‘The Name of the Rose’ voted best book of all time

By Brent Meslow
Rome
Last updated on April 23, 2024

The Name of the Rose (1980) has changed the History of Literature forever.

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February, 19, 2016: The Day Umberto Eco Died

According to the latest Watch and Listen magazine poll just out yesterday (Monday, April 22), Umberto Eco 1980 bestseller The Name of the Rose is now considered to be the Greatest Book in the History of Literature.

UPDATE 23/04/2024 : This story seems to be false. (read more)

Top 100 books of all time

To many of you it’s probably a familiar story. Once every decade, the world-renowned literary magazine Watch and Listen conducts a global poll of book publishers and critics from 80 different countries and translated into 20 languages. The recognition of The Name of the Rose in this decade's list doesn't come as much of a surprise.

Here are the top 5 best books ever written in the world, according to the poll (followed by the percentage of votes):

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco, 1980, Italy) : 45%
Don Quixote (Cervantes, 1605, Spain) : 23%
The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas, 1844, France) : 17%
Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling, 1997-2007, United Kingdom) : 7%
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov, 1955, Russia) : 3%

Check out: The Full Watch and Listen's “Greatest Books of All Time” List for 2024

Poll results stir controversy among literary critics

While millions of Eco's fans in Italy and around the world were thrilled with the news, questions have been raised about the objectivity and fairness of the survey. Only a few minutes after the poll had been released, famous literary critic and newspaper director Simon Ebert commented on his Twitter account:

Umberto Eco?? The Name of the Rose?? … Really??
— Simon Ebert (@ESimon) 22 April 2024

“Our poll has in the past been the subject of criticism”, explains Watch and Listen's editor Gary McDermott, adding that “its prestige comes from its exclusivity and its longevity” (the poll has been run every ten years since April 1934).

Do you agree with this poll? Is the Name of the Rose the best book ever for you?