The Name of the Rose

By: Umberto Eco, William Weaver - translator

Narrated by: Sean Barrett, Neville Jason, Nicholas Rowe

The international best seller! A masterful gothic thriller set against the turbulence of medieval Italy.

The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror.

Brother William turns detective, and a uniquely deft one at that. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon - all sharpened to a glistening edge by his wry humor and ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where "the most interesting things happen at night".

As Brother William goes about unraveling the mystery of what happens at the abbey by day and by night, listeners step into a brilliant re-creation of the 14th century, with its dark superstitions and wild prejudices, its hidden passions and sordid intrigues. Virtuoso storyteller Umberto Eco conjures up a gloriously rich portrait of this world with such grace, ease, wit, and love that you will become utterly intoxicated with the place and time.

©1980 Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri-Bompiani, Snzogno, Etas S.p.A.; English Translation ©1983 by Harcourt Brace & Company and Martin Secker & Warburg Limited (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks

Long book. Worth it!

I can imagine Sean Connery as the master as the story progresses, loved it twice.

Even better in audio!

I read this book about 20 years ago (with a dictionary next to me) and was flabbergasted by the quality of his writing and story. It is beautiful.

Imagine my surprise when I listened to it as a refresher and found that this reading was done so skillfully that I understood far more by listening than by reading it to myself.

This author and reader are tremendously talented.

One of the Great Novels Expertly Read

This is the rare combination of an amazingly good book with nearly perfect readers. This book is not for everyone however, as it is quite deep and there are digressions that may distract some people. However, these distractions make the book richer and serve to enhance the action when it occurs.

Excellent reading for exceptional story!

This was one of the best books I've listened to! The readers completely brought the story to life!!

Monk solves mystery

This book is kind of different than the Monk on TV but it's really good.