Socrates Weeps as Plato Grins, is a social political fiction novel that plays the World Oligarchy, (New World Order), against the Philosopher Kings, in a battle of cunning, for control over world democracies. The adventure starts off in the virtual Utopia of Aronian, A tropical volcanic Island mid Atlantic, where King Dominique is struggling with the problems of overpopulation and the depletion of Aronian natural resources. Dominique's struggle to solve the problems of his beautiful Island, without having to compromise the values of his people, acquaints himself with Peder Erikson. Peder is a typical Aronian with all the cultural values and ambitions of his people. Peder is sent by King Dominique to Canada, on a quest to put in motion a plot devised by King Dominique and himself to keep Aronia the paradise it has always been. Once in Canada Peder has to contend against Brian, a struggling construction worker/ inventor, whose intellect and passion for truth and justice is destined to cause a clash. Brian is portrayed as a slightly off the wall hinging on crazy individual whose passion for justices and rebellion against all that infringe human freedom make him a bit eccentric. The novel introduces many problems in the democratic system with many suggestions by the characters. It shows how the system can be corrupted by many means for different purposes by people with different agendas or may have already been. In a genre comparable to; Orwell's 1984, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Heller's Catch 22, Mr. Irwin catches societal trends and portrays them with; humour, irony, and cynicism making a fun novel for audiences to read.
About the Author: Leslie Bruce Irwin was born in Woodstock, Ontario Canada and lives in London Ontario. He is an Inventor, Designer by trade with industrial safety equipment in the construction field and award winning costume designs for theatrical presentations. He has spent most of his life working in the construction field and was very active in municipal government, election campaigns and sitting on boards and committees. Leslie's passion for literature was more of an obsession with reading more than writing, for most of his life. Mr. Irwin considers the written word sacred and the best way to quench the thirst for knowledge. He is self-taught in economics, political science and philosophy and attended Fanshawe college for Industrial design. Leslie's passion for writing occurred later in life when material on subjects that he considered important didn't exist. He felt that the void must be filled with material that would challenge the intellect at different levels and be something that everyone could read and learn while enjoying the story. Fiction writers such as Ayn Rand, George Orwell, Joseph Heller and Ray Bradbury would be considered strong influences in his story genre and writers such as Anne Rice and Dan Brown would be influences on his writing style.