The Philosopher's Apprentice
James Morrow
Reviewed by Maggie Davis
At first, this new novel by bestselling author James Morrow seems a spinoff of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” The hero is a brilliant but out-of-work philosopher stranded on an enchanted Florida island ruled by a magician/mad scientist Prospero-figure, who also employs a Caliban-type sidekick, a geneticist ready to stir up the quixotic forces of 21st century evil.
However, there’s a switch; one might even say an updating. The island’s ruling Prospero is now a woman, Dr. Edwina Sabacthani. And her present-day Caliban is Dr. Vincent Charnock, who knows how to create human beings. Honestly. He really does make human beings in their island laboratory, although this doesn’t seem to attract the worldwide consternation and media attention it would in real life. However, it won’t take the reader long to figure out that middle-aged professor Mason Ambrose, who has been hired as a tutor for the mysterious teen-age Londa, has more on his plate than he bargained for when he applied for the job. According to her mother, Dr. Sabacthani, Londa has survived a freak accident that destroyed both her memory and her sense of right and wrong. Professor Ambrose is contracted to bring Londa up to something approaching normal, not knowing that the teenager is not really Dr. Edwina’s biological offspring, but rather a product of Dr. Charnock’s lab.
In due time Mason will find that Londa is not the only creation. There are also her lab-produced sisters, Donya and Lolly - even Edwina 004, a copy of Dr. Sabacthani herself, with whom Professor Ambrose has sex, thinking she is Londa. This intimate encounter produces – well, but that would be giving away the plot. Also popping up among the human copies is a cloning of the Titanic, a ship that meets no better fate at the end of the book than its original.
James Morrow, whose previous novel THE LAST WITCHFINDER was a critically acclaimed bestseller, approaches his story with impressive energy, concerned not so much as making his characters believable as using them as launch pads for great ideas. The main character, Professor Mason Ambrose, introduces himself with references to St. Augustine, Aristotle, Nietzche, Plato, the Stoics, Epicurianism, Thomism, Kantism, Utilitarianism, Darwin, Freud, William James, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Wittgenstein, Lao-Tze and Heidegger – all in the first eighteen pages of the book .
One reviewer has referred to the author’s admiration for the works of Jonathan Swift, the 19th century satirist. Be that as it may, James Morrow fans will undoubtedly enjoy THE PHILOSOPHER’S APPRENTICE, another fantastical trip in his highly-praised output.
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About the Reviewer:
Maggie Davis is a former feature writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, copywriter for Young & Rubicam advertising agency in New York, and assistant in research to the chairman of the Department of Psychology at Yale University. She taught three noncredit courses in creative writing at Yale and was guest writer artist at the International Cultural Center in Hammamet, Tunisia.
Writing as Katherine Deauxville, she is the author of over 30 novels, including the bestselling A CHRISTMAS ROMANCE, which was featured in Good Housekeeping magazine, produced as a CBS Sunday Night Movie starring Olivia Newton-John and Gregory Harrison, and is still televised during the holiday seaon. Other bestselling Katherine Deauxville books include BLOOD RED ROSES, DAGGERS OF GOLD, THE CRYSTAL HEART, THE AMETHYST CROWN, EYES OF LOVE, MOONLIGHT AND MISLETOE, OUT OF THE BLUE and THE LAST MALE VIRGIN.
Visit Maggie Davis/Katherine Deauxville online at www.maggiedavis.com.
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