![The Name of the Rose](https://cdn.slatesource.com/d/0/5/d0526d77-0248-46ee-b6b2-4d3a142fca58.webp)

# The Name of the Rose

- [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/the-name-of-the-rose)
- By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph)
- Arts & Culture
- Created on May 4, 2026

![](https://cdn.slatesource.com/d/0/5/d0526d77-0248-46ee-b6b2-4d3a142fca58.webp)

## The Name of the Rose

A medieval murder mystery written by a semiotician. Eco makes the labyrinth of the library the labyrinth of knowledge itself. Extraordinary.

## The Forbidden Library

Umberto Eco's 1980 debut novel is set in a wealthy Italian Benedictine abbey in 1327, where the English monk William of Baskerville and his novice Adso of Melk arrive on a diplomatic mission and find themselves investigating a series of monk deaths. The abbey contains a legendary library of forbidden books, a labyrinthine structure no one is permitted to enter. The investigation is also a philosophical inquiry into the nature of knowledge, interpretation, and the danger of ideas. Eco was a professor of semiotics and the novel is dense with medieval theology and literary theory, yet remains a page-turning thriller.

journey·6 Days

# Reading The Name of the Rose

Complexity

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Day

First Day

Arrived

"A monk's eye for detail. The abbey is a world entire. Something is wrong."

> Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry.

Eco was a professor of semiotics and medieval philosophy who wrote the novel as a game, saying he wanted to poison a monk and needed a setting. He invented a medieval Italy of such accuracy that historians have consulted the novel.

The novel was rejected by several Italian publishers who thought it was too complex for a popular audience. It went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide. The 1986 film starred Sean Connery as William of Baskerville.

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