Novel
The Name of the Rose
Il nome della rosa
Umberto Eco · 1980
Synopsis
1327. The Franciscan William of Baskerville and his young secretary, the novice Adso of Melk, arrive at a Benedictine abbey in northern Italy, where a theological dispute is to be held between the Franciscans and the pope's envoys. A monk has just died there in mysterious circumstances, and William investigates. Other deaths follow, day after day, and the investigation turns around the abbey's library.
Context
The novel appeared in 1980 with Bompiani. It received the Strega Prize in 1981, then in France the Prix Médicis étranger in 1982. The French translation is by Jean-Noël Schifano, with Grasset, and the English translation by William Weaver appeared in 1983, since revised by Richard Dixon. Eco subsequently published a postscript devoted to the making of the book, and Jean-Jacques Annaud brought it to the screen in 1986.
Who it is for
A novel of more than five hundred pages in paperback, which combines a detective plot with medieval theology.
Prizes and reception
Sold in more than fifty million copies worldwide, it has been available in paperback in France since 1983.
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