Rating: 
Summary: This is Umberto Eco, not Danielle Steel...
Review: If you are comfortable reading Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Whitman, Faulkner, Hemingway, etc... you will not have any trouble reading this book. Eco doesn't fare any worse than all the above.Those who claim that the book is too obscure for them, perhaps shouldn't bother to write a review. The fact that you don't understand something, doesn't mean that it is bad. Do you understand God, life, love, poetry, history and humanity? If you answer was no, does that mean that they're bad? This book includes a little bit of it all. It is by far one of the best works of contemporary literature. If there would ever be a definition of post-modernism, this book would be it.
Rating:
Summary: Tastes great, more brain-filling
Review: It's true: If you think that the Masons are those guys at the veterans day parade in funny hats, if the phrases 'Knights Templar' or 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion' mean nothing to you, and if all you know about Italian history is that they were on the bad guys' side in WWII, this book is going to be quite difficult for you. But, if you have ever been or lived with an occultist; if you got a kick out of Robert Anton Wilson's work and still remember some of it through the drug haze; if you are morbidly fascinated with what the religious impulse and the love of conspiracy theory does to the human mind, this is a must-read. This book is an example of perhaps the most difficult feat of all for a writer - the combining of a genuinely exciting and moving plot with a genuinely fascinating set of ideas. Where Eco does err, he errs on the side of too much idea and too little plot, but in the end, the balance comes out with a fantastic climax.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better books you are likely to buy
Review: This book was one of the best that I have ever read. I agree that the book stands apart not in its literature but more in the plot, the vast amount of work put into it (probably the most Eco ever did), and the lesson it teaches. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book throughout, and it showed us all that you do not have to use long and over-planned sentences to succeed in creating a masterpiece novel and probably one of the best endings ever written.
Rating:
Summary: I'll be reviewing the reviewers of this book
Review: What's the deal with this? A man can't even write an interesting book anymore without being accused of such dreaded things as being a "pseudointellectual" (oh this word is just so hip, it almost makes me feel like a pseudopseudointellectual to be using it), or being . . . gasp . . . "tedious and dull". Give the guy a break. If you didn't like it, then just say you didn't like it. And, by all means, why the hell take things so seriously?
Rating: 
Summary: Conspiracy Theory Much Larger than JFK
Review: Eco magnificent as usual. This is the most ambitious conspiracy theory novel that western literature will ever produce. The presence of confusing loose ends makes this book great because it requires the reader to take from it what he or she inquisitively puts into it.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much to be believed!
Review: I am a big fan of Umberto Eco. "The Name of the Rose" is one of my all-time favourite books, so I was looking forward to reading this one. Eco is an excellent writer. His craftmanship cannot be beat, but this book disappointed me. The premise was a good one, but to me it just didn't seem to get there. I didn't grow to care about the characters, and there was too much symbolism and "off the wall" ideas for my taste. I read the entire book because Eco is such a good author, and I thought I'd get the point, but I never really did, and was very disappointed at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Escutium loctotum
Review: A right riveting read! It is without doubt the best book I have ever read. I use it to as a benchmark to read others. Shame he is Italian...should have been written by an Englishman!
Rating:
Summary: On Eco's thinking while proccessing this book
Review: An extremely complicated story, if someone wants to go beyond the first level of understanding this book. Eco goes through an immense amount of information regarding hermeticism, history. Although the book carries several phrases and facts that require a quiet good background in semiotics, the description of those lack in beauty comparing them with ones from The Name Of The Rose.
Rating:
Summary: it should have been edited
Review: While reading this book I have been taking frequent breaks to work my way through a tall stack of scientific papers that have accumulated on my desk. If Eco's book was about epidemiology, I would not have noticed that I have been switching from fiction to scientific papers and vice versa. This illustrates book's main shortcoming: Eco's tome is thoroughly researched and well thought-out, but it suffers from the same affliction as does much of academic writing in that it is simply not good literature. Perhaps Eco was trying to write "Dumas Club"... If I was reviewing Eco's manuscript for a publisher, my advise would be to shorten the manuscript and try to make characters in it more human and compelling. The translator also goofed up in a couple of places and some of Eco's "scientific facts" are off the mark. Final advise to the prospective reader: read it during the darkest part of winter and be prepared to skip some of the boring laundry lists and displays or erudition.
Rating:
Summary: No one seems to understand this VERY important novel!
Review: Why does no one understand this novel? It's not about the historical references. You don't need to know anything about the Priory of Zion or the Hundred Years War or whatever. All you need to do is read the book and think about conspiracy theories. Are they compelling? Why? What about esotericism compells you? Then absorb the ending. What does Aglie's revelation MEAN? A whole lot, I'll tell you that. It's like 'The Sixth Sense' cubed as far as endings turning the whole story upside down. This book is nothing less than an encapsulation of the Christian mind, namely, the perfect innoculation against mystery and esotericism. Absorb its lessons and you will never wonder who runs the world or if there's a conspiracy or whatever. It won't matter.
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