The Name of the Rose

De: Umberto Eco, William Weaver - translator

Narrado por: Sean Barrett, Neville Jason, Nicholas Rowe

The international best seller! A masterful gothic thriller set against the turbulence of medieval Italy.

The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror.

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, listeners step into a brilliant re-creation of the 14th century, with its dark superstitions and wild prejudices, its hidden passions and sordid intrigues. Virtuoso storyteller Umberto Eco conjures up a gloriously rich portrait of this world with such grace, ease, wit, and love that you will become utterly intoxicated with the place and time.

©1980 Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri-Bompiani, Snzogno, Etas S.p.A.; English Translation ©1983 by Harcourt Brace & Company and Martin Secker & Warburg Limited (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks

Long book. Worth it!

I can imagine Sean Connery as the master as the story progresses, loved it twice.

Our turn now

It’s painful and awful how closely sections of this book so aptly describe what Americans are experiencing right now. Look out 14th century, here we come!

One of the Great Novels Expertly Read

This is the rare combination of an amazingly good book with nearly perfect readers. This book is not for everyone however, as it is quite deep and there are digressions that may distract some people. However, these distractions make the book richer and serve to enhance the action when it occurs.

Excellent reading for exceptional story!

This was one of the best books I've listened to! The readers completely brought the story to life!!

Monk solves mystery

This book is kind of different than the Monk on TV but it's really good.

what a thrilled story

long? hard? well it's Umberto Eco at it's finest! but for who loves history, and the complicate middle age time it's the best.

A Big Hit in the ‘80s

At first I was engrossed by the rich language, the 14th century history of the Church under Pope John of Avignon, but as the plot unwound, the 7 days of its telling felt like 7 weeks, at least, and I said goodbye without learning if there was even a murderer afoot. Eco must have used every word in every dictionary in this work.

Good historical murder mystery. Get the book?

Well written, but probably not very well suited for audio. I probably should have read it instead. There's a lot of Latin/other languages throughout the book which will likely be lost on most listeners.

The narration fit the tone of the book, but wasn't necessarily the most engaging.

Overall, a good historical murder mystery.

Slightly disappointed by the ending.

Wonderful story, great readers

I read this in High School some 50-ish years ago in high school and a couple times since then, and each time I loved it. Listening to it though...what a completely different pleasure. Nicholas Rowe, Sean Barrett and Neville Jason were perfect. The characters were distinct, each with their own singularly expressive voice. Some might find the descriptions and dialog wordy, but to me those words made people, locations, situations and even animals become easy to picture. The characters are wonderfully complex. Even though I already knew the plot, it's twisty enough (especially with these readers) that I had to force myself to stop listening in order to get some sleep. It's a great book for those who love long, detailed, historical fiction. I'll be listening to this book again.

murder in the year 1329 (true story?)

Book was supposedly written in late 1300s and is a detective story in a monastery in 1329 with monks being killed. There is a LOT of discussion about religious beliefs but I found that interesting. Supposedly a true story but "who knows"?