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
- 1569 Views
Nabokov's The Original of Laura
08/10/2009 08:19:01 PM
- 1088 Views
I'd love that.
08/10/2009 08:25:39 PM
- 1108 Views
Well, we could always discuss Nabokov in December.
08/10/2009 11:18:57 PM
- 912 Views
I'd be up for reading Doctor Zhivago.
08/10/2009 10:08:09 PM
- 937 Views
yeah, me too. only need to find it in a library near me. *NM*
08/10/2009 10:09:32 PM
- 389 Views
Don't be cheap. Buy it.
08/10/2009 11:16:18 PM
- 946 Views
Well, I would, but I don't like online bookstores.
09/10/2009 01:19:19 AM
- 987 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
- 946 Views
AS Byatt - Possession.
08/10/2009 10:21:39 PM
- 943 Views
i loved that book!!! she is amazing. just wonderful writing... *NM*
13/10/2009 08:44:59 PM
- 375 Views
How about a classic novel?
08/10/2009 11:30:31 PM
- 1157 Views
You have a very strange definition of classics... *NM*
09/10/2009 01:20:37 AM
- 416 Views
Replace "strange" with "erroneous" and I'll agree with you.
09/10/2009 02:09:27 AM
- 914 Views
Really?
09/10/2009 03:08:53 AM
- 1387 Views
for classic science fiction, your list contained one I could support...
09/10/2009 11:06:34 AM
- 942 Views
You said "classic novel". Science fiction doesn't generally meet that standard.
09/10/2009 02:52:01 PM
- 999 Views
I like your list.
09/10/2009 03:02:09 PM
- 904 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
- 400 Views
And what book would that be???
09/10/2009 03:47:49 PM
- 942 Views
Foucault's Pendulum seems like the obvious one.
09/10/2009 03:58:37 PM
- 1000 Views
Based on past experiences here and elsewhere, it'll be hard to choose the "right" book
09/10/2009 02:46:22 AM
- 1224 Views
That Hitchhiker book is as genuine as the "new" Winnie-the-Pooh book
09/10/2009 02:54:23 PM
- 964 Views
Perhaps, but it's worth remembering that...
09/10/2009 03:45:53 PM
- 871 Views
Adams killed Arthur Dent for a reason
09/10/2009 05:02:23 PM
- 984 Views
The movie was not faithful to the books in any meaningful way. *NM*
09/10/2009 08:58:01 PM
- 383 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
- 397 Views
Right.
10/10/2009 02:37:08 AM
- 888 Views
One little thing
10/10/2009 02:39:01 AM
- 964 Views
Perhaps
09/10/2009 06:08:17 PM
- 996 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
- 881 Views
A question for you all.
09/10/2009 03:04:17 PM
- 906 Views
You didn't mention the rapture! If that happens, will the club still be on? *NM*
11/10/2009 07:51:59 AM
- 557 Views
I'd say yes. Pretty sure the people here will be Left Behind. *NM*
11/10/2009 12:39:05 PM
- 481 Views
Some will probably even be actively serving the Antichrist.
11/10/2009 04:16:45 PM
- 1081 Views