The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
I finished reading this book yesterday evening (I especially liked the author’s commentary at the end).
This was a very interesting book; I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like it. At times it seemed a bit “thick” for me, but at other times it was a total pleasure.
One thing that really struck me was what a different world it was in past centuries when the Church ruled the world. And it is so hard to imagine a world where people were forbidden to avail themselves of knowledge. The idea that knowledge was evil; how totally bizarre! But that is how it was.
And Ingersoll’s Vow comes to mind at this point. To realize the freedom to use one’s mind and learn what one wants to learn and think what one wants to think about. To think that this was an unknown concept during much of our history. We really do have a lot to be thankful for if we think about it much at all!