twist, which is the most enjoyable state to be in while reading a mystery novel for me. The events were well foreshadowed, but not in my face.

I really enjoyed the theme of signs throughout the book and I could probably write a research paper on the topic if I was still a student needing a topic for an English class.

"Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means." I will be thinking about the topics brought up in this book for a while.

Content Warnings

nakednames's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this time im really gonna do it

Content Warnings

emmonsannae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’m going to miss being able to lose myself in this book! At once a thrilling example and a brilliant subversion of the mystery novel, this story is just as much of a labyrinth as the library at its center. And it is magnificently researched! The medieval world is so painstakingly constructed that we are able to live in the abbey with the characters. (Because it is so unflinching in depicting the past using the same wording as its sources, there is some brutal content especially relating to women and treatment of heretics—see warnings.) I loved finishing the novel and being able to read U.E.’s notes on his method and literary theory—that took this book from a 4.5 to a 5 for me. The ending isn’t anything like I expected, which disappointed me at first (even though that is very clearly the point). I do think it would be a disservice to the story and to what we’ll call “natural law” for it to have ended any other way. I wish I could start it again from the beginning blind!

Content Warnings

adrizeuza's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Oh boy. I never thought I would be engrossed by 13th century franciscan monastery politics, but look what Umberto did to me! This book was also surprisingly funny, as I did not recall the Sean Connery movie to be especially humurous. Loved the dynamic between the main characters, and especially Adso, what a sweet boy! I really liked the political and philosophical discussions Eco inserted into the story as well: the meaning of books, poverty, sin... I get why some people might find it boring but I love institutional politics, and all these medieval christians were absolutely mental which makes everything much more interesting (and scary). What I disliked the most was that the peasant girl never got to say anything (perceptible to the narrator) which erased her even more from the story as a participant, which I guess was Eco's point about how the poor are instruments of the powerful... but the peasant men got lines...

Content Warnings