Friday, July 17, 2009
#29
Not sure why this is considered Phil Dick's 'masterpiece.' I enjoyed The Man in the High Castle, but I much prefer the crazy pre-cog alternate-consciousness relgio-mystical Dick of say "Ubik" to the altnerate history Dick.
Of course there is a bit of the typical Phil, what with the I-Ching writing an alternative history novel within his alternate history novel. A couple of characters go completely berserk in a manner only Dick can pull off; you read Dick writing a nervous breakdown and you feel like he writes what he knows.
I like the way he imagines America under Japanese occupation, with clever changes in English syntax amongst the native Americans to match the diction of their oppressors.
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2 comments:
Personally, I don't think this is the best Dick either - to me, his late 60's early 70s work is much better, less formulaic SciFi. Like an Oscar for Best Picture doesn't mean much either. Not that Man in the High Castle sucks- but not my favorite PKD, probably not even in the top 10 (if I was sober enough to count).
Not sure if I'd call it his "masterpiece," either, but it is a unique literary precursor to what would later become a staple part of genre fiction.
Entertaining, unsettling and odd — like the best PKD.
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