-The Name of the Rose

Written by Italian semiotics professor Umberto Eco, this work is set at an imaginary Benedictine abbey in Italy. The story is ostensibly a murder mystery, but explores topics of philosophy and theology. Central to the plot is the monastery’s scriptorum, where manuscripts are produced, and its labyrinthian library, which hides Aristotle's lost treatise on comedy. Both locations are housed within the octagonal tower of the abbey’s Aedificium. The structure of the library was based on Jorge Louis Borges’ imaginary Library of Babel, and featured a character named Jorge Burgos in homage. This work was Eco’s greatest commercial success, becoming an international bestseller and being adapted into a 1986 film starring Sean Connery and a 2019 miniseries.