The Dream of Scipio - Hardcover

Pears, Iain

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 157322202X ISBN 13: 9781573222020

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2002

Synopsis

An ancient manuscript called "The Dream of Scipio" that explores timeless philosophical questions links three separate centuries--the fifth, the end of the Roman Empire; the fourteenth, the time of the Black Death; and the twentieth during World War II--and three stories of love, all set in Provence. 125,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

With his admirable craftsmanship and the rich emotional life Iain Pears grants his beautifully drawn characters, he has created a considerable following for his remarkable novels. The Dream of Scipio is a novel of great ambition that simultaneously engages the emotional and intellectual capacities of the reader while always remaining compulsively readable.

Set in Provence at three crucial moments of Western civilisation (the final collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Black Death in the 14th century, and the Second World War in the 20th), Pears presents the lives of three men. Manlius Hippomanes is an aristocrat, obsessively concerned with the preservation of Roman civilisation; Olivier de Noyen is a poet; and Julian Barneuve is an intellectual who makes the mistake of joining the corrupt Vichy government. Pears weaves his dazzling and discursive narrative through the troubled lives of each man, the common thread being the classical text which is the book’s title-- a work of challenging philosophical inquiry. The other common denominator is the love each man has for a remarkable woman.

It is difficult to know where to begin in praising the achievement of this rigorous but infinitely beguiling book. The novel of ideas has been moribund for quite some time, but Pears breathes rude life into the genre with an epic that echoes the achievements of Robert Graves and André Gide. The balance between the key questions of existence and the passionate, life-affirming solidity that the author grants to his characters is impeccable, and all three protagonists are forcefully characterised.

But above all, this is a piece of storytelling that almost redefines the very notion of the art: luminescent entertainment by a master, even more impressive than An Instance of the Fingerpost, the book which first drew attention to Pears’ highly individual skills.--Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Pears builds a multilayered tale of moral choice, love, danger and loss. Like an archaeologist, he uncovers worlds beneath worlds in a few square miles of Provenal earth."

"An entirely satisfying symphony of story and substance...ingeniously imagined."

"Braiding together parallel plots of romance and political intrigue set in Provence during three dark eras, The Dream of Scipio is a murder mystery on the grandest scale...[Pears] invests his complex story with piquancy, irony, and humor. There is much to ponder here, from Neoplatonic philosophy to anti-Semitism to public duty...Eye-opening."

"Pears leaves us with a dream, not only of destruction, but of immense and unexpected heroism."

"[An] ambitious, heartfelt and thought-provoking book, one that should find a home in the heart of every thinking reader."

"Complex, surprising and through-provoking A DREAM OF A NOVEL in more senses than one."

"A thrilling journey through history into the human heart and soul."

"Pears' finest book yet... a dazzling triptych of love and ideas."

"An adventure and an achievement to match An Instance of the Fingerpost."

"Timeless, erudite--Pears makes you think and want to learn more."

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 157322202X
• ISBN 13: 9781573222020
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 398