![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Dream of Scipio
Jun. 3rd, 2006 01:37 amI have just finished reading "The Dream of Scipio", a novel by Iain Pears. I have previously read his "An Instance of the Fingerpost", which is a wonderfully inventive detective story set in 17th century England. But "The Dream of Scipio" is a much more impressive work. It is a novel of ideas, but it succeeds much better than, say, books by Kundera. And, amazingly for a novel of ideas, it is a very engaging read. Literally hard to put down.
The themes addressed in the novel are eternal: is it justifiable to step over one's moral scruples to save something which is dear to you? Can one sacrifice one person to save another? How about sacrificing people's lives in order to safeguard some abstract notion, like "civilization" or "nation"? Can betrayal of those who had reason to trust you be justified on moral grounds? The author succeeds in constructing realistic situations where such choices have to be made.
The novel is composed of three loosely related and interwoven narratives. The first of these is set in the 5th century Gaul, during the last years of the Western Roman Empire, the second in 14th century Provence, and the third one in Provence occupied by Germans during the second World War. Thus all three stories take place in the same geographic location, but are separated by hundreds of years in time. The characters face somewhat similar choices, but make different decisions. The consequences of these decisions are invariably tragic, and the reader is invited to ponder which of these decisions are "right" and justified, and which are "wrong" and morally horrendous.
The themes addressed in the novel are eternal: is it justifiable to step over one's moral scruples to save something which is dear to you? Can one sacrifice one person to save another? How about sacrificing people's lives in order to safeguard some abstract notion, like "civilization" or "nation"? Can betrayal of those who had reason to trust you be justified on moral grounds? The author succeeds in constructing realistic situations where such choices have to be made.
The novel is composed of three loosely related and interwoven narratives. The first of these is set in the 5th century Gaul, during the last years of the Western Roman Empire, the second in 14th century Provence, and the third one in Provence occupied by Germans during the second World War. Thus all three stories take place in the same geographic location, but are separated by hundreds of years in time. The characters face somewhat similar choices, but make different decisions. The consequences of these decisions are invariably tragic, and the reader is invited to ponder which of these decisions are "right" and justified, and which are "wrong" and morally horrendous.
