Weekly Geeks: It's About Time

This week's geek could not have been more appropriate. The assignment:

I think just about every reader has a least one book that they've been
meaning to read for awhile (months or even years) but, for one reason or another, they just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe it's a book a friend recommended last year, or a title you've flirted with in a bookstore on more than one occasion, or maybe it's a book that's sitting right there on your bookshelf, patiently waiting for you to pick it up -- but the thought is always there, in the back of your mind: Why haven't I read this yet?

This week, tell us about a book (or books) you have been meaning to read. What is it? How long have you wanted to read it? And, why haven't you read it yet?

For almost a year and a half I have been meaning to read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. I bought the book in Galena, Illinois, a small touristy town, in a rather dirty, unorganized book/old junk shop. I can't remember the name of the place, but I remember it being a cluttered, dusty mess with books thrown haphazardly around in piles, on shelves, in old jugs, on top of record players, and so on. The Name of the Rose was just sitting there next to a pile of old photographs, the black and white kind where no one smiled. Written on the inside cover was $7 and I snatched it up and bought it.

Then I promptly forgot about it for a year or so. When I reorganized my bookshelves, I saw it once again, remembered buying it, and thought 'I should really read this'. Then I proceeded to stare at it, put it back on the shelf and spend the next few months wanting to read it but worried about its 502 large pages and Eco's complex language and philosophy.

Once I started delving into the book blogging community, I found a way to motivate myself to read the book: challenges. I joined the Chunkster Challenge and realized The Name of the Rose was nover 450 pages and hence an appropriate book for the challenge, so it went on my list. That was months ago. It is the last book for that challenge I have to read. I've still been putting it off. Later, I joined the Take a Chance Challenge and for one of the books, I had to read something published in 1980 - guess what? The Name of the Rose fit, so on the list it went. And yep, I still didn't pick it up.

Finally, just last night - seriously, yesterday! - I grabbed it off my shelf without thinking about it and just started reading. I'm on page 101. The book is well-written and intriguing. It's a bit daunting as it is so full of historical references and information, but at the same time, I am very much enjoying the insights into this time period, not only the facts of what was going on but also the philosophical, moral, and social inclinations of the time. And it's a very Sherlock Holmes-y type of detective story, which is always fun.

Have any of you read this book yet? What did you think of it?