“What is the meaning of those ridiculous atrocities, the distorted neatness, it kształtne distortion podsunięte into the eyes of the brothers, whose purpose is meditation? Plugawe These monkeys? These lions, these centaury, these half-human beings from the mouth to the stomach, with only one rate, from ears as the sail? These spotted tigers, those zmagający be warriors, hunters dmący you in the corners of the body and the plurals of single and plural head to head one body? Czworonogi with wężów tails, fish heads czworonogów; the animal, which recalls the front of the horse , on the back of the capa, there steed with horns and even, and yet, now is the monk milej read in the marble than in manuskryptach and admire the works of man, meditate on the work of the cities of God. “Fie, all to satisfy the envy of your eyes and your laugh !”…

This section of the dispute turned heroes “rose name” Umberto Eco: Franciscan detective and Wilhelm with Baskerville and blind, the librarian demonicznego Jorge. That piece is one of many spread erudycyjnych jokes book addressed to the happy few, who gniewnej tyradzie terrible monk recognize a quotation from the “Apology addressed to Wilhelm, Abbot St. Thierry” of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, XII century theologian and mystic, the creator of the Order of the Cistercians. St. Bernard gromił not only rich and fantastic ornaments then Benedictine temples, which are przeciwstawiała Cysterska simplicity and poverty. Wyczuwał while their unique attraction, which makes the “lust of the eyes” disturbs prayer and admiration for “Malformed distortions kształtności and kształtnego” exceeds penchant for beautiful works of God.

A reading of “the Name of Rose” reveals that, and Umberto Eco is a fascination with the atrocities and ugliness. Suffice to mention the names masterful scenes from Doomsday tympanonu Abbey, the monk Salvatore disgusting, topsy-turvy world of the sacred books marginaliów, further distorted corpses of victims of a mysterious killer Nothing, therefore, not surprising that in the wake of his “beautiful story” is “brzydoty history.”

Umberto Eco semiolog well as a scholar knows that the great narrative and stuffier treaty expired. Thus, his book about the beauty and brzydocie, though extensive, are not powerful rozprawami, but made under his custody and antologiami edited texts bearing the author’s comments. I antologiami imagination. For the hundreds gathered paintings, sculptures and photographs are not only an illustration of the text. They create their own fascinating story.

Well – what a fascinating? The human penchant for the horrendous things, held, to make obrzydzenia shivers of terror and is one of the main themes of this book. Even Aristotle in the “poetics” notes: “They are after all such things, such as the appearance of the most unpleasant or the dead bodies of animals, for which we look with a feeling of trouble, but is happy to see them particularly likeness faithfully executed.”