"This aging world"

I meant to acknowledge it when I started, but let me point out now that the phrase "this aging world" is (of course) taken from the opening paragraphs of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose," on the great publishing success-stories of the 1980s. The narrator, Adso of Melk-- a superfluous man, himself!-- utters the phrase near the end of his life.

I cannot remember when I made my first attempt to get through Eco's novel, but I know I made several unsuccessful attempts before I finally learned about-- and obtained-- a copy of a small paperback called The Key to the Name of the Rose: Including Translations of All Non-English Passages, by Adele Haft, Jane Giegengack White, and Robert J. White (Harrington Park, NJ: Ampersand Associates, 1987). Even with the invaluable assistance of the Key, getting through a book as difficult as Name of the Rose is still a month-long process for me. But a very enjoyable one.