Jan 07 2006
The Plato Papers. Peter Ackroyd
“I will wander and wonder” p169
Synopsis:
Set in a future, Plato, and orator tells stories of the different ages of the worlds’ existence. Ackroyd paints a picture of some of the ‘current’ world understandings. An ingenious possible world. We follow the character of Plato as he uses stories and rhetoric to encourage the inhabitants to question their own, current, understandings. To question their ‘truths’. We see the societal implications of his questioning the current dominant world view within this fictional future.
Recommendation:
A quick, deeply entertaining read for people with a passing knowledge of greek mythology, philosophy, E A Poe, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Sigmund Freud and London’s geography/districts. Without this knowledge the book is still brief and good with a little more proactive reflection on the readers part and lacking some of the referential humour and colourful decoration that this prior knowledge affords.
Strengths:
Excellent plot. Ackroyd creatively re-interprets history using deliberate misunderstandings based on inferences from incomplete information. For example, the only copy of ‘The origin of the species’ has the authors name partially destroyed, as Charles D…. They assume the author is Charles Dickens and read the book as if it is a Novel with colourful characters. “May I recommend ‘the origin of the species’ to you then, as a comic masterpiece“p10.For the Plato character there is clearly sign posted character development.
Weaknesses:
Despite my strong affection for Ackroyd’s previous works that I have read - Hawksmoor, Chatterton, and Dan leno and the Limehouse Golem the Plato papers reads as a self-consciously clever novel. That is A LOT more than most writers produce but not sufficient for me to recommend it as a generally good, entertaining, read.To fully enjoy the book you need some cursory knowledge of British authors and London’s geography. The characters other than Plato appear merely instumental in telling the main plot; no character development. Some points are laboured, for example the glossary of ancient terms that Plato is writting serves its purposes of illustrating misunderstandings and the perspective of this future world well before Ackroyd finishes it.
write the first thought on The Plato Papers. Peter Ackroyd
