All Things Medieval discussion

We don't seem to have a thread for the great Umberto Eco, who is a multi-talented medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist.

The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite novels set in the medieval period, and Eco uses his vast learning and erudition to introduce so many different aspects of the time (various heresies, life in a Benedictine monastery, etc.)

I also love Foucault's Pendulum (from which I feel Dan Brown heavily cribbed sections of The DaVinci Code) - this novel re-introduced me to my fascination with the Templars (first awaked by Sir Brian de Bois Guilbert in Ivanhoe).

I have another friend encouraging me to read The Name of the Rose. I am not really into mysteries but she says it is more history than mystery! I really should stop looking at GR and just read my pile of books awaiting me.

Heh! Yes, the mystery is mostly a way for Eco to discuss many other aspects of medieval life (although it is also fascinating and - especially apt for Goodreads people - it hinges on the contents of a famous library :D)

I have The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum on my shelf and they are waiting for their turn to be read. I have heard great things about Name of the Rose.

I love The Name of the Rose - it's just a wonderful book (and Eco's mind seems to be like the fabulous library at the heart of the novel :D)

I also loved Foucault's Pendulum but I think it is a more difficult book - I would describe it as somewhat hallucinatory in some ways (I first read it on a transatlantic flight and thought that it was jetlag that made me feel this way, but it turns out that this was the book itself!)

Huh, that's interesting about Foucault's Pendulum. I just bought it in trade paperback because I owned the small paperback. I like trade paperbacks better, they are easier to read.