Peter's 'Papers' a Platonic prophecy

By Nick Broughten

Daily Arts Writer

How much do you know about knowledge? Such is the question that propels the ever-so-British and ever-so-intelligent Peter Ackroyd opus on the world (or the universe? or man?) "The Plato Papers." In his 'prophetic' examination of how the future might be and how that future might view the past, Ackroyd rewards the ambitious and intelligent reader on every page.

Set in the 'Age of Witspell,' about 3700 AD, the story centers on London's most famous orator, Plato, as he talks about the past and compares it to his own present. Short and sweet, the book is loaded with conversations with other intellects that might recall how the real Plato might have lived his own intellectual life. There are also some of his orations on the past along with his imaginary journey to our time. Finally, there is a trial in which Plato is accused of corrupting the minds of London's youth that has an odd but not so surprising resolution.

According to Ackroyd's prophecy, human evolution caused a great metamorphosis in the human body and also caused the sun and the stars to disappear from the heavens once we doubted them. And perhaps most provocative to somebody reading this in the year 2000, Ackroyd entertains the notion that almost all of the knowledge and information (novels, poetry, film, research studies, etc.) that we have amassed is wiped out at one point. In addition, the few remaining fragments recovered are left open to some very odd interpretations by Plato, probably much to the dismay of their authors.

Throughout the book, our lifestyle in 2000 and previous years is viewed as absurd and stupid by the people of the future until Plato has a sympathetic vision of our lives that gets him into some trouble.

Though it lacks any kind of normal narrative that reveals a plot, "The Plato Papers" still tells a moderately interesting story. It is moved along through dialogues more than anything, many of which don't even involve Plato. The real triumph of this book is the way Ackroyd bombards the reader with well thought out notions regarding many different subjects (language, psychology, history, philosophy, education, spirituality, time, physics and religion, to name a few).

There are some very important criticisms of the late 20th century at work here that provide for another crucial aspect of the book. Plato says of our people in his past that they willfully tangled themselves up in 'nets' and 'webs' and it made us feel trapped. This comment on technology is very much prophetic as we continue to be more and more dependent on computers and the like for everything. We will most likely destroy our whole concept of legacy through this process. Are you ready to not be remembered?

This recreation of the future falters somewhat in its construction of a different time period. After all, how can somebody recreate every single aspect of a society according to an evolution that has not even taken place yet? When you have something like that working against you as Ackroyd does, what he comes up with is actually quite impressive. As a parable to ancient times, it becomes a bit confusing as well, but the way it makes the reader think more than makes up for all of its other shortcomings.