Literature
After having read several excellent novels by the consistently brilliant Philip K. Dick, Martian Time-Slip turned out to be the first disappointment of his large oeuvre that failed to leave any indelible impression on me. Oddly enough, I have grown to enjoy PKD's uneven rambling prose because it is often counter-balanced by bizarre and always fascinating concepts along with deeply profound religious and philosophical ideas. Ironically, this novel is actually contains a narrative structure and style that is far less jarring than his other works but ends up being the least noteworthy due to the familiar subject matter that comes across as a weak rehash as opposed to giving new form to these ideas, which he is able to achieve with some of his best novels including A Scanner Darkly, Ubik and A Scanner Darkly. Mental illness, reality, gnosticism, salvation, drug abuse, time and death are all important concerns for PKD, which constantly crop up in his novels but with Martian Time-Slip, many of these ideas are drastically undermined by the thin story and dull characters.
Taking place during the early colonization period of Mars, a repair man named Jack Bohlen crosses paths with a powerful Union representative and his mistress who all find their lives influenced by a strange autistic child named Manfred who seems to hold the answers to the future. To make troubles worse, Jack suffers from schizophrenia and Manfred has the ability to time travel and bring others with him. Colonial life is difficult with water being scarce and people desperately suffering from loneliness with housing establishments being scattered amongst the harsh arid environment. Seriously now, this premise is brilliant with so much potential for greatness but the story never fully materializes towards a satisfying conclusion. There are also some other sub-plots involving secondary characters but they too are rendered inconsequential. On a more positive note, Dick does provide some interesting social commentary regarding the evils of capitalism, colonization and the flawed education system. Furthermore, the overt sexism and racial bigotry are a tad excessive and laughably passé although I suppose one must take into account that the novel was written during the 1960's. Despite my unabashed love for this author, I can only recommend this novel to hardcore PKD fans.
- Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books For Readers Who Like Science-fiction
It's Tuesday, so you know what that means. This week's topic for a Top 10 list hosted by The Broke and the Bookish is an exciting one: Top Ten Books for Readers Who like _______. I decided to go with Science-Fiction. For those who...
- Teaser Tuesdays!
It's that time again! Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme held by MizB from Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Grab a book you are reading. Open to a random page and pull two sentences.Post the book title, author, and page number....
- The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch By Philip K. Dick
"God Promises Eternal Life. We Can Deliver It." Come on now, isn't that cover freakin' awesome? I have made it my personal mission to own all of these spectacular vintage editions of my favorite Philip K. Dick's novels since my current bookshelf...
- Ubik By Philip K. Dick
Ubik is one of those rare astonishing science fiction novels filled to the brim with such perplexing and fascinating ideas but is actually supported by the author's literary flair and authoritative story telling abilities. How the hell does this...
- Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said By Philip K. Dick
What would it be like to wake up one day and simply not exist in the world? No doubt, disorienting and scary. You might as well be dead since there are no records of your identity in the government database and everyone that you previously knew in your...
Literature
Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
After having read several excellent novels by the consistently brilliant Philip K. Dick, Martian Time-Slip turned out to be the first disappointment of his large oeuvre that failed to leave any indelible impression on me. Oddly enough, I have grown to enjoy PKD's uneven rambling prose because it is often counter-balanced by bizarre and always fascinating concepts along with deeply profound religious and philosophical ideas. Ironically, this novel is actually contains a narrative structure and style that is far less jarring than his other works but ends up being the least noteworthy due to the familiar subject matter that comes across as a weak rehash as opposed to giving new form to these ideas, which he is able to achieve with some of his best novels including A Scanner Darkly, Ubik and A Scanner Darkly. Mental illness, reality, gnosticism, salvation, drug abuse, time and death are all important concerns for PKD, which constantly crop up in his novels but with Martian Time-Slip, many of these ideas are drastically undermined by the thin story and dull characters.
Taking place during the early colonization period of Mars, a repair man named Jack Bohlen crosses paths with a powerful Union representative and his mistress who all find their lives influenced by a strange autistic child named Manfred who seems to hold the answers to the future. To make troubles worse, Jack suffers from schizophrenia and Manfred has the ability to time travel and bring others with him. Colonial life is difficult with water being scarce and people desperately suffering from loneliness with housing establishments being scattered amongst the harsh arid environment. Seriously now, this premise is brilliant with so much potential for greatness but the story never fully materializes towards a satisfying conclusion. There are also some other sub-plots involving secondary characters but they too are rendered inconsequential. On a more positive note, Dick does provide some interesting social commentary regarding the evils of capitalism, colonization and the flawed education system. Furthermore, the overt sexism and racial bigotry are a tad excessive and laughably passé although I suppose one must take into account that the novel was written during the 1960's. Despite my unabashed love for this author, I can only recommend this novel to hardcore PKD fans.
Read from June 07 to 17, 2011
- Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books For Readers Who Like Science-fiction
It's Tuesday, so you know what that means. This week's topic for a Top 10 list hosted by The Broke and the Bookish is an exciting one: Top Ten Books for Readers Who like _______. I decided to go with Science-Fiction. For those who...
- Teaser Tuesdays!
It's that time again! Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme held by MizB from Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Grab a book you are reading. Open to a random page and pull two sentences.Post the book title, author, and page number....
- The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch By Philip K. Dick
"God Promises Eternal Life. We Can Deliver It." Come on now, isn't that cover freakin' awesome? I have made it my personal mission to own all of these spectacular vintage editions of my favorite Philip K. Dick's novels since my current bookshelf...
- Ubik By Philip K. Dick
Ubik is one of those rare astonishing science fiction novels filled to the brim with such perplexing and fascinating ideas but is actually supported by the author's literary flair and authoritative story telling abilities. How the hell does this...
- Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said By Philip K. Dick
What would it be like to wake up one day and simply not exist in the world? No doubt, disorienting and scary. You might as well be dead since there are no records of your identity in the government database and everyone that you previously knew in your...