The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

A spectacular best seller and now a classic, The Name of the Rose catapulted Umberto Eco, an Italian professor of semiotics turned novelist, to international prominence. An erudite murder mystery set in a fourteenth-century monastery, it is not only a gripping story but also a brilliant exploration of medieval philosophy, history, theology, and logic.

In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate a wealthy Italian abbey whose monks are suspected of heresy. When his mission is overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths patterned on the book of Revelation, Brother William turns detective, following the trail of a conspiracy that brings him face-to-face with the abbey's labyrinthine secrets, the subversive effects of laughter, and the medieval Inquisition. Caught in a power struggle between the emperor he serves and the pope who rules the Church, Brother William comes to see that what is at stake is larger than any mere political dispute-that his investigation is being blocked by those who fear imagination, curiosity, and the power of ideas.

The Name of the Rose offers the reader not only an ingeniously constructed mystery--complete with secret symbols and coded manuscripts--but also an unparalleled portrait of the medieval world on the brink of profound transformation.

Umberto Eco's (1932-2016) work has been crucial in understanding the history of the twentieth century and our own time. For a long time, he devoted himself to university teaching, and his essays are required reading at universities all over the world. Obra abierta, Apocalpticos y integrados, La estructura ausente, Tratado de semiótica general, Lector in fabula, Semiótica y filosofa del lenguaje, Los lmites de la interpretación, Joyce's poéticas, Segundo diario mnimo, El superhombre de masas, Seis paseos por los bosques With El nombre de la rose, a novel published more than thirty years ago, he had a triumphant debut in the world of fiction, establishing himself as an author admired not only by critics, but also by the general public. El péndulo de Foucault, La isla del da de antes, Baudolino, La misteriosa llama de la reina Loana, El cementerio de Praga, and Number Cero followed this first success. Umberto Eco's póstuma, De la estupidez a la locura, was published a few days before his death, on the 19th of February, 2016.