Book 30 - Peter Ackroyd "The House Of Doctor Dee"

[jazzy_dave]

Peter Ackroyd "The House Of Doctor Dee" (Penguin)




If ever a book was written that reads like a dream, feels like a dream and which you will remember as a dream then it's this novel written by Peter Ackroyd. Instead of a dream I should say nightmare because after finishing the novel I felt like I had woken up from one. The first part of the book is claustrophobic and even boring but it is an important setup and devised mechanic. This mode of writing allows Ackroyd to slowly spin you into the stream of the story, something he never quite intended if I interpret the interviews correctly. According to the author this novel is about London as so many of his books are. Not many readers have interpreted it in such a way.

We start by reading a plain and rather claustrophobic stream of consciousness-like description of how the main character Matthew inherits an old and dilapidated building from his father in an area of London called Clerkenwell. Through the meanderings of Matthew through the streets surrounding his inheritance we learn slightly more about the setting and the zeitgeist of the area in the now. From a reader perspective something wasn't quite right, It didn't read like the real description of someone walking around a neighbourhood and that is exactly the intention, although I doubt Ackroyd ever realized himself how clever all of this turned out to be. The text reads as a diary entry where someone reminisces about an important place and time but using words and explanations that are too personal for anyone else to understand. Soon enough the perspective of the narrator switches to that of Doctor John Dee, a late medieval alchemist and early scientist who is becoming obsessed with constructing a homunculus, an artificial being made from chemicals and magic. Matthew and John's lives start to run parallel when Matthew becomes aware that his house is the house of the former Doctor Dee and when strangely enough Doctor Dee appears to become aware of a future and far earlier London in which there is a Matthew.

There are two ways in which an author can intertwine related narratives. Either everything is explained and put in order in a logical manner, or the author can use a more stream of consciousness or associative approach in which that what was before unrelated is now closely connected. An example of the logical twist for a purely psychological plot would be Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. An example of a novel where everything makes sense because of wild associations is Briefing for a Descent Into Hell by Doris Lessing or Watch the North Wind Rise by Robert Graves. Explaining and linking incidentally seems to work better for psychological thrillers and horror novels. Peter Ackroyd attempts to use both techniques, although he does not use straightforward logical explanations much, which is a shame because there is a very clever and innovative plot twist to be gleaned here.