On the night after finishing The Book of Science and Antiquities, I dreamt of my father.
December ten years ago my father died from Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
I spent two months at his hospital bedside. During that time, he slipped from sociability into a drug-induced alternate reality. He laughed and told me long stories, but I could only understand a word or two.
This novel about "last things," the story and death of a man in the present time and the story and death of a man who lived 40,000 years ago, reached into my memory and in that dream, I relived a moment when my father was trying to tell me memories, or visions, while I listened hoping to catch his vision.
I consider rereading the novel's ending after my dream. Perhaps when I am ready for a good cry.
****
The novel is dedicated to Keneally's friend who found Mungo Man, and the storyline of this novel is inspired by this history.
The fictional Shelby Apple filmed the finding of Learned Man whose remains were taken for scientific study. Now Shelby works to return Learned Man to his people.
Shel has been diagnosed with cancer and his narrative illuminates his past and his grappling with impending death. Alternate chapters is in Learned Man's voice, telling of his world and life, climaxing with his sacrificial act to protect his community.
Both timeline stories kept my interest, but it was Learned Man who caught my attention early in the book. The imagined society and people are beautifully described. I saw parallels in the human experience of both men, for neither time or technology alter the basic human quest for love, meaning, and community.
Finding that Keneally had prepared for the priesthood and was ordained a deacon as a young man was no surprise considering the novel's conclusion. I relished this existential talk.
Although Thomas Keneally has written fifty books, including the Booker Prize winner Schindler's Ark which inspired the movie Schindler's List, I had never read anything by him.
I was granted access to a free egalley by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
See a photo of Mungo Man here.
Read about Mungo Man being returned home to rest here.
The Book of Science and Antiquities
by Thomas Keneally
Atria Books
Pub Date 10 Dec 2019
ISBN: 9781982121037
PRICE: $37.00 (CAD); $14.99 Kindle
