The Name of the Rose
In November of 1327, the Franciscan William of Baskerville and his young Benedictine novice Adso of Melk arrive at a wealthy Italian abbey nestled in the Apennines for a theological conference between Pope John XXII's delegation and the spiritual Franciscans. They have barely dismounted when a young illuminator is found dead at the foot of the abbey's great octagonal library, and the abbot quietly asks William to investigate before the papal envoys arrive. Over the next seven days, more monks die, each death echoing one of the trumpets of the Apocalypse, and William's path circles closer and closer to the labyrinth of the library itself, where a single forbidden book is at the center of everything. Umberto Eco's first novel, published in Italian in 1980 and in English in 1983, blends medieval semiotics, Sherlockian deduction, ecclesiastical politics, and a deep love of books into one of the most unusual bestsellers of the twentieth century.
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In November 1327, English Franciscan friar William of Baskerville arrives at a wealthy northern Italian abbey with his novice Adso to prepare for a theological debate. A young illuminator has been found dead at a tower, and over seven days six more monks die, each in a way drawn from Revelation.
Yes. The Name of the Rose includes extensive untranslated Latin, dense theology, and the philosophy of medieval semiotics. Most readers find the central murder mystery propulsive once they accept the digressive style.
Yes. Jean-Jacques Annaud directed a 1986 film adaptation starring Sean Connery. A 2019 Italian-language miniseries starring John Turturro also exists.
The Name of the Rose was written by Umberto Eco, published in 1980 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The Name of the Rose is 518 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Name of the Rose takes most readers 8 to 11 hours to finish.
The Name of the Rose is a standalone novel by Umberto Eco, not part of a series.
The Name of the Rose is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.