Plato's Children: The State We are in

by Anthony O ' Hear (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $3.31

  10,000 years ago, Man lived in caves following their instinct with little knowledge; today, we have the most sophisticated understanding of our environment ever in the history of man. Yet, British popular culture feasts on feral impulses, such as mouthiness, exhibitionism, binge-drinking and child criminality, as opposed to achievements and intelligence. More than two millennia have passed since Plato coined the image of prisoners tied up in a cave mistaking shadows for reality to represent the human preference for diversion over difficult truth. He could not have known how prescient this image was. In today's world of TV and gratification, where celebrities represent our standard of ultimate success and media are our guide through reality, Plato's image is more relevant than ever in history. In this insightful look at the icons of modern culture, Anthony O'Hear investigates what has happened to our society, now that Plato's figure of speech has become a reality supported by a whole branch of industry. Weaned on a diet of visual stimulants, is our society disconnecting itself further and further truth? In a cross between John Gray's Straw Dogs and Francis Wheen's How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World , media philosopher Anthony Hear argues that modern culture is creating a world of ideas in which truthfulness, responsibility, talent and achievements have started to mean less and less.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.31

  At the age of eleven, Helena Frith Powell's mother gave her a letter after school. It was from her real father her mother told her, not the abusive and moody man Helena had always assumed was the one. This new father was glamorous, an Italian film maker, and he would like her to meet his family on a grand tour of Italy. The moving discovery of Italy and the many relatives Helena never knew she had is wittily described in Ciao Bella, the memoir of her trip through Italy with her father. In a new twist, her father receives a prestigious literary prize in 2008 at the age of 80 and is reunited with her mother after 25 years - will it last?

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $4.28

  There was one subject that was never mentioned when Helena Frith Powell was growing up - her eccentric Italian father. But one day a letter arrived saying that he wanted to meet her. She travelled to Italy with her mother and was mesmerised by him, as well as stunned by his advice on sex and relationships. He introduced her to Rome, Venice and Naples, and they stayed in touch irregularly until she lost contact with him when he stormed out of her wedding, leaving her mother to walk her up the aisle. Several years later, the mother of three children and the author of two successful books, Helena travels to Italy to write about the glamour of Italian women. But walking up the steps of her father's old Florentine apartment powerful memories come flooding back, and she realises that there's another story she needs to tell. She desperately wants to understand the peculiarly strong emotional bonds that tie them together despite his unreliable nature. In this moving and entertaining journey to the places she visited with her father, Helena combines descriptions of Italy, its food, fashion, culture and people with a search for the most mysterious man she's ever met.