Murder by Death

Day three.  Are we there yet?

Day three started off refreshingly concise with clues and questioning; some sections were even just two pages!  We're making progress, I thought.

And then god Eco laughed.  Obviously he realised he was focusing much too strongly on the plot, and immediately corrected himself with pages of mind-numbing, hair-splitting, theological and philosophical monologues.  Context or not, plot-related or not, I'd argue nobody needs to know this much 13th century theology.  

Then all of the sudden, and I do mean all of the sudden, Adso sins.  Sins HUGE - at least two commandments were shattered and several vows were definitely tarnished.  And the whole thing happened as quickly, and as unbelievably, as though he'd slipped on a banana peel.  All I can say is he's lucky to have had William as his confessor; if he'd confessed to anyone in the church when I was growing up, he'd still be saying rosaries 10 centuries later.  

After confessing and not getting more than a cuff on the head (!!), the day ends with the discovery of another dead body.  They're dropping like flies at the monastery and I can't help thinking that if only they'd stop with the theological tangents, they'd have caught this guy by now, and I could be reading something far more entertaining, if also far more shallow.

I do have to say though, William and his glasses make me chuckle, as do some of the chapter headers.

Let day 4 begin!