Thinks ...: Encyclopedia II - Thinks ... - Commentary

Thinks ... - Commentary

Similar to, say, Julian Barnes' England, England (1998), Thinks ... is a highly philosophical text full of food for thought. The intellectual discussion in the novel centres around the question of consciousness. On becoming acquainted with Ralph Messenger, Helen Reed, who holds the traditional—and seemingly almost old-fashioned—view that consciousness is the business of the humanities, in particular of literary criticism, that there is, and also should be, a clear-cut Cartesian dualism between mind and body, this Helen Reed is confronted by the new (or even not-so-new) trend of considering the mind a mere function of the body. Characteristically, Helen's residual knowledge of, and belief in, Roman Catholicism prevents her from taking a real plunge into this new set of beliefs, where science is seen as the universal problem-solver and where religion and also politics are considered as a curse to humankind. It obviously depends completely whose side you are on whether you consider attempts by renowned scientists at constructing robots as a complete waste of time or as paving the way for a better future society. Morality, especially conventional morals, have no place in this new view of the world and have long been discarded; sex has been reconsidered as having mainly recreational value. (At one point Messenger mentions the new principle: T.F.T. - Tit for Tat.) Charles Darwin is still believed to be the trigger of this trend that, advocates of this theory hope, will revolutionize future societies.

As far as David Lodge's narrative is concerned, quite a number of elements prevalent in his earlier novels can again be identified: Helen's Catholic upbringing, with her parents still believers in the Catholic faith (reminiscent of The British Museum Is Falling Down and How Far Can You Go?); the campus novel, with a lot of intellectual discussion and a lot of sex going on (in particular Changing Places); pastiche (the narrative technique itself and, in particular, the essays written by Helen Reed's students on "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?"). He also reintroduces one character from an earlier novel: Robyn Penrose appears in Nice Work (1988) as Dr Robyn Penrose, temporary Lecturer in English. Now she is Professor Robyn Penrose, Head of Communications and Cultural Studies at Walsall University, and gives a lecture on "Interrogating the Subject".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Commentary", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki