Eco has written five, and exactly five, novels. The Name of the Rose is by far the easiest and most straightforward of the books. The others would be terrible choices for the following reasons:
Foucault's Pendulum - very long, requires an extensive understanding of esoteric and occult topics to enjoy, interspersed with a very slow personal storyline. In short: inaccessible.
Baudolino - not very good, particularly because a large part of the story is so ridiculous that it destroys any attempt at suspension of disbelief, even among people who read sci-fi and fantasy. In short: bad.
The Island of the Day Before - too slow, too ponderous, too introspective, and it's an epistolary novel to boot, which is a genre that a lot of people don't enjoy. In short: worse than Baudolino.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - haven't read it, but everyone I know who has read it hated it. The complaints sound similar to those of the title immediately above.
Foucault's Pendulum - very long, requires an extensive understanding of esoteric and occult topics to enjoy, interspersed with a very slow personal storyline. In short: inaccessible.
Baudolino - not very good, particularly because a large part of the story is so ridiculous that it destroys any attempt at suspension of disbelief, even among people who read sci-fi and fantasy. In short: bad.
The Island of the Day Before - too slow, too ponderous, too introspective, and it's an epistolary novel to boot, which is a genre that a lot of people don't enjoy. In short: worse than Baudolino.
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - haven't read it, but everyone I know who has read it hated it. The complaints sound similar to those of the title immediately above.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
November Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Club: submissions ended! ... New new edit on 18/10/2009
08/10/2009 06:56:01 PM
- 1591 Views
Nabokov's The Original of Laura
08/10/2009 08:19:01 PM
- 1107 Views
I'd love that.
08/10/2009 08:25:39 PM
- 1123 Views
Well, we could always discuss Nabokov in December.
08/10/2009 11:18:57 PM
- 930 Views
I'd be up for reading Doctor Zhivago.
08/10/2009 10:08:09 PM
- 952 Views
yeah, me too. only need to find it in a library near me. *NM*
08/10/2009 10:09:32 PM
- 396 Views
Don't be cheap. Buy it.
08/10/2009 11:16:18 PM
- 962 Views
Well, I would, but I don't like online bookstores.
09/10/2009 01:19:19 AM
- 1008 Views
Well, but you just said you didn't know if you could find it in the library.
09/10/2009 02:07:54 AM
- 963 Views
AS Byatt - Possession.
08/10/2009 10:21:39 PM
- 961 Views
i loved that book!!! she is amazing. just wonderful writing... *NM*
13/10/2009 08:44:59 PM
- 381 Views
How about a classic novel?
08/10/2009 11:30:31 PM
- 1178 Views
You have a very strange definition of classics... *NM*
09/10/2009 01:20:37 AM
- 424 Views
Replace "strange" with "erroneous" and I'll agree with you.
09/10/2009 02:09:27 AM
- 933 Views
Really?
09/10/2009 03:08:53 AM
- 1407 Views
for classic science fiction, your list contained one I could support...
09/10/2009 11:06:34 AM
- 958 Views
You said "classic novel". Science fiction doesn't generally meet that standard.
09/10/2009 02:52:01 PM
- 1018 Views
I like your list.
09/10/2009 03:02:09 PM
- 920 Views
I think if you're gonna do Eco, picking another book to start with would be wiser... *NM*
09/10/2009 03:28:50 PM
- 407 Views
And what book would that be???
09/10/2009 03:47:49 PM
- 961 Views
Foucault's Pendulum seems like the obvious one.
09/10/2009 03:58:37 PM
- 1023 Views
Based on past experiences here and elsewhere, it'll be hard to choose the "right" book
09/10/2009 02:46:22 AM
- 1242 Views
That Hitchhiker book is as genuine as the "new" Winnie-the-Pooh book
09/10/2009 02:54:23 PM
- 985 Views
Perhaps, but it's worth remembering that...
09/10/2009 03:45:53 PM
- 890 Views
Adams killed Arthur Dent for a reason
09/10/2009 05:02:23 PM
- 1002 Views
The movie was not faithful to the books in any meaningful way. *NM*
09/10/2009 08:58:01 PM
- 391 Views
The movie sucked, yes. Adams had also been dead for four years when it came out. *NM*
10/10/2009 02:19:38 AM
- 402 Views
Right.
10/10/2009 02:37:08 AM
- 907 Views
One little thing
10/10/2009 02:39:01 AM
- 983 Views
Perhaps
09/10/2009 06:08:17 PM
- 1012 Views
So on Monday we'll find out if the widow's cash need resulted in a good book.
10/10/2009 04:21:22 AM
- 897 Views
A question for you all.
09/10/2009 03:04:17 PM
- 929 Views
You didn't mention the rapture! If that happens, will the club still be on? *NM*
11/10/2009 07:51:59 AM
- 563 Views
I'd say yes. Pretty sure the people here will be Left Behind. *NM*
11/10/2009 12:39:05 PM
- 486 Views
Some will probably even be actively serving the Antichrist.
11/10/2009 04:16:45 PM
- 1100 Views