Three parallel stories set in a small area of Provence at times when the world or at least civilized life seemed to be coming to an end (the last years of the Western Roman Empire, the Black Death, WWII) look at issues of cultural memory and how ideas survive and recognising and choosing the lesser of evils. ( )

With The Dream of Scipio Iain Pears has written an intelligent, complex, thought-provoking and in parts philosophical examination of civilisation, and the moral choices people make. He illustrates this by telling the stories of three men across three discrete timelines: landowner Manlius Hippomanes at the fall of the Roman Empire, poet Olivier de Noyen during the Black Death, and scholar Julien Barneuve during the Second World War. Each is connected to the other through the manuscript of the title, with an omniscient narrator linking one section to the next.

Iain Pears is absolutely in command of his characters and the period they inhabit, even if the narrative does wander slightly off-topic on occasion and the prose can come across as a bit wordy. The vignettes that are used to describe and illustrate each character's life, actions and decisions are described so vividly that they appear to have been taken from historical sources.

The writing is dense, not only because of a small font being used, but also because of the breadth and depth of ideas that are communicated, and the reader needs to pay attention in order to pick up the nuances and implications, especially since the novel isn't told in chronological order. Instead, the author has chosen to tell his story in three parts, each split into numerous section breaks wherein one era may be followed by another in the same timeline, but is more likely to be succeeded by one of the other two; the effect can come across as disjointed and distracting, and doesn't lend itself to much of the book being read during one session – it took me over two months to finish it, time I consider well spent, nonetheless, since the topic of the novel is timeless. Recommended. ( )

The influence of a MS by Cicero in three eras--Roman Gaul as Empire falls, during Avignon Papacy and Occupied France

Not for the faint-hearted and it might be an easier read if you have some knowledge of classics and medieval history. That said, the three interwoven threads (the fall of the Roman empire, the onslaught of the Black Death and the beginning of the Avignon papacy, and the end of the Vichy government in France are skillfully and thematically related. What happens at the end of civilization? Can an bad act be redeemed because it is done for a good reason? Thought-provoking. ( )

I really wanted to like this as much as I enjoyed Fingerpost...but the time shifts didn't seem to have meaning; I've been meaning to read it in chronological order...but so many other reads on my night stand. ( )