The novel has an intriguing gentleness, with a dog's eye view of the world. Pondering on the nature of power, Archimedes begins with a political view point & grievance, insisting dogs are people too. With rights. But the fragmentation of their society leaves them powerless in the human tyranny. He conceives language and knowledge as political implements, the fulcrum and lever to move the world. Archimedes' perceptions shift and change through the novel as it traces his political ideals, his philosophical questioning, his troubled awareness of langauge as bot hliberating and imprisoning conscience and above all, his generous and innocent delight in the kaleidoscopic world around him in Ireland's familiar Sydney streets