Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Just saw in the Danish news that Umberto Eco died Friday, age 84. 5-stars is something I rarely give a book. His The Name of the Rose is one of the few. I want to re-read it someday.

He has two books on the list: Foucault's Pendulum and The Name of the Rose. Both are from the core-list.

I read Foucault's Pendulum back in 2004-2005. Great book. I read it twice. The second time I looked up all the arcane references to enigmatic, obscure historical figures. Great knowledge lost with him. Professor of semiotics, philosopher, and weekend novel writer whose books were better than most full time writers could ever produce.

I read The Name of the Rose twice in English, once in Polish, watched the movie three or four times, and recently listened to an audiobook. I simply love it. And couldn't agree more: the 'weekend novel writer' in his own words, was brilliant and doesn't cease to surprise me with his immense knowledge of the medieval world, philosophy, all of it put into a relatively light form, fascinating and inspiring. Other novels of his I read with various success (some only started and didn't finish), but for this one alone I am regretting deeply he will not spend another weekend writing...

I'm currently reading The Name of the Rose and am about 50% complete. The author spends a lot of time talking about the fine line between good and evil. At one point he states that what is good in one situation can be bad in another. Is this a typical theme for Eco?