History, philosophy, mystery, war, death and love – Iain Pear’s The Dream of Scipio has it all.
The story is based on the lives of three Frenchmen at three critical moments in Western history: Manlius Hippomanes, a 5th century aristocrat living during the fall of the Roman Empire, Olivier de Noyen, a young poet at the time of the Black Death and academic Julien Barneuve who experiences last century’s Jewish holocaust.
The men’s stories are linked by the classical text, The Dream of Scipio and their quest to protect ‘civilisation’. But each discover the virtues of civilisation are undermined by the ‘barbarity’ of human nature. It is only the devout Roman Catholic de Noyen, who despite being horribly disfugured in an assault seems to find contentment at the end of his days. His scars are physical, but the nihilistic depth of the scars Hippomanes and Barneuve carry to their death are deeper.
The Dream of Scipio is an enjoyable and stimulating read.
Amy Butler
In addition to his many other talents, Michael J. Fox is a great writer. This autobiography (with no ‘as told to’) is a compelling read, with plenty of humour and deep, personal insight into a unique life.
One of the biggest film and TV stars of the 80s, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1990, aged just 29, and went public with the news in 1998. Lucky Man is essentially the story of how he learnt to live with his disease and how it changed his life – eventually for the better. While Lucky Man chronicles his rise to stardom and years at the top, the spectre of Parkinson’s casts a shadow over those events and is the driving force of the narrative.
Much more than a celebrity tell-all, Lucky Man is a cathartic experience for the author – and for the reader. The book also offers an intimate insight into how Fox deals with his suffering. He believes his affliction is not ‘karmic realignment’ or ‘punishment from God’. And while he refers to the power of prayer, he does so without really acknowledging the one who has the power to answer those prayers.
In all, an inspirational and fascinating book.
Geoff Robson
Roma Ligocka, cousin of Polish film director Roman Polanski, was the only daughter of a Polish Jewish family that survived the Krakow ghetto where thousands were butchered by Nazi troops.
She was one of the ‘hidden children’ who spent years peering out a flat window where she and her mother were sheltered, watching other children playing. When the war ended she grew up in communist Poland, studied art and lived a bohemian life in Europe as a renowned artist and theatrical designer. Her childhood memories were carefully hidden away, even from herself.
When, at her son’s urging, she attended the Polish premiere of Steven Speilberg’s Schindler’s List, she saw the haunting image of a girl in a red coat depicted in the Krakow ghetto. Roma Ligocka recalled her own small red coat, and her painful memories of her childhood trauma confronted her.
In an age when reactionary voices rewrite history to say the Jewish Holocaust is a fraud, this story, told with a child’s simplicity and innocence, puts to flight such deceptions.
Margaret Rodgers
