I’m taking the day off except to mention one thing. This film is finally available on DVD. I found it in, of all places, WalMart and it was only $9.00 or so. The last time I checked for availability, it could only be had used in VHS tape format.
The Name of the Rose - DVD
Nobody thought a lot of this film but I loved it for its slyness, it’s interesting depictions of a monastery at that time being a repository for the imperfect and the second sons, and for the performances of Sean Connery, Christian Slater (17 years old, full of promise and utterly beautiful) and Ron Perlman. The mystery is handled well and the whole is quite entertaining in a cerebral sort of fashion.
The Name of the Rose - Book
I would also recommend the book. It is a long and sometimes dark look at life in a medieval monastery. The surface story is a mystery - men are dying in a very strange fashion. Who is killing them and why? The answer is, I think, pretty nifty. If you are a scholar specializing in ancient things, there will probably be a great deal more to this tome for you than there was for me (though I have no complaints whatsoever). Eco has written many allusions, references and so forth into the story that go right over my head. I know they’re there because I’ve read that they are. To me, they are just part of a quite involving story. To a scholar, I’m sure they would be very entertaining indeed.
And that labyrinthine library - all those books! Be still my heart….
Have a great weekend :)
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I will check that out. Besides, two hours of Sean Connery is always a good thing. :)
W. :)
Wendy - You’re right and Connery is perfect for the role of William of Baskerville :) I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for the head’s up. I’ll have to look for the DVD. I read the book before I saw the movie, but have to agree that they’re both excellent. The book’s a gripping read & if I remember correctly, the movie was pretty true to the book. Of course, it could have had nothing to do with the book, but with S. Connery in it, who’d care or notice?
I’ve tried Eco’s, Foulcat’s Pendulum but found it painfully tedious. Have you read any other books by Eco that rivaled TNOTR?
Hi Samina :) Yes, I also thought the movie was as true to the book as it could be given length limitations. And I also loved the book but haven’t been able to get through any of Eco’s subsequent pieces of fiction. I did try to read Foucault’s Pendulum but couldn’t make myself soldier on after 100 pages or so of tedium. Myria has read it and her opinion is that it was boring and the central concept had been much better handled by Wilson and Shea in the Illuminatus books.
I love the movie and tried to read the book once. I say “tried” because I didn’t finish it ... but I think I will some day! ;)
I like any movie that has Sean Connery in it…...
Agnes - The book is definitely…chewy? Not a fast or particularly easy read. But it is a gratifying one :)
Cheryl - You know, I would have said the same thing right up until I tried to watch “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” which was unbelievably (given that it is a non-stop action film) dull. Turned it off halfway through and returned the DVD. You never know :)
when DH and I met that easd the only book we had in common!
Nat - That’s very cool :) Excellent book to have in common.
Eco is one of my favorites, and Name of the Rose my favorite work of his. Have you every read his <u>Postscript to the Name of the Rose</u>? I think more recent paperback editions include it in the back of the novel. It includes his comments on reader responses to the books, and is full of his charm, knowledge and slyness. Says he wrote the book because “I felt like poisoning a monk.”!
Thanks Robbyn! I adore the movie (have it on VHS) so I’m thrilled to see it’s on DVD. Hopefully my Wally World has it too. :)
Rob - Thanks for mentioning that! I’ll have to look for a recent paperback as I should like to read that postscript :)
Bron - Way cool, girl :) I knew you had great taste :) I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
oh, I meaant to also to ask if you had read “possession” by AS Byatt? Another literary read but in a different way
Interesting how the mention of Sean Connery get’s the ladies interested. (wink)) Yep, count me in. I’m not much of a reader (can’t manage to read and knit at the same time) but I wonder if the book is available on CD? Hmmmm…anyway, I’ll have to keep a lookout for the DVD.
I’m a sucker for anything with Sean Connery in it. I still think he was the BEST James Bond ever.
Roxi - It probably is and your local library would probably have it. And yes, Connery, even at his age, is still one of then sexiest men ever - perhaps especially so as an intellectual monk :)
Pam - I’m inclined to agree, though I don’t think Moore was bad and Brosnan does a decent job. We won’t speak of Lazenby (what was Diana Rigg thinking?) or Dalton…erk….
