good morning good morning everyone
welcome to better than food book reviews
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trying to do microphone here we're gonna
see how this goes anyways okay
trying to get in the talkative mood and
just kind of woke up recently sort of
words what did it yeah coffee does help
with that the girls at the coffee shop
told me this morning that the last time
I came in there to get an iced coffee
they actually had just filled up the cup
by accident with cold brew concentrate
pure toddy concentrate which weren't a
normal human being would have been
catastrophic leak affan a ting probably
rendering them in the hospital for me I
didn't even notice and that's probably a
bad sign but unimportant anyways today
Umberto eCos the name of the Rose this
is a long overdue gothic classic
essential reading for everyone a true
pleasure to soak in and just enjoy the
journey although I will admit maybe in
the colder seasons but regardless of
when you read it this is one of the
absolute best and you'd really be
hard-pressed to find a better way to
spend your time period Umberto Eco is an
Italian author philosopher essayist and
semiotician meaning he studies the
meaning of symbols the mystery and
meaning of symbols permeates the name of
the Rose like hot blood and soft linen
this is a murder mystery but that's the
least important thing about
it's not what the book is about it's
about how it's about it and I guarantee
you've never read anything like this
the setting is an Italian a bay in the
14th century the year 1327 our main
character William of Baskerville is
called to this Abbey for a theological
discussion or a debate he brings along
with him his trusty novice Adso when
they arrive at the Abbey all of these
monks are very concerned because there's
been a suicide of one of the monks and
then others start turning up dead
the thing you have to know about William
is he is an exceptionally smart
individual with a real scathingly
perfect penchant for logic and
rationality he has an incredible ability
to solve complex puzzles he's extremely
articulate and he's one hell of a
well-read man William and adds up again
realize that there is something hidden
in the a bay there's something going on
at night there are things in the shadows
there's a labyrinth een an ancient
labyrinth in library which is explicitly
off-limits and somehow all of this is
related to the Inquisition but who is
pulling the strings and how we don't
know there are literary references
everywhere in this novel which is what
makes it one of the greatest death books
to read Umberto Eco was fascinated by
the connectedness historically of all
literature and it summed up perfectly
when William is in the library in this
little passage until then I have thought
each book spoke of the things human or
divine that lie outside books now I
realized that not infrequently in books
speak of books it is as if they spoke
among themselves in the light of this
reflection the library seemed all the
more disturbing to me it was then the
place of a long centuries old murmuring
an imperceptible dialogue between one
parchment and another a living
a receptacle powers not to be ruled by a
human mind a treasure of Secrets
emanated by many Minds surviving the
death of those who had produced them
where I've been their conveyors this is
something that a friend of mine says all
the time he said happy great
even the character William of
Baskerville is an obvious literary
reference to Sherlock Holmes out of the
Baskervilles and also to William Locke
him another Franciscan friar the blind
librarian who watches all of the books
is named Jorge of Burgos which is an
obvious reference to jorge luis borges
who was a massive influence on echo so
you're waiting throughout the book for
these earth-shattering pearls of wisdom
that William will just drop from time to
time and as well as the rich dense
character design of everyone in the book
you can smell the pig's blood being
stirred in the barrels and you can feel
the dark cold weather and the wet musty
stone of the abbey philosophy and heresy
and books about books about books yeah
that's a good book the plot there's a
lot of twists and turns that lead to
nowhere and it can get complicated but
even if you weren't trying to get truly
nitty-gritty about understanding each
and every reference and meaning of the
symbols
none of the pleasure is diminished it's
a book to read again and again and again
for the rest of your life books are not
made to be believed but to be subjected
to inquiry when we consider a book we
mustn't ask ourselves what it says but
what it means far better than food all
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and of course I have an event of ever
having done kissing your ass thanks for
sticking around I have more book
suggestions than I'd know what to do
with I'd I'll be reading well and to
I'll be reading till I'm dead now so
always remember what mr. John Waters
said if you go home with someone and
they don't have books about books about
books about books about books about
books about books about books don't
them have a great day
see you soon