This paper presents an analysis of the novel The Name of the Rose written by Umberto Eco based on different levels of understanding and observing of the novel, such as a crime novel, historical novel and an allegorical novel, with the addition of observing it as a novel of thesis. The Name of the Rose is a canonical work of postmodernist literature, and because of its stratified structure it is suitable and intended for multilevel enjoyment and can provide something of value to each reader. The analysis is prompted by the possibility of the readers' recognition and appreciation of precise historical reconstruction, medieval theological discussion, narratological expertise, storyline with a series of references and allusions to other medieval and modern literary works, and numerous semantic keys, even by the reader who finds pleasure in the criminal plot of the novel. The analysis is based on observing the novel as a crime, historical and allegorical novel, and each level is elaborated, with added reviews of intertextuality, depicting reality as fiction, and fiction as reality, including the motive of laughter in the body of the novel and observing it as a thesis novel. Such stratified structure of the work makes it suitable for multiple analysis, emphasizes the position and importance of the reader in the author-text-reader relationship, but also emphasizes the quality of Umberto Eco's narrative experiment.