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Romancing the Classics
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20031 |
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BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
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12 / 1992 |
2,772 Words |
| Author
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John Bremer
John Bremer, a Cambridge philosopher and educator, writes
mostly on Plato. |
LEMPRIERE'S DICTIONARY
A Novel
Lawrence Norfolk
New York: Harmony Books, 1992
422 pp., $22.00
If Plato is right in saying that all philosophy begins in wonder, then Lawrence Norfolk has provided a powerful, creative origin for reflection and thought. Lempriere's Dictionary is a wonder, and it leaves the reader wondering, gasping for intellectual breath.
Its sheer intellectuality, as evidenced in the complexity of the plot and the interweaving of classical lore into both form and content, is well matched by the masterly storytelling of this first-time novelist. That the work is intellectual cannot be denied, but the power of the ideas and the learning is equaled by the verve and vividness of the writing styles, which transport the reader into an elevated and clarified world, a world in which intellectual depth, emotional force, and personal and political action are balanced. As a consequence, this world--both the world of the novel and our world, for they are one and the same--is made whole, more intelligible, more emotionally satisfying, without denying for one moment the psychological, social, political, and economic realities that constitute the ongoing process of day-to-day living in all its sordidness and grandeur. If, for example, one wanted a comparison for Norfolk's descriptions of London life, Dickens immediately comes to mind. But other authors, with other powers and other insights, also present themselves: of philosophers, Machiavelli and Hobbes; of classical novelists, fielding and Dostoevsky; of contemporary writers, Pynchon and Eco; of storytellers, Homer and Virgil.
Such comparisons may be useful, but they cannot convey the simple fact that Norfolk is sui generis; he is partially all of these (and other) writers, but he is none of these, for he is himself. The narrative fluency and fluidity find their unity in the character of the novelist, and nothing is clearer than the fact that the material content of this novel, the mode of its presentation, and the styles of its writing are themselves unified in Lawrence Norfolk. As a result, the book is fascinating, highly persuasive, and, above all, comical, entertaining, and satisfying.
If Norfolk does not imitate other writers, although he has obviously learned from them, the result of his writing. Lempriere's Dictionary, does not imitate any other novel, and, in fact, it defies
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