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The Name of the Rose

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The Name of the Rose

By: Umberto Eco
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

This hugely engaging story of murder, superstition, religious politics and drama in a medieval monastery was one of the most striking novels to appear in the 1980s. The Name of the Rose is a thrilling story enriched with period detail and laced with tongue-in-cheek allusions to fictional characters, the most striking of which is the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville, who displays many characteristics of Sherlock Holmes. Although he looks at the past through a postmodern lens, Eco catapults his listeners into the dark medieval world as Brother William tries to discover why people are dying inexplicably and nastily in the monastery. There is something not altogether right within the library that is the pride of the establishment.... The old man Adso, who was an impressionable novice at the time, tells the story.

©1980 Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri-Bompiani, Sonzongo, Etas S.p.A (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Historical Mystery Middle Ages Fiction Exciting
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I have been looking forward to The Name of the Rose for some time. Unfortunately, I found it tough going with the narration and inflection. It was distracting from the story at times. Whilst I did make it through I picked up my physical copy to reread because I feel I missed parts of this story.

Classic story... Difficult at times...

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The book is a masterpiece. The narrator was perfect. I’ll listen to this again and again. A wonderfully deep book and audiobook. Eco was the master. Thanks 🙏🏻

Unbeatable

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fascinating but this is the one time I wished for an abridged version, many tangential diversions

detailed and long

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Absolutely wonderful story.The narration was excellent capturing all the nuances of a mystery set in the midst of monks, books and the eternal love of god.Scholarly, yet with the lingering angst of a novice in search of love and the meaning of life.

Classical literature entwined in a mystery.

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A book which was recommended to me by a previous landlord who was somewhat of a philosopher, I was intrigued and must say very impressed and entertained by this book.
Different from anything I've read before. great read!

Brilliant

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My lack of any Latin and the absence of desire for or trust in religion was a continual source of frustration however the plot had me in and I’m glad I persevered. I guess it served to reinforce my long held belief that the pope in rome and his henchmen are a far worse blight on society than that other evil the Italians export around the globe - the Mafia.

Challenging but it kept me in

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Eco's work can be unsettling to new readers and this is no different. Sleuthing Holmes-like for clues can easily lead to a long dissertation on the anthropomorphic carvings on a church door, the arrival of a classic baddie likewise leads to a history of theoretical and real poverty in the Catholic church. It can grate and cause the finger to head towards the fast forward button. But don't. Eco builds a universe that is physical, intellectual, and spiritual, each weaving around the other to construct a world (the abbey) within a world - part mirror, part reality, part neither. The novel builds and builds, the characters flitting back and forth with increasing urgency as time counts down to a long-promised armageddon. Let this version, beautifully narrated, flow over you and you will emerge from the other side refreshed, intrigued, and wary. Highly recommended.

Signs of (and for) the times

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An incredible, erudite masterwork of crime fiction and spiritual philosophy, performed with an equal commitment and excellence.

Brilliant

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I had read this amazing book many years ago & hoped to learn the meaning of the title by listening to the book. I have to say, if the title or its significance was mentioned I missed it.
But I still very much enjoyed this Audible version. Now I’m searching for the movie.
I enjoy mysteries & detective work & found the ancient version just as enthralling as a modern mystery.

The narration brought the book to life.

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I was intrigued by the story, but sometimes found long stretches of Latin to be disorientating, I don't think it translates into audio form very well. In the original book form, I could have looked up the words or taken a guess at the meaning from my primitive understanding of romance languages; in audio form they were meaningless. I sometimes found the narrator hard to understand even in English, having to skip back and listen intently, but his voicing of the various characters was quite good. If audible has a 0.75x playback speed instead of just 0.5x it would have helped.

I found the narrators pacing a little fast.

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