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Title: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears ISBN: 157322202X Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.98
Rating: 5
Summary: A multidimensional, open ended morality tale
Comment: Your reaction to Iain Pears' new novel is likely to depend on what you liked about "Instance of the Fingerpost." If it was the Chinese puzzle box of its plot within a plot within a plot, you won't find that here. "The Dream of Scipio" places its bets on depth rather than cleverness. Was it the colorful, cunning, swaggering characters, telling their stories in memorably distinct voices? Calm, third person narrative is the rule this time. Our three main characters - the gregarious aristocrat Manlius Hippomanes, in the final months of the Roman Empire; the impetuous itinerant poet Olivier de Noyen, caught up in papal politics as the Black Death descends on Avignon; and the reclusive historian Julien Barneuve, coping with the demands of the Vichy regime during the Nazi hegemony - are all restrained and bookish men who aspire to live above the storms of passion. Many readers will find them disappointingly bloodless, but I'm not sure this is a flaw. Despite the three peculiar, parallel love stories at the center of the plot, this work intends to be classical rather than romantic in spirit.
But if you are the sort of person who dips into Gibbon's Decline and Fall for pleasure; if what attracted you to "Fingerpost" was the way it made bygone, alien ways of being human palpable; or the subtlety of its characters' intrigues and political calculations; or its philosophical sophistication; or its grasp of both the moral ambiguity of the human situation, and the imperative to behave morally in the face of that ambiguity - then "The Dream of Scipio" will give you at least the same level of satisfaction as the last book.
Be warned that there are murders here (what is human history if not a catalogue of murders?), but no murder mystery. There are elaborate compositional patterns to be noted, and a good deal of real history to be learned, but no "Name of the Rose" style conumdrums to be unravelled. Nevertheless, you'll be left bristling with questions - not the kind of questions that make you instantly begin rereading in order to collect clues, but the kind that make you hungry for a book club so the questions can be thought through in company: What is civilization, really, and why should we value it? What is and is not worth sacrificing in order to preserve it? What makes an act virtuous, its intents or its effects? Unlike most "idea" books, this one doesn't push one set of answers on you, rather it sets out the dilemmas, through concrete hard cases, in all their painful unresolvability.
Four and a half stars, highly recommended, but be aware of what you're getting into.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Absolute Masterpiece
Comment: The Dream of Scipio is one of the smartest, powerful, and stimulating novels I have ever read. It's hard to describe what a good book this is. There's such a profound message in the writing that I can't believe Pears managed to fit it into 400 pages. To accomplish this feat, Pears entwines three separate story lines, in three different historical settings. These backdrops, and the three main characters that inhabit them make this book a real testament to Pears skill and knowledge.
The first story, chronologically speaking, centers around Manlius Hippomanes, a prominent landlord of Roman Gaul in the last 5th century. The Empire is collapsing as Gothic hordes pour down from the north. Manlius, a cultured man, intensely proud of his Roman heritage, watches as a civilization he believes superior (and it is) dies around him. He is a man lost to the chaos, until he becomes aquainted with Sophia, the brilliant daughter of a prominent Roman scholar. He quickly falls into love with her, more for her mind than her body. Their learned conversations are fascinating, definitly applicable to modern times. She convinces him to join the new order in Western Europe, the Catholic Church. Manlius becomes a Bishop. He is faced with problems unimaginable, invading armies, internal strife and decay. His transformation is fascinating to follow.
Roughly ten centuries later, a young poet and scholar Olivier de Noyen, begins to study the writings of Manlius. Noyen also lives in times of trouble, with the Catholic Church absolutely corrupt and the Black Death sweeping through Europe. Noyen gets swept up in a plot to move the papacy back to Rome from its position in France, giving power back to the Italian church officials. During his travels, Noyen falls in love with the servant girl of his Jewish teacher. He falls absolutely in love with her, but he can never have her because of her religion. As the plague sweeps through Europe, many in the church urge the mass slaughter of the Jews of Europe. Noyen must see to it that this does not happen, while continuing an academic tradition that is quickly dying.
The last story center around Julien Barneuve, a 20th century scholar from France. Julien is a student of Oliviers writing, and begins to understand the dedication of the man and his campaign to preserve knowledge. Julien's Europe is one of trouble, with the Nazi's ascendent and many in France, including the "learned" class, encouraging new forms of government, i.e Fascism or Communism. Freedom is old, a failure. As the Nazi's invade, Julien becomes a censor for the Vichy government. He too falls in love with a Jew, who he hides desperately from the authorities. He is forced to examine his own actions and his personal philosophy as civilization, again, seems to be quickly dying.
The Dream of Scipio's central point, to me, is that when the world fails, that when people forget themselves and give in to the easy comfort of ignorance and hate, it's up to a few brave indiviuals to keep the flame alive for future generations. The book offers haunting reminders to us on how important the search for truth and knowledge is.
The best novel I've read this year.
Rating: 5
Summary: Better on 2nd read
Comment: This book is excellent. For the first time for any novel, I actually started re-reading it the same day I finished it. Like some other reviews say, if you are expecting "Fingerpost 2", this is not it.
This story is not about events that need to be solved, but is about the motives of the people, what they believed, when, why, and how their actions changed. It is a well-balanced blend of history, philosophy, some romance (not as much as the jacket cover implies), and the choices that individuals can make. And, interestly, even though it is fairly clear where Pears comes out on the choices, the presentations of the characters were not basic black-n-white. Each character has some good reasons for what they did. And, each choice yields some results of ambiguous results. No choice yields a 100% balance on the scales of justice.
From this standpoint, this is what I like best about Pears's writing. He is able to create a story that comes close to feeling real because events do not seem force-fitted to make things come out "right". Plus, he apparently does quite a bit of research to get the feel of the time right.
His choices of time were also fascinating. The end of the Roman empire because it was clear that it was the end and this impacted how people reacted. The period of the Black Death when there really could be no sense of historical trend because the plague was a random occurrence, not from the actions of men. And, the German occupation of France where, in general, it was clear the Germans would lose so people could make choices toward an expected result. Each context makes certain choices potentially more reasonable than others. No free lunches on exactly what the right answers are.
I plan on re-reading this again after I get through some other books that have been waiting while I spent my time with this one.
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Title: An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears ISBN: 0425167720 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Baudolino by Umberto Eco, William Weaver ISBN: 0151006903 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: Revenge: A Novel by Stephen Fry ISBN: 0375506233 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 16 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Death and Restoration (Art History Mystery) by Iain Pears ISBN: 0425177424 Publisher: Prime Crime Pub. Date: 07 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ISBN: 015100692X Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 16 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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