A myterious place full of shadows and whispers, and amid the daily routine of a high perched Abbey a suicide of a young monk
happens. And we wonder as the plot unfolds if it is indeed a suicide. Suspicions are raised as other monks mysteriously die. William of Baskerville on a visit to the Abbey, accompanied by his apprentice Adso of Melk whose words we read throughout the book, have only one and only choice to play the role of detective. William have tremendous logical and deduction skills, which will slowly help him and his apprentice to solve the mystery of all the murders. The
atmosphere is heavy, and in the incessant fog everybody is scared and suspicious of one another. We see the adventure through the apprentices eyes and cannot help but get drown into a fascinating world of knowledge and danger. What to say of the
medieval library built like a maze where our two heroes search in the dark some clues about the cases there are “working on” and of all the manuscripts that become in themselves characters of the book. The book is full of knowledge of the medieval scholastic methods and has a indiana Jones feels to it. One is completely immersed in an atmosphere of mystery, of medieval religious times and litterature. William manage to solve all the murders, and it is delightful to see him go through all deductions and intuition along with observations. The book also depicts and critizise the role of the inquisition as toward the end we see them taking control of the situation.
The book is historical without beeing boring, is fictional at the same time, has murders and knowlegde, what should we say this book is a master piece that once you start will not be able to put down. Not to mention the twist at the end that is highly entertaining.