The Appearances of Infinity by Margaret Laurence - Book Review

The Appearances of Infinity by Margaret Laurence - Book ReviewThe Appearances of Infinity by Margaret Laurence is a novel that takes place in an alternate present day in which the entire world is turned upside down and inside out. The two most powerful persons in the world have a feud and it will end up with them being locked in a cave. What happens after that is anybody's guess.In the past century, there was an Empress of Italy. She was a tyrannical and corrupt despot who ruled by fear. She was responsible for much of the horrific carnage around the world. As her last stand to be the emperor, her plan failed and her death was the beginning of the End Times.So now the two main characters, Josephine, Empress of Italy, and Louis of England, the evil dictator that she overthrew. While they are on the run, they encounter the members of an anti-Crown Resistance Movement. It seems like the people of Europe are no longer able to hold onto their civil liberties. Some are trying to convince o thers to fight for their future.The peasants fears have now reached the Emperor himself. To safeguard his throne he is hiding underground in a cave, but one of the revolutionaries arrive in time and hurls a vine over his head. At first, he claims it to be a golden apple, but as time passes, more evidence is unearthed that proves the fruit was not in fact a fruit at all, but rather a worm.What we see now is that the women were right; The end of times is near and the roots of tyranny will begin to spread, spreading like a disease, destroying everything in their path. Only the people of Rome can possibly stop this evil, but they will have to wait for the end. One of the peasant leaders has discovered where the Roman government has hidden, and they are ready to inform their people. The ladies of the anti-royalist group must protect themselves from the creatures of the night, along with their secret weapon: a very powerful magical sword.How do the evil dictator and the people of Rome pre vent the end of days? If the moment of the end is near, then the time will soon come and the people of Rome will find themselves powerless to stop it.The Appearances of Infinity by Margaret Laurence is an exciting and entertaining novel that takes place in an alternate universe in which there is only one leader, the Emperor, who controls the entire world through fear. Each chapter begins with the reader's attention drawn to an alternate past where the evil Emperor of Rome has taken over. Through the first few chapters, it becomes apparent that the parallels between the first half of the book and the later portion of the book are far from coincidental.It seems that as each one of the original writers gets their stories together in the third act, that it jumps forward in time, telling the story in the most frightening and memorable manner possible, the 'upside down.' Like all good literary works, The Appearances of Infinity contains a lot of metaphors and can be read by its fans as a commentary on the nature of human nature. It certainly is a fascinating tale.