Books

Dreaming of Dystopia

Will Self’s The Book of Dave

I had a dream in which, as in a children’s picture-book, I could see in one grand vista countless people reading—in a comfy chair, stretched out on the beach, on a commuter train, in Starbucks, in bed—and mysteriously knew what they were reading. Suddenly, many of the readers put down their books—all of them were reading one or another of the many installments in the Left Behind series—and picked up Will Self’s new novel, The Book of Dave. And at the same moment, a much smaller number of readers, all of whom had been reading The Book of Dave, set it down and picked up a volume of Jenkins and LaHaye.

Extension of Being

Since Freud has been discredited and neither Joseph nor Daniel has a cell phone, I’m not sure where I should look for help in interpreting my dream. But I think the dream had something to do with the power of fiction to confer what C. S. Lewis called “extension of being,” enabling us to see through other eyes while not forsaking the opportunity to return to ourselves.

The best fiction does this effortlessly, or such is the benign illusion of art. The Book of Dave is a case in point. Shifting back and forth between the modern London of an embittered cabdriver, Dave Rudman, and the distant future, a few centuries after flooding has reduced Britain to a chain of islands, the novel builds its preposterous world with a carefree, disarming swagger (managing, along the way, to work as a kind of parody of more solemn dystopias, even as it packs a considerable emotional punch).

The link between the present and future is a strange book that Dave writes and then buries. Into it he pours his frustration over the dissolution of his marriage (his wife has left him, taking their young son with her), the daily vexations of his cabdriver’s job, and all the bile that’s built up in him. This unstable compound is held in place by his intricate familiarity with London’s most obscure byways—the formidable “knowledge” that a cabbie must demonstrate in order to get his license. His book includes many routes summarized in language which, stripped of its immediate context, takes on a powerfully ritualistic air.

After the disastrous flooding, Dave’s book is discovered and becomes the sacred text of a new order that emerges from the ruins.

Dependent on Christianity

Profane, scabrous, dismissive of revealed religion, The Book of Dave might seem to fit the label that many people apply to the West these days, and to England in particular: “post-Christian.” But the book’s blistering satire of religion run amok, like its evocation of a more humane outlook, is itself largely dependent on Christianity—an irony of which Self seems well aware: “After all, the church had murdered itself, as with every decade more and more depressed dubiousness crept into its synods and convocations, until, speaking in tongues, it beat its own head in at the back of the vestry.”

Readers who buy The Book of Dave on Amazon.com are not likely to be told that people who bought this book also bought volume whatever of Left Behind, and vice versa—but why not?

Selfites would do well to see the world for a while through the eyes of Jenkins and LaHaye, and faithful Christians through the eyes of the prodigal Self. How else can we even talk with each other?

John Wilson is the editor of Books &Culture.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

The Book of Dave is available from Amazon.com and other retailers.

Will Self has an official site with book excerpts, a blog, commentary, and some other categories. Warning: includes nudity.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

News

Looking for God in Russia: Finding Jesus in Orthodox Robes and Evangelical Jeans

God's Word in an Old Light

The New Context of World Missions

News

Long-Distance AIDS Ministry

Plethora of Talent

Rx for Recidivism

Middle East Morass

Behold, the Global Church

Stopping Cultural Drift

Imagining a Different Way to Live

A Good Death

Editorial

Look at All the Lonely People

Into the Silent Land

A Practical Understanding of Jesus' Life

Shoot-First Apologetics

How God Works Through Ordinary Churches

Worth Protecting

Editorial

Theocracy, Anyone?

No Theocracy Here

Meet the Patriot Pastors

Autumn

News

Races to Watch: Tammy Duckworth vs. State Sen. Peter Roskam

Children of a Lesser Hope

Races to Watch: South Dakota's Abortion Ban

Q&A: Newt Gingrich

Races to Watch: Governor of Michigan

Margin of Victory

News

Passages

High-Impact Leader and Shaker

News

Quotation Marks

The Other <em>Plan B</em>

News

Morning-After Headache

News

Go Figure

Does Islam Need a Luther or a Pope?

Gallery of Accusations

News

<em>Christianity Today</em> News Briefs

News

Cutting Out <em>VeggieTales</em>' Core

News

Malay Melee

News

Public Grievance

Expelling InterVarsity

Clash of Churches in Lebanon

View issue

Our Latest

News

Died: Bill Pannell, Black Evangelical Who Raised the Issue of Racism

He wanted white believers to reckon with “cultural captivity,” but saw them become “more and more American and less and less Christian.”

The Bulletin

Stop. Look. Listen. | Voting Third Party

The Bulletin’s Stop. Look. Listen. miniseries, part one: Why Matt Martens is voting third party.

Where Ya From?

Winning with Justice with Maya Moore Irons

 Hear basketball legend Maya Moore Irons’s remarkable story of faith, love, and justice.

News

How Messianic Jews Are Serving Israelis Displaced by Hamas and Hezbollah

In Israel’s only communal village of believers in Jesus, three women reflect on loving their neighbors—and their enemies—in the midst of war.

My Friend, Bill Pannell

A reflection on the trailblazing Black theologian and his influence on American evangelicalism.

News

When the Elder Calls—From Outer Space

Two sick church members in their 90s got a pastoral “visit” from a friend—an astronaut stuck on the International Space Station.

What Are Parents For?

Scripture has a clear vision for parents as stewards of our children. It’s not an instruction manual for modern parenting spats.

Being Human

Trauma, Tenacity, and Trusting God with Beth Moore

The Bible teacher and author reflects on the Lord’s presence throughout her life.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube