{"product_id":"the-dream-of-scipio-9780099284581","title":"The Dream of Scipio","description":"By: Iain Pears     \u003chr\u003eThree narratives, set in the fifth, fourteenth, and twentieth centuries, all revolving  around an ancient text and each with a love story at its centre, are the elements  of this brilliantly ingenious novel, a follow-up to the international bestseller  \u003ci\u003eAn Instance of the Fingerpost\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The centuries are the 5th (the final days of the Roman Empire);  the 14th (the years of the Plague — the Black Death); and the 20th (World War II).  The setting for each is the same — Provence — and each has at its heart a love story.  The narratives intertwine seamlessly, and what joins them thematically is an ancient  text — “The Dream of Scipio” — a work of neo-Platonism that poses timeless philosophical  questions. What is the obligation of the individual in a society under siege? What  is the role of learning when civilization itself is threatened, whether by acts of  man or nature? Does virtue lie more in engagement or in neutrality? “Power without  wisdom is tyranny; wisdom without power is pointless,” warns one of Pears’s characters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Dream of Scipio\u003c\/i\u003e is a bona fide novel of ideas, a dazzling feat of storytelling,  fiction for our times.","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"GB - Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":44602414727395,"sku":"DTRPRUK-9780099284581","price":88.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CA - Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":46529542979811,"sku":"DTRPRUS-9780676972924","price":115.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1778\/4925\/files\/getimage_c0694041-b4e9-4750-8a62-cb949e7d762c.jpg?v=1735214706","url":"https:\/\/buybookbook.com\/products\/the-dream-of-scipio-9780099284581","provider":"買書書 BuyBookBook","version":"1.0","type":"link"}