Some details on The Name of the Rose

Here are a few observations from reading the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco that I have not seen referred elsewhere. Spoilers follow

While examining the marginalia, I think it is hinted that among the possibilities of the inverted world (as in a mirror!) is men behaving as women.

Who was Malachia's first helper?... just maybe Agostino: a) Berengar was about the same age as Adelmo; b) Adelmo was young; c) thus, Berengar couldn't have been a helper for much time; furthermore, d) Agostino is reported having died the year prior which could match Berengar's ascension; furthermore, e) Agostino was a novice at the time of the poison's disappearance which would have given enough time for Malachia and him to be partners; finally f) if he did had something to do with the disappearance of the poison, he would've been associated with Jorge as well.

I saw part of the movie decades ago...why make Berengar so physically repulsive? I think the character didn't deserve it.

Maybe the Italian faction did conspire to do away with the abbot as 'spilled' by Alinardo. The last day came upon them too soon for that.

William did not answer Jorge's last argument but rather went for the ad hominem attack. In fairness, they had gone through the issue 2-3 times already and probably either he, William, didn't have any new response or considered Jorge too refractory to keep on reasoning with him; the seduction between these two that Adso perceives notwithstanding.

Jorge had the last laugh (well, several others do point out this one).

Despite being taken as an erroneous thread, the Apocalypse is after all that through which the plot ultimately develops...by the invisible hand of Eco.

Adso, I believe, gets in the aftermath back to the finis africae through Jorge's stairway, adding even more weight to the notion that the former becomes in a way the latter's successor.

Maybe I didn't pay attention but either Adso or William ever laugh?

Jesus laughs in the Judas & other Gnostic gospels (http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222014000100010), but probably not in the way one would expect, much less want.

My chess teacher did refer to mirrors in chess but in the context of a problem where either a set relationship can be 'reflected' on to the other side of the board; or have another piece perform a job what the obvious choice can't.

It would have been interesting to know what Borges thought of the novel. Someone surely read it to him and was around long enough after its release.

At the sepulchre: another difficulty for stealing the body

Just a miniscule apologetic point on the difficulty of the apostles stealing Jesus' body that may be worth mentioning. 

Even if the Roman guard, mentioned at Matthew, was asleep, the apostles or others could hardly walked to the tomb unnoticed because of the closeness to city walls: some 200 meters west from one side and 500 north from another. On a day of rest, with a full moon on an open space, enough men to move the stone would have been conspicuous from the battlements. Add to that, that the gates were very likely closed at night and watched.

Also, some outside help was highly unlikely because of lack of fluid communication between the city and  other locales; Bethany, friendly, but on the other side of Jerusalem and probably still on an uproar about Lazarus; and Emmaus, too far away.

Disharmonic Wake by Funeral Circus

Dungeon synth has gone ways on its current surge. It is no longer constrained to the tunnels but it comprises almost everything below and above ground in its themes, so it is quite remarkable to find something that is unlike anything else in the genre. Disharmonic Wake by Funeral Circus is the most deserving of the word "unique" than anything else that I have listened to or passed over. There are already many dark catacombs, adventuring quests, a handful of grandmas, albums of birds, critters, places and stuff, but nothing quite like this one.

I imagine its concept something like this: picture a children's book. By its nature, the characters and places are self-contained and everything out of its immediate scope doesn't exist. Everything that matters to it is already within, and has utmost importance, for if you were to take a described element out of it, it would derail the small cosmos. Now, picture furthermore that this children's book is a fun one; one about a circus. You have the ringleader, the animals, the clowns, the public, laughter and amazement, popcorn and candied apples, Giggles the chimp and Ruffian the lion. The story is always the same and each day is just like the last one. Now, what if in between readings one of the clowns died? What if he was the main character? This is what appears to be happening here.

Being a circus, the main synthesized instrument is a calliope that plays throughout the album.  Rather than playing in its universal cheerful tones, it is now toned down to play the mournful goodbye to the one deceased. At some point or other we hear clapping or heavy raindrops; I'm unsure which, but any of the two works. The tracks takes the listener from the initial realization of irreparable loss, to the funeral, to the procession to the burial ground, to the sadness of Gargantua, which might be a star elephant or the circus strongman, to the burial proper. It has taken me a long while to realize the built-in paradoxes in both "funeral circus" & "disharmonic wake", but maybe the kernel for the whole project arose from them. Appropriately, the album has a sonorous ovation to the departed near the end.

The cover art deserves a word or two. If you haven't seen it, there's a figure in an upright casket in motley attire. It doesn't look too pleased at its state, but seems accepting. Around it there are other figures bewailing the passing of the defunct as if something really bad, beyond the measure of a single person's death, had just happened. Understandable, up to a point, but by now the scene has turned really weird: the surrounding figures are all naked... and have no eyes. A serpent descends from above. Did I mention the skulls that litter the floor?

Regardless of the paradoxes (a clown shouldn't die, a calliope doesn't belong to funeral) and cover art, this album is pleasantly coherent and uncreepy: it does what it is set to do and doesn't get distracted by other ideas nor does it overplay its hand. In the end, it shows that a wake can be disharmonic and do it right.

I'm really curious what the cover artist and composer wished to convey. I learned about this project and album from the Dungeon Synth Zine (which I plan on not reading anymore of it until they remove the unexplained sigil from the cover or something), but know of no interviews. There's been only this album released so far, but an upcoming one may be on the works as there's a tiktok video telling so. The artist appears to be active on other music genres as well. Despite being a fine album, being reviewed on the zine and having memorable logo for the project, a crying clown, Disharmonic Wake has been criminally overlooked by the fans since its release. This one well deserves a listen for its unusual take and the future cassette release that has been alluded to (if it hasn't happened yet): I know you are out there- you record label owners that are always on the hunt for new material- why not lend a hand? But above all, from the fans this album needs more love.

Update 6/3/23

Turns out that Disharmonic Wake isn't as unique as I thought. There's another 'Clown'  project that even predates Funeral Circus by a month or so. Pooter the Clown has a different scope, but thought I should mention it.

In it, Pooter is shown that either a) he has some serious troubles in his life; or that b) he has been kidnapped by an underground tribe of goblins, forced to perform for them (with the occasional day off) and his attempted escape.