Adelmo was skilled at comical artwork, especially concerning religious matters. The monastery is disturbed by the death of Adelmo of Otranto, an illuminator revered for his illustrations. This abbey is being used as neutral ground in a dispute between Pope John XXII and the Franciscans, who are suspected of heresy. In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk, a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological disputation. It has received many international awards and accolades, such as the Strega Prize in 1981 and Prix Medicis Étranger in 1982, and was ranked 14th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century list.

The novel has sold over 50 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling books ever published. It was translated into English by William Weaver in 1983. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. It is great fun, brilliantly written, all told with tongue in cheek and very clever but I am not sure that it is great literature.The Name of the Rose ( Italian: Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. Using logical deduction, poking around where he perhaps ought not to poke around and, of course, indulging in a bit of twentieth century semiotics, he finds a very rational explanation for the murders, contrary to the view of others, who suspect that the causes are supernatural. While he is there, in good murder mystery fashion, more murders take place. William of Baskerville goes to an abbey where someone has been murdered, to investigate the murder. The main character is called William of Baskerville and, while he is a medieval monk and has no hound-like links, he is clearly based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation while his adversary – Jorge of Burgos – is clearly a combination of Professor Moriarty and, more particularly, Jorge Borges, whose blindness he shares. It is also a very enjoyable read and one that cannot fail to entrance the intelligent reader, particularly those who like murder mysteries and have a reverence for Sherlock Holmes. It is a very clever murder mystery and full of much learning, highly derivative, very intellectual, witty, superbly written, owing a lot to Eco’s interest in semiotics and an excellent introduction to medieval reasoning (seasoned with semiotic analysis). I have doubts as to whether this novel should really be here. Home » Italy » Umberto Eco » Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose) Umberto Eco: Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose)

Il nome della rosa by Umberto Eco