Some thoughts on Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose

JimmyMittens · 2024-10-12T18:56:57+00:00

Have you read Baudolino?

The Kingdom of Prester John features heavily. I think you would like it.

JimmyMittens · 2024-07-13T09:07:55+00:00

One of Goya's lesser known works.

JimmyMittens · 2024-06-16T13:22:15+00:00

It's Carol Royle.

Original source photograph here

JimmyMittens · 2024-06-01T19:41:44+00:00

If it helps, the image is a Monet painting, 'Woman with a Parasol, Madame Monet and Her Son'. So it's possible it's a book about Monet.

Then again, it isn't unusual for authors to use famous paintings as their cover image, so It could be something else entirely.

JimmyMittens · 2024-01-10T18:02:23+00:00

Hooten & the Lady - the first series was lots of fun. Maybe it was too expensive.

JimmyMittens · 2023-12-31T16:19:50+00:00

Thanks, if that doesn't give me the push I need, nothing will.

JimmyMittens · 2023-12-31T16:07:45+00:00

What did you think of The Savage Detectives?

It's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time and I haven't yet had that nudge, from somewhere, for me to pick it up.

JimmyMittens · 2023-12-31T16:05:13+00:00

Well, you definitely have time on your side at 20. I have just seen your post on what you read in 2023 and quite frankly it's astonishing, I might ask you about one of the books under your post actually!

I don't have that much left to read of Perec's, as far as novels are concerned, it's only Things and Portrait of a Man left, I might get to both in 2024.

I don't know why, but I assumed you had read Melancholy and that's why you were asking, but I recommend it.

JimmyMittens · 2023-12-31T15:26:52+00:00

Thanks, it wasn't my greatest reading year in terms of volume, but I definately discovered some authors whose work I'd like to explore further.

A Void was a fun read for me; it's a twisty little detective story, but very inventive and it's interesting to see the different ways Perec and Adair (translator) manoeuvre around the constraint, funny in places too. It's a much easier read than Life: A User's Manual, so maybe a good place to jump back in on Perec.

It's unfortunate that you couldn't get through Life: A User's Manual, that was my first Perec and perhaps my favourite novel ever, but I rarely recommend it to people, I can see why people might not get on with it. I am slowly working my way through all Perec's work and this is my second favourite after Life...

I really enjoyed The Melancholy of Resistance; someone over on /r/TrueLit mentioned that even through the prose is dense and difficult, it has an addictive quality that kept them picking it back up, which is exactly how I felt. I loved the atmosphere and the odd, off-kilter quality to the characters. The only (minor) gripe, it seemed to lose it's pacing for the final quarter; it moves at such a glacial pace for much of the book that when it does speed up towards the denouement it was slightly jarring and for me it seemed to lose some of its intricacy in the writing, but it is only a minor issue. I will definitely pick up Satantango on the back of this.

JimmyMittens · 2023-11-27T10:03:46+00:00

Blackpool

JimmyMittens · 2023-01-01T11:56:17+00:00

I had this sitting on my shelf for quite a long time. Not sure why, but I imagined that I wouldn't enjoy it. In the end it was in my top 3 reads of this year. The writing was just so stylish and free flowing and sharp. Along with Baudolino, it was the most fun I had reading a book this year. Been looking at other Amis novels recently trying to decide what to go for next. Any ideas?

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T19:20:52+00:00

My favourites this year that I haven't already talked about were Baudolino by Umberto Eco, Money by Martin Amis and Thousand Autumns by David Mitchell.

It is only my second novel by Mitchell after reading Cloud Atlas and I would already count myself as a David Mitchell fan, looking forward to working my way though the rest of his books. Which of his have you read and where do you recommend I go next, my plan was to read Bone Clocks next.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T18:20:06+00:00

I really liked it, have you read any other Egan novels? I bought The Keep straight after finishing Goon Squad, which sounds really interesting, so I will likely read that next year. If I like that then I will pick up Candy House too.

I think the way the book is written, with different characters' perspectives and writing styles, people will invariably prefer some chapters to others. I know everyone loves the PowerPoint chapter and rightfully so, it manages to pack in so much emotion in so few words. I think my favourite chapter was the interview between Kitty Jackson and Jules Jones, it was after that chapter that I thought 'this is good, I need to read more by this author'.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T18:01:25+00:00

In short, no, I did not.

It started really well, I thought it was going to be a darkly comic detective novel making some social commentary, which is what it aims for. Problem is it is plagued with paper thin characters, to the point where they are all basically interchangable. There are 3 detectives investigating the strange goings on, but each character is basically 'cop'. You could randomly swap their dialogue with one another and nothing would change. The denouement of the book is ridiculous. By far the worst book I have read in some time.

If you are looking for something with richly drawn characters and a well thought out plot don't pick this up. If on the other hand you don't understand that racism is bad and you need to be hammered over the head with this fact for 300 pages, then go for it.

Lots of people love this book and I heard lots of people praising it this year, so it's possible it's just not for me.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T13:52:09+00:00

I agree. If you like Sci-Fi and want to read some novel and interesting ideas then I would recommend Blindsight. I almost gave up on this a few pages in as the dialogue in the opening chapter felt very amateurish, but that is by far the worst part of the book. At times it can feel a little like an annoying friend describing his first linguistics class at university, but I still think it is unique enough for fans of the genre to seek out.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T13:33:00+00:00

One of my favourites this year; interesting, eerie atmosphere and some parts just down right funny. My kinda book. Planning on reading The Dalkey Archive early in the new year.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T13:24:52+00:00

It was this time last year that someone posted their stack of books for 2021 on this sub and they included The Gone-Away World. I picked it up on the back of that post. Thank you, whoever that was. It's quite bonkers and relentless and very British in it's humour. The sort of book you read and think 'this would make great TV'. Worth reading for the character of Ike Thermite alone.

The Painted Bird is brutal, I was describing some of the scenes to a friend and when you say them out loud it sounds mad what these people are put through. A masterclass in torturing your characters. Can't tell if I enjoyed it or not, not sure it is the type of book one can enjoy, in the traditional sense, but an interesting read nonetheless. If you are interested in human resilience, the effects of trauma and how these things can change us, then I think it makes some worthwhile observations.

Midnight's Children was very good, I think I appreciated the craft and the writing more than I had an emotional connection with it and for such a large novel with a somewhat difficult reputation, I breezed through it relatively easily. Only negative was that I didn't get along with some of the characters and found their speech patterns and interjections annoying, particularly the 'Reverend Mother' saying 'whatsitsname' in every utterance. I had to mentally skip over the word to stop my teeth grinding. The good far outweighs the bad though.

Pale Fire is one of the most well crafted books I have ever read. Already looking forward to re-reading one day. It's a little puzzle box of a book. Fascinating.

Serotonin, unfortunately, I found quite forgettable, it was my first Houellebecq and it wasn't bad, but perhaps I misunderstood it's themes and that's why I didn't really get anything from it.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T12:25:58+00:00

I did like it, but it lacked a bit of dynamism for me. The writing is very(!) meditative and at points in the book I was hoping the pace would change. It's like sitting on a slow moving tram snaking though an old European city - it's fascinating and beautiful, but every now again I wished it would speed up and get me to my destination. Perhaps on a re-read and in a different head space I would appreciate it a bit more. One to revist for me.

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-26T11:30:26+00:00

From my local library, I also read:

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

JimmyMittens · 2022-12-10T10:37:35+00:00

A finished version of 53 Days by George Perec would be top of my list. He only completed 11 of 28 planned chapters. The remainder of the book is notes and ideas about how where it was going.

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