{"product_id":"the-land-of-matta-michael-eldred-9781512208009","title":"The Land of Matta: A philosophical, quantum-mechanical phantasy","description":"A fantasy in the sense of \u003ci\u003eAlice in Wonderland\u003c\/i\u003e, but not for children.It's cock-and-bull like \u003ci\u003eTristram Shandy\u003c\/i\u003e, but without the digressions.It's satire in the tradition of \u003ci\u003eGulliver's Travels\u003c\/i\u003e, but the satire is on modern science.The humour is British, like the Goons or Monty Python.The protagonists are two young students, Phi and Psi, finding their way in life. In Book I, \u003ci\u003eIn Quest of Mu\u003c\/i\u003e, they go in search, in search of the ancient Mu, a philosophical refugee from Athens to Upper Matta.Mu himself is on a philosophical quest to answer his guiding question, Why is there movement at all, rather than standstill?In Book II, \u003ci\u003eThe Way Back to Anaxaton\u003c\/i\u003e, the main character turns out to be the mysterious Willy P., the power behind the scenes.Matta stands for 'mathematics', but there are no formulae, only a more or less playful, historical treatment of maths along with a couple of Greek symbols.The quantum mechanics is accurate, but blown up to fantastic proportions with fun-loving, unbridled literary licence. This makes it look superficially like sci-fi, but it's subtler.The philosophical strand is substantial, but presented narratively and playfully camouflaged. The presentation is tongue-in-cheek, so the reader constantly has to decide at each point whether it's serious sense or straight-faced nonsense. Usually it's both. It has some quasi-Platonic dialogue, and the whole is borne by philosophical questions subversively at work in the background. Its companion philosophical volume is A Question of Time: An Alternative Cast of Mind (2015).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Eldred\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1512208000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781512208009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/27\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.16lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/0001","brand":"Michael Eldred","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48459181785343,"sku":"9781512208009","price":16.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7f3805d5-ceda-4744-b1b4-0797783ba8d8.jpg?v=1777408400","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-land-of-matta-michael-eldred-9781512208009","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}