The Name of the Rose

By: Umberto Eco

Narrated by: Theodore Bikel

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

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 they 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. The story is performed by Theodore Bikel who has starred in numerous Broadway hits, including The Sound of Music, Zorba, and Fiddler on the Roof.

©1983 by Harcourt Brace & Company and Martin Secker & Warburg Limited; 1980 by Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri-Bompiani, Snzogno, Etas S.p.A. (P)1985 by Audio Renaissance Tapes, a Division of Cassette Productions Unlimited, Inc.

Elementary indeed

What disappointed you about The Name of the Rose?

You'd hope that a mediocre detective story would at least be suspenseful, but this one really wasn't. It's neither great literature, nor a guilty pleasure thrill satisfying enough to justify the time spent on it. If there was a philosophical point, it wasn't evident, though the none-too-thinly veiled allusions to Sherlock Holmes were. The story points were all pretty "so what?" and the mysteries solved weren't too intriguing. The psychological development and lives of the characters isn't complexly textured, interesting, or the result of shrewd observation of human nature. Even characters' moral conflicts seem boring. I don't really know why people like this book except that it's in a world that might appeal to a certain aesthetic, but the fact that Eco didn't make that world come alive enough to explore the potential of that aesthetic thoroughly speaks poorly of him. I won't reveal the punchline of the whole story, but good grief. I was disappointed. Neither journey nor destination was stimulating.

Has The Name of the Rose turned you off from other books in this genre?

This book has guaranteed I won't be reading any other Eco.

Have you listened to any of Theodore Bikel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I had no issues with the performance. It was just fine.