The name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco is the master of intertextuality, the depth of his reading and knowledge exudes from every page of this work. The influences so vast as the library in which it is based, the text reflects the fragmented narrative that it gives a palimpsest of texts, myths, and ideas woven together in a narrative that is original in its hybridity and synthesis of influences yet has borrowed its imagery and symbolism from other sources. As I read it I was profoundly moved and made to consider th function of a text and an author. What is the purpose of a book and library, is it to preserve knowledge or is it to reatrict and moderate the way in which we have access to knowledge. This book for me is like a collection of glimpses of textx from the past, present and future fused together and woven into an incredibe story that makes you think about the relationship between symbols, books and explaination. The allussions to William Ockham I found most interesting, the concept that the simplest solution more often then not is the best solution. The use of scholasticism and reason is fascinating and the way that William has to balance the semiotics and reason of the event and happeneings that mist be placed into the releveant contexts, the narrative itself fits into multiple contexts as it is Adso’s narrative of his growing understanding of the mystery as it is revealed to him through William. The text has multiple layers that over a plethora of interpretations that spiral into the depths of both scripture and literary theory. The text reveals an complex internal structure comprised of many elements fused together which all in turn reflect out into a broader context. The murder mystery itself becomes a metaphor of the readers journey into the text. The imposition of their own meaning on the ambiguity that confronts them as they read the text. "books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told." This refers to a postmodern ideal that all texts perpetually refer to other texts, rather than external reality. I love the book in its post modern semiotic glory that as a reader causes one to construct meaning, i love the way in which as various meanings are attached to events they become the driving force for events, whilst the truth escapes all those that are involved in the mystery. The very murder mystery becomes truth which is always beyod humans grasp we try to discover it using reason but in the end the only order to the world is beyond our ability to understand and in the end we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that their is no order so to speak. It also explores the role of theories in describing the world, they may not be true to reality but if they fit reality if not the true way then pragmatically speaking they are true.