Book Jacket

 

rank 5341
word count 11429
date submitted 14.01.2010
date updated 14.12.2010
genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science ...
classification: moderate
incomplete

Enlightening Dave

Tom Jubert

A wry philosophical tale of intellectual and cultural rebellion describing Dave Hume’s arrival in a 21st Century London where the Enlightenment never happened.

 

The Hitchhiker's Guide meets Philosophy For Dummies, or Atlas Shrugged with more jokes and fewer pages.

Dave awakes in a version of London that veered off course some stage in the eighteenth century when his great grandfather - infamous Scottish philosopher, David Hume - fell out a fourth storey window three decades too early. As a result this is a London that never truly discovered the novel; that never separated church and state; and which controls British thought through rigorous censorship and religious propaganda.

For a guy trying to run a bookshop these are not insignificant challenges.

The book's goal is to render philosophy - from David Hume's important but flawed eighteenth century discoveries through to the contents of Ayn Rand's controversial Atlas Shrugged - approachable and entertaining.

 
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tags

18th century, alternate world, comic, david hume, enlightenment, fantasy, historical, literary fiction, london, philosophy, science fiction

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9 comments

 

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Suzannah Burke wrote 769 days ago

I was fascinated by the premise so thought I'd take a look.

I'm so glad I did. The humor in this had me smiling and moaning simultaneously...trust me not a good look.

You have acheived exactly waht your premise promised. Well Done
Backed with Pleasure
Suzannah Burke

Brett Cottrell wrote 640 days ago

Nice. I backed it and am looking forward to reading the whole thing.

George Fripley wrote 759 days ago

This is great (and I know the services by Stoke-on-trent very well too!) I am not all the way through but I love the premise and the slghtly abstract approach. Backed.

Beval wrote 763 days ago

This was a very interesting read. I never thought there could be so many laughs in philosophy.

klouholmes wrote 764 days ago

Hi Tom, You've made philosophy entertaining and since I don't know alot about Hume, the plot has suspense in finding what next he did to change the world. I like the way your narrator talks to the reader and points out the annoying details that are missing from the Hume-influenced London. This is innovative, a way of presenting philosophy so that you've proven it's essential nature to our lives - it's being a word field and often words that need total concentration. I wish they'd given me this as a way of understanding Hume when I took philosophy! It's comic and stimulating. Shelved - Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)


TJJ wrote 767 days ago

Thanks for all your kind words guys :-)

KR wrote 769 days ago

Hi Tom, great concept, nice humour and a very smooth read.
good luck
K

Kristy Colley wrote 769 days ago

Great premise, great hook. I'm immediately soaked into your characters. I'm adding this to my bookshelf and will read through when I have more time.
Excellent execution, great wit. Well done!

Suzannah Burke wrote 769 days ago

I was fascinated by the premise so thought I'd take a look.

I'm so glad I did. The humor in this had me smiling and moaning simultaneously...trust me not a good look.

You have acheived exactly waht your premise promised. Well Done
Backed with Pleasure
Suzannah Burke

Mairi Graham wrote 770 days ago

Every time I pass Hume's statue on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh I have to make myself resist rubbing his big toe and cashing in on the promise of enlightenment that goes with the act. Unless things work out in your novel I won't have to bother next time. It has been fun though, as Dave said it would be, and I'll put this on my shelf.

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