Saturday, November 12, 2016
Name of the rose NOTR- same league as LOTR
As AA said, this one's written in shorthand, but I had to get it out of the gate because I was overwhelmed by the book, and I had to rush to catch a flight.
The plot is ever-thickening, the numerous arguments are enrapturing, the abbey life is intriquing, the references (Borges, Conan Doyle, Aristotle) are rich, the history-politics (13th century Europe) is captivating. NOTR- sounds like LOTR, and in the same league.
The plot
William of Baskerville is inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and Baskerville by the story of the Hound.
Arguments
Numerous wide-ranging, passionate conversations about the nature of religion (should the church accumulate wealth?), about the nature of heresy (laughter? Illustrations), secular clergy vs. ecclesiastial clergy.
Abbey life
The monks, novices, abbot, librarian, glazier, cellarer...it's a world unto itself. Walks in the cloister, the hours of prayer, the perpetual discourses, the fear of "temptations of the flesh"
References
Aristotle's works, the teachings of the foremost gurus of the time (St Francis of Asisi) , the title of the book, acrostics..
History politics
Church vs empire, the politics of heresy, wisdom in the ivory towers of abbeys vs. the common men
Labels: Books
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