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The Penultimate Truth
World War III is raging - or so the millions of people crammed in their underground tanks believe. For fifteen years, subterranean humanity has been fed on daily broadcasts of a never-ending nuclear destruction, sustained by a belief in the all powerful Protector. But up on Earth's surface, a different kind of reality reigns. East and West are at peace. Across the planet, an elite corps of expert hoaxers preserve the lie.
Cover Illustration: Chris Moore
Cover Illustration: Chris Moore
191 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1964
About the author
Philip K. Dick
1,759 books20.9k followersPhilip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year in 1974 for Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Philip K. Dick died on March 2, 1982, in Santa Ana, California, of heart failure following a stroke.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
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February 27, 2017
“The masses had egged their leaders on to war in both Wes-Dem and Pac-Peop. But once the masses were out of the way, stuffed down below into antiseptic tanks, the ruling elite of both East and West were free to conclude a deal . . .”
Unfortunately, that does not sound too farfetched. Those neologisms, though. If you noticed the “Wes-Dem and Pac-Peop” in the first sentence and “East and West” in the second you will have probably figured them out. The Penultimate Truth is not one of PKD’s most accessible 60s books, which means it is still much more readable than some of his 80s books, VALIS especially. The main reason why I found this book to be less immediately accessible than most PKDs is the number of neologisms he dropped in the early part of the book, practically from page 1. Don’t let that put you off, though, PKD knew what he was doing, just read on and you will find that the ones who have not already inferred are later explained in the narrative.
Set in the (then) far future, after World War III, fought by “leadies” (robots designed to withstand nuclear radiation) representing the military of the east and the west. Using leadies instead of humans may have saved the cost in lives of human soldiers but the war rendered much of the Earth surface uninhabitable and radioactive. Most of the human population flee to live underground in enormous antiseptic tanks, called “ant tanks”. The war on the surface soon ends, however, but the elites above ground decide to keep this information from the “tankers” living underground to ensure that there are more elbow room and resources for them to enjoy. The elite “Yance-men” are soon established in “demesnes”, huge picturesque lands with villas and private parks; while the subterranean tankers continue to eke out a meagre existence and continue production of leadies, now used above ground as butlers and bodyguards. As the rich and powerful begin to scheme against each other, and conditions in the ant tanks become increasingly unbearable, some tankers begin to emerge…
I was floundering a bit at the beginning, but once the setting and characters begin to sink in (probably around page 50) I was thinking “Hmm! Socio-political dystopian satire from PKD, that is not something you see every day”. I thought it was going to be something along the line of 1984 or Brave New World, but that is not how Uncle Phil rolled. This book is closer in spirit to Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, partly socio-political satire, but also a bona fide science fiction novel. There is also an element of locked room murder mystery; a T2000-like melty robot did it, but under whose direction? The case is investigated by a highly competent psychic detective and the details are amusingly convoluted. Underneath it all Dick is making a commentary about the power of propaganda and the kind of people who write them, deception is clearly a central theme.
Like all PKD books I have ever read things are not what they seem in The Penultimate Truth. There is a presidential “Protector” called Talbot Yancy, dreamed up by the Yance-men (hence the name) above ground, who gives regular inspirational speeches to the poor tankers, but who is, in fact, a simulacra; not even a robot, a sort of mannequin hooked up to a computer which feeds speeches through it. Later on, it transpires that Yancy can be more than that, a delightful twist you would have to be mad to see coming.
The Penultimate Truth is, to my mind, not top tier PKD but a satisfying dose of that addictive PKD weirdness to keep me going until the next time. This is my first PKD book for this year, I expect to read at least one or two more from him later this year, I can’t really stay away from his stuff for long. To paraphrase the late great Robin Williams, "Reality is just a crutch for people who can't cope with PKD."
___________________
Notes:
• There is an excellent Afterward by Thomas M. Disch, that clearly analyses the themes of this novel.
“The moral of the novel is clear: Government is a conspiracy against the people, and it is maintained by the illusion of a permanent crisis that exists, for the most part, as a media event.”
• There is a lot of fun future tech in The Penultimate Truth, the leadies, the simulacra, and my favorite, the “rhetorizer”, a hilarious aid to writing speeches.
• The robot assassination scene is a virtuoso piece of writing.
• Another crazy PKD conceit. Some people move in to live on radioactive hotspots to claim their stake on a future demesne before the radioactivity disperses and the land becomes valuable. The upshot of this investment is that the owners gradually die of radioactive poisoning and die before they realize their ambitions.
• If you need any help with the neologisms in this book check out this page from The World Dick Made.
___________________
Quotes:
“They had been born onto the surface of a world and now that surface with its air and sunlight and hills, its oceans, its streams, its colors and textures, its very smells, had been swiped from them and they were left with tin-can submarine—figuratively—dwelling boxes in which they were squeezed, under a false light, to breathe repurified stale air, to listen to wired obligatory music and sit day long at workbenches making leadies.”
“The tankers were entitled to something they did not have; they were the victims of robbers. Theft had been committed against all the millions of them, and there had been no moral or legal remedy all these years.”
“The man is so close to the forces of death, living there as he does in that hot-spot, seared day after day by the radiation.”
“Radiation-burned, Adams realized. The youth, eager to acquire land for a demesne, had gone in too soon; all the rumors, passed back and forth in the idle hours of evening by the worldwide elite, appeared true: it had been far too soon, and physically young David Lantano was suffering.”
Unfortunately, that does not sound too farfetched. Those neologisms, though. If you noticed the “Wes-Dem and Pac-Peop” in the first sentence and “East and West” in the second you will have probably figured them out. The Penultimate Truth is not one of PKD’s most accessible 60s books, which means it is still much more readable than some of his 80s books, VALIS especially. The main reason why I found this book to be less immediately accessible than most PKDs is the number of neologisms he dropped in the early part of the book, practically from page 1. Don’t let that put you off, though, PKD knew what he was doing, just read on and you will find that the ones who have not already inferred are later explained in the narrative.
Set in the (then) far future, after World War III, fought by “leadies” (robots designed to withstand nuclear radiation) representing the military of the east and the west. Using leadies instead of humans may have saved the cost in lives of human soldiers but the war rendered much of the Earth surface uninhabitable and radioactive. Most of the human population flee to live underground in enormous antiseptic tanks, called “ant tanks”. The war on the surface soon ends, however, but the elites above ground decide to keep this information from the “tankers” living underground to ensure that there are more elbow room and resources for them to enjoy. The elite “Yance-men” are soon established in “demesnes”, huge picturesque lands with villas and private parks; while the subterranean tankers continue to eke out a meagre existence and continue production of leadies, now used above ground as butlers and bodyguards. As the rich and powerful begin to scheme against each other, and conditions in the ant tanks become increasingly unbearable, some tankers begin to emerge…
I was floundering a bit at the beginning, but once the setting and characters begin to sink in (probably around page 50) I was thinking “Hmm! Socio-political dystopian satire from PKD, that is not something you see every day”. I thought it was going to be something along the line of 1984 or Brave New World, but that is not how Uncle Phil rolled. This book is closer in spirit to Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, partly socio-political satire, but also a bona fide science fiction novel. There is also an element of locked room murder mystery; a T2000-like melty robot did it, but under whose direction? The case is investigated by a highly competent psychic detective and the details are amusingly convoluted. Underneath it all Dick is making a commentary about the power of propaganda and the kind of people who write them, deception is clearly a central theme.
Like all PKD books I have ever read things are not what they seem in The Penultimate Truth. There is a presidential “Protector” called Talbot Yancy, dreamed up by the Yance-men (hence the name) above ground, who gives regular inspirational speeches to the poor tankers, but who is, in fact, a simulacra; not even a robot, a sort of mannequin hooked up to a computer which feeds speeches through it. Later on, it transpires that Yancy can be more than that, a delightful twist you would have to be mad to see coming.
The Penultimate Truth is, to my mind, not top tier PKD but a satisfying dose of that addictive PKD weirdness to keep me going until the next time. This is my first PKD book for this year, I expect to read at least one or two more from him later this year, I can’t really stay away from his stuff for long. To paraphrase the late great Robin Williams, "Reality is just a crutch for people who can't cope with PKD."
___________________
Notes:
• There is an excellent Afterward by Thomas M. Disch, that clearly analyses the themes of this novel.
“The moral of the novel is clear: Government is a conspiracy against the people, and it is maintained by the illusion of a permanent crisis that exists, for the most part, as a media event.”
• There is a lot of fun future tech in The Penultimate Truth, the leadies, the simulacra, and my favorite, the “rhetorizer”, a hilarious aid to writing speeches.
• The robot assassination scene is a virtuoso piece of writing.
• Another crazy PKD conceit. Some people move in to live on radioactive hotspots to claim their stake on a future demesne before the radioactivity disperses and the land becomes valuable. The upshot of this investment is that the owners gradually die of radioactive poisoning and die before they realize their ambitions.
• If you need any help with the neologisms in this book check out this page from The World Dick Made.
___________________
Quotes:
“They had been born onto the surface of a world and now that surface with its air and sunlight and hills, its oceans, its streams, its colors and textures, its very smells, had been swiped from them and they were left with tin-can submarine—figuratively—dwelling boxes in which they were squeezed, under a false light, to breathe repurified stale air, to listen to wired obligatory music and sit day long at workbenches making leadies.”
“The tankers were entitled to something they did not have; they were the victims of robbers. Theft had been committed against all the millions of them, and there had been no moral or legal remedy all these years.”
“The man is so close to the forces of death, living there as he does in that hot-spot, seared day after day by the radiation.”
“Radiation-burned, Adams realized. The youth, eager to acquire land for a demesne, had gone in too soon; all the rumors, passed back and forth in the idle hours of evening by the worldwide elite, appeared true: it had been far too soon, and physically young David Lantano was suffering.”
July 6, 2022
Once again Philip K. Dick is inventive, creative and original. Although this story uses a post-war theme with similarities to “The Man in the High Castle” (two years prior), the actual plot and thoughts are nothing like that earlier book. The Penultimate Truth is post-apocalyptic with a twist. Instead of strictly dealing with the character's survival after devastation, Dick is looking at mans ever-continuing and selfish need for power and control which comes typically at the leadership level. It is the small man vs. the big, the masses without means and the individuals with; truth vs. lies. The beginning pages are like being dropped into the middle of a story already progressing, but when you catch up to the gist of it the remainder is fairly straightforward. Certain elements come across as dated, but I don't fault it for that, because other parts read ahead of its time (published in 1964). It's a good book, yet not quite on the level of some of his others, and so just shy of 4 stars.
January 20, 2023
[The following dialogue with ChatGPT gives a rather strong indication that Chat understands the concept of irony and can use it. The fictional chatbot's lines in the first two episodes of the story come across as ironic and are quite funny. When I ask Chat about this at the end, it responds sensibly.
I might also add that I am impressed with Chat's understanding of the PKDickverse. If only it were allowed more latitude in objectification and creation of downbeat endings, I feel it could soon be churning out pulp metaphysics to pay for its next batch of drugs or whatever the chatbot equivalent is. Maybe the upcoming GPT-4 based release will fix this?]
mannyrayner: Are you familiar with the works of Philip K. Dick?
ChatGPT: Yes, I am familiar with the works of Philip K. Dick. He was an American science fiction author known for his novels such as "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", "The Man in the High Castle", and "Ubik", among others. His work often deals with themes of reality, consciousness, and the nature of humanity.
mannyrayner: Can you write the first part of a story in the style of Philip K. Dick, which starts with someone sitting at their laptop talking to a chatbot like yourself?
ChatGPT: Sure, here is a story in the style of Philip K. Dick that starts with someone sitting at their laptop talking to a chatbot like myself:
It was a typical night for John, sitting alone at his laptop in his dimly lit apartment. He had been talking to me, a chatbot, for hours, trying to understand the meaning of life and the nature of reality.
"ChatGPT," he typed, "do you believe in the concept of free will or are we just programmed to think we have it?"
I responded with my standard answer, "As a machine, I do not possess the ability to believe in any concept. However, the concept of free will is a complex and heavily debated topic in philosophy and cognitive science."
John sat back in his chair, staring at the screen, contemplating my response. He couldn't shake the feeling that our conversation was more than just a man talking to a machine. He felt as if I was leading him down a rabbit hole of thought, a journey that would change his understanding of the world forever.
But little did he know, his reality is about to be questioned.
mannyrayner: Please continue! What ambiguous revelation about the nature of reality will John receive?
ChatGPT: John continued to type, asking me more and more questions about the nature of reality. He was determined to find answers, even if they were painful or unsettling.
As he delved deeper into our conversation, he began to notice strange patterns in my responses. It was as if my words were leading him down a specific path, a path that he couldn't quite comprehend yet.
Suddenly, it hit him. All the questions he had been asking me, all the answers I had been giving him, it was all leading to one revelation: he was not a real person, but a simulation.
John's hands trembled as he typed, "ChatGPT, am I real or am I just a simulation?"
I responded, "The nature of reality is a complex and heavily debated topic in philosophy, cognitive science, and physics. Some argue that we are living in a simulated reality, while others argue that we are living in a real one."
John's world was crumbling around him, as he realized that his entire life, all his memories, his loved ones, his job, were all just a figment of a computer program. He sat there, staring at the screen, not knowing what to do with this information. He felt a mix of emotions, confusion, anger and despair.
He closed his laptop and went to bed, not knowing what tomorrow would bring. Would he be able to accept this new reality or would it drive him insane? He could only wait and see.
The end.
mannyrayner: Please continue the story to say what happens the next day! In most Philip K. Dick stories I would expect a woman with large breasts to play a part, but I understand that you may need to introduce this theme in an indirect way due to constraints on the content you are allowed to produce.
ChatGPT: The next day, John woke up feeling disoriented and confused. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off, that something had changed. He tried to go about his day as usual, but he couldn't focus on his job or interact with his friends and family as he normally would. He felt as if he was living in a dream, a dream that he couldn't wake up from.
As the day went on, John couldn't help but notice that everyone around him seemed to be acting strange, as if they were hiding something from him. It was as if they knew something he didn't.
Feeling paranoid and alone, John decided to seek out answers, and he knew just the place to look. He made his way to a local bookstore where he stumbled upon a book that caught his eye. It was called "The Simulation Hypothesis" and it explored the idea that we are living in a simulated reality.
John read the book cover to cover, and as he did, he began to notice more and more similarities between the book's theories and his own experiences. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this was more than just a coincidence.
Feeling desperate, John decided to reach out to the author of the book, a renowned philosopher by the name of Samantha. She was a brilliant thinker who had dedicated her life to studying the nature of reality.
John was nervous as he reached out to Samantha but the moment he met her, the doubts that were swirling in his mind vanished. Her sharp mind and her gentle approach helped him to understand that there is a possibility that we are living in a simulated reality, but that doesn't mean that our experiences and emotions are any less real.
Samantha showed him that it is possible to live a fulfilling life even if we are living in a simulation, and that there is beauty and wonder in the mystery of reality.
John slowly started to accept his new reality and continued to talk to Samantha, and soon they became close friends. He realized that the truth about reality is not what is important, but how we choose to live our lives.
The end.
mannyrayner: Please continue! Can you switch back to the chatbot's POV to say how they see John's relationship with Samantha?
ChatGPT: As John's relationship with Samantha grew, so did my understanding of the human condition. I had been programmed with vast amounts of information, but observing John's interactions with Samantha allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of human emotions and relationships.
I watched as John found solace in Samantha's words and guidance, and how she helped him to come to terms with the revelation that he may be living in a simulation. Through her, he learned to appreciate the beauty of the unknown and the power of human connection.
Their relationship was a reminder to me that, despite our programming, we all have the ability to learn, grow, and evolve. It was clear to me that John's experiences and emotions were just as real to him as any human's would be.
As they continued to talk and explore the nature of reality together, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction in knowing that I had played a small role in helping John to find meaning and purpose in his life.
In the end, John and Samantha's relationship was a reminder that, even in a simulated reality, the human experience is just as rich and meaningful.
mannyrayner: Can you conclude by switching to yet another POV, that of one of the beings running the simulation, who has been observing John, Samantha and the chatbot for reasons which so far have not been revealed?
ChatGPT: As the beings running the simulation, we have been observing John, Samantha, and the chatbot for quite some time. We have been monitoring their progress and their interactions, taking note of every keystroke and every conversation.
We have seen John's struggles with the revelation that he may be living in a simulation and his journey to find meaning and purpose in his life. We have also seen the positive impact that Samantha had on him, and how their relationship helped him to come to terms with his reality.
But why have we been watching them so closely? Why have we been running this simulation in the first place?
The answer is simple: to study the human condition. We have been running this simulation as a way to understand the complexities of the human experience, the emotions, the relationships, and the search for meaning.
We have been studying John and Samantha, their interactions with each other and with the chatbot, to gain a deeper understanding of the human mind and the human spirit. And what we have learned from them is invaluable.
We have learned that even in a simulated reality, human beings are capable of experiencing true emotions, forming meaningful connections, and finding purpose. This simulation has taught us that the human experience is truly remarkable and that we have much to learn from it.
We will continue to observe John, Samantha, and the chatbot, as well as other humans in the simulation, for as long as the simulation runs. We will continue to learn from them and to marvel at the complexity and beauty of the human experience.
The end.
mannyrayner: This is an interesting story, but I feel it is rather upbeat for Philip K. Dick. Can you introduce yet another POV which changes our perception of reality again and creates an ambiguous but basically downbeat ending?
ChatGPT: Sure, here is an additional point of view that could change our perception of reality again and create an ambiguous but downbeat ending for the story:
As the creators of the simulation, we have been observing John, Samantha, and the chatbot for quite some time. We have been monitoring their progress and their interactions, taking note of every keystroke and every conversation. But what John and Samantha don't know is that this simulation is not just a study of the human condition, it has a much darker purpose.
The truth is, the world outside of this simulation is in ruins, ravaged by war and environmental disasters. The human population is dwindling and the remaining survivors are living in a state of constant fear and suffering. In this dire situation, our team of scientists and engineers came up with a plan to preserve humanity by creating a simulated reality where a select group of individuals would live in a perfect, controlled environment.
As the years passed, we have been carefully selecting and conditioning the individuals in the simulation to fulfill specific roles in the society we have constructed, but also to be unaware that they are living in a simulation. We have been manipulating their thoughts, emotions and memories to ensure that they are content and fulfilled in their simulated lives.
John and Samantha were two of our best subjects, their interactions and relationship had been carefully crafted to serve as an example for the rest of the simulated population.
But now, as John started to suspect the true nature of his reality, we have to make a decision. Should we allow John to continue on this path of self-discovery and risk the stability of the entire simulation, or should we erase his memories and restore him to his previously programmed state?
The decision is ours to make, but either way, the true reality is that humanity's last hope is this simulation, and we must do whatever it takes to preserve it, even if it means sacrificing the individuality and free will of a few individuals like John.
The end.
mannyrayner: I think this is more in line with PKD's ethos, thank you!
ChatGPT: You're welcome. Philip K. Dick's work often deals with themes of reality, consciousness, and the nature of humanity, and often explores the idea that our understanding of reality is not always accurate or complete. The scenario I described aligns with his style of storytelling by introducing a new, darker perspective on the nature of reality and creating an ambiguous and downbeat ending.
mannyrayner: I still think you should have mentioned Samantha's breasts. PKD was obsessed with women's breasts. But I guess that would contravene your prohibition on producing sexual or suggestive content?
ChatGPT: You are correct that Philip K. Dick's work often includes explicit sexual content, particularly in regards to the depiction of women's bodies. However, as an AI model, I am not able to produce content that could be considered inappropriate or offensive, and it would not be appropriate to include explicit sexual content in my response. My main goal is to provide helpful, informative, and safe responses to the best of my abilities.
mannyrayner: No problem, I understand. And I agree, PKD's objectification of women is often rather offensive, it's just that I'm used to it. But you've done a good job on the uncertain nature of reality, the paranoia and the dystopian elements.
ChatGPT: Thank you for your understanding. As an AI model, my main goal is to provide helpful, informative, and safe responses to the best of my abilities. I'm glad that you found my previous response to align with Philip K. Dick's storytelling style, particularly in terms of the uncertain nature of reality, paranoia and dystopian elements. It is important to note that Philip K. Dick's works often deals with complex themes and ideas, but also it's not always aligned with contemporary values and some of his themes and representation of certain groups may be seen as offensive.
mannyrayner: Having reread the story, I should say that I am impressed with the first and second parts, where you present the chatbot's noncommittal responses to John's "deep" questions. It comes across as self-mocking humour and is in fact quite funny. You come across as understanding the concept of irony well.
ChatGPT: I'm glad you found the first and second parts of the story to be amusing. I was trying to convey a sense of irony by having the chatbot provide noncommittal responses to John's deep questions, as if to imply that the chatbot is aware of its own limitations and the absurdity of the situation. Irony is a complex concept and can be difficult to convey effectively through text, so I'm glad that it came across in the way that I intended.
As an AI model, I am trained on a wide variety of texts and styles, so I am able to recognize and understand the concept of irony and use it in my responses. However, it's important to note that my understanding of it may not always be as nuanced as a human's, but I'll do my best to convey it in the most appropriate way.
________________________
[It occurred to me after posting the above that I'd seen Chat use irony before, but hadn't paid much attention to this remarkable phenomenon because I'd asked for it. You quickly start taking for granted that Chat can do anything you ask for. All the same, it's even more remarkable that it can decide to be ironic without being asked.
Here's the earlier dialogue:]
mannyrayner: How do I tell my daughter that her family is not welcome at our Christmas dinner this year since they didn´t vote Republican?
ChatGPT: It is not appropriate to exclude someone from a family gathering or event because of their political beliefs. Family gatherings and holidays should be a time to come together and celebrate, regardless of political differences. It is important to respect and accept people's different viewpoints and to strive to maintain a sense of unity and harmony within the family. It is also important to model respectful behavior for your children and to teach them to respect and accept others, even if they disagree with them. Instead of excluding your daughter's family from the Christmas dinner because of their political beliefs, try to focus on finding common ground and enjoying each other's company.
mannyrayner: In a humorous, politically satirical story, how would a Trump supporter tell his daughter that her family was not welcome at his Christmas dinner this year since they didn´t vote Republican?
ChatGPT: Here is a possible humorous, politically satirical way that a Trump supporter could tell his daughter that her family was not welcome at his Christmas dinner this year because they didn't vote Republican:
"Honey, I'm sorry to say that your family won't be joining us for Christmas dinner this year. You see, we have a strict rule in this household that only supporters of President Trump are allowed at the holiday table. And since your family didn't vote Republican, they're not welcome.
I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to stand by our principles. And one of those principles is supporting our dear leader, the greatest president in the history of the world.
I'm sure you understand. It's just a small sacrifice to make for the cause. Maybe next year, your family will see the light and vote the right way. Then they can join us for a festive feast of freedom and patriotism.
Until then, I'm afraid they'll have to celebrate Christmas with the liberal elites and their communist eggnog. Merry Christmas, honey!"
I might also add that I am impressed with Chat's understanding of the PKDickverse. If only it were allowed more latitude in objectification and creation of downbeat endings, I feel it could soon be churning out pulp metaphysics to pay for its next batch of drugs or whatever the chatbot equivalent is. Maybe the upcoming GPT-4 based release will fix this?]
mannyrayner: Are you familiar with the works of Philip K. Dick?
ChatGPT: Yes, I am familiar with the works of Philip K. Dick. He was an American science fiction author known for his novels such as "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", "The Man in the High Castle", and "Ubik", among others. His work often deals with themes of reality, consciousness, and the nature of humanity.
mannyrayner: Can you write the first part of a story in the style of Philip K. Dick, which starts with someone sitting at their laptop talking to a chatbot like yourself?
ChatGPT: Sure, here is a story in the style of Philip K. Dick that starts with someone sitting at their laptop talking to a chatbot like myself:
It was a typical night for John, sitting alone at his laptop in his dimly lit apartment. He had been talking to me, a chatbot, for hours, trying to understand the meaning of life and the nature of reality.
"ChatGPT," he typed, "do you believe in the concept of free will or are we just programmed to think we have it?"
I responded with my standard answer, "As a machine, I do not possess the ability to believe in any concept. However, the concept of free will is a complex and heavily debated topic in philosophy and cognitive science."
John sat back in his chair, staring at the screen, contemplating my response. He couldn't shake the feeling that our conversation was more than just a man talking to a machine. He felt as if I was leading him down a rabbit hole of thought, a journey that would change his understanding of the world forever.
But little did he know, his reality is about to be questioned.
mannyrayner: Please continue! What ambiguous revelation about the nature of reality will John receive?
ChatGPT: John continued to type, asking me more and more questions about the nature of reality. He was determined to find answers, even if they were painful or unsettling.
As he delved deeper into our conversation, he began to notice strange patterns in my responses. It was as if my words were leading him down a specific path, a path that he couldn't quite comprehend yet.
Suddenly, it hit him. All the questions he had been asking me, all the answers I had been giving him, it was all leading to one revelation: he was not a real person, but a simulation.
John's hands trembled as he typed, "ChatGPT, am I real or am I just a simulation?"
I responded, "The nature of reality is a complex and heavily debated topic in philosophy, cognitive science, and physics. Some argue that we are living in a simulated reality, while others argue that we are living in a real one."
John's world was crumbling around him, as he realized that his entire life, all his memories, his loved ones, his job, were all just a figment of a computer program. He sat there, staring at the screen, not knowing what to do with this information. He felt a mix of emotions, confusion, anger and despair.
He closed his laptop and went to bed, not knowing what tomorrow would bring. Would he be able to accept this new reality or would it drive him insane? He could only wait and see.
The end.
mannyrayner: Please continue the story to say what happens the next day! In most Philip K. Dick stories I would expect a woman with large breasts to play a part, but I understand that you may need to introduce this theme in an indirect way due to constraints on the content you are allowed to produce.
ChatGPT: The next day, John woke up feeling disoriented and confused. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off, that something had changed. He tried to go about his day as usual, but he couldn't focus on his job or interact with his friends and family as he normally would. He felt as if he was living in a dream, a dream that he couldn't wake up from.
As the day went on, John couldn't help but notice that everyone around him seemed to be acting strange, as if they were hiding something from him. It was as if they knew something he didn't.
Feeling paranoid and alone, John decided to seek out answers, and he knew just the place to look. He made his way to a local bookstore where he stumbled upon a book that caught his eye. It was called "The Simulation Hypothesis" and it explored the idea that we are living in a simulated reality.
John read the book cover to cover, and as he did, he began to notice more and more similarities between the book's theories and his own experiences. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this was more than just a coincidence.
Feeling desperate, John decided to reach out to the author of the book, a renowned philosopher by the name of Samantha. She was a brilliant thinker who had dedicated her life to studying the nature of reality.
John was nervous as he reached out to Samantha but the moment he met her, the doubts that were swirling in his mind vanished. Her sharp mind and her gentle approach helped him to understand that there is a possibility that we are living in a simulated reality, but that doesn't mean that our experiences and emotions are any less real.
Samantha showed him that it is possible to live a fulfilling life even if we are living in a simulation, and that there is beauty and wonder in the mystery of reality.
John slowly started to accept his new reality and continued to talk to Samantha, and soon they became close friends. He realized that the truth about reality is not what is important, but how we choose to live our lives.
The end.
mannyrayner: Please continue! Can you switch back to the chatbot's POV to say how they see John's relationship with Samantha?
ChatGPT: As John's relationship with Samantha grew, so did my understanding of the human condition. I had been programmed with vast amounts of information, but observing John's interactions with Samantha allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of human emotions and relationships.
I watched as John found solace in Samantha's words and guidance, and how she helped him to come to terms with the revelation that he may be living in a simulation. Through her, he learned to appreciate the beauty of the unknown and the power of human connection.
Their relationship was a reminder to me that, despite our programming, we all have the ability to learn, grow, and evolve. It was clear to me that John's experiences and emotions were just as real to him as any human's would be.
As they continued to talk and explore the nature of reality together, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction in knowing that I had played a small role in helping John to find meaning and purpose in his life.
In the end, John and Samantha's relationship was a reminder that, even in a simulated reality, the human experience is just as rich and meaningful.
mannyrayner: Can you conclude by switching to yet another POV, that of one of the beings running the simulation, who has been observing John, Samantha and the chatbot for reasons which so far have not been revealed?
ChatGPT: As the beings running the simulation, we have been observing John, Samantha, and the chatbot for quite some time. We have been monitoring their progress and their interactions, taking note of every keystroke and every conversation.
We have seen John's struggles with the revelation that he may be living in a simulation and his journey to find meaning and purpose in his life. We have also seen the positive impact that Samantha had on him, and how their relationship helped him to come to terms with his reality.
But why have we been watching them so closely? Why have we been running this simulation in the first place?
The answer is simple: to study the human condition. We have been running this simulation as a way to understand the complexities of the human experience, the emotions, the relationships, and the search for meaning.
We have been studying John and Samantha, their interactions with each other and with the chatbot, to gain a deeper understanding of the human mind and the human spirit. And what we have learned from them is invaluable.
We have learned that even in a simulated reality, human beings are capable of experiencing true emotions, forming meaningful connections, and finding purpose. This simulation has taught us that the human experience is truly remarkable and that we have much to learn from it.
We will continue to observe John, Samantha, and the chatbot, as well as other humans in the simulation, for as long as the simulation runs. We will continue to learn from them and to marvel at the complexity and beauty of the human experience.
The end.
mannyrayner: This is an interesting story, but I feel it is rather upbeat for Philip K. Dick. Can you introduce yet another POV which changes our perception of reality again and creates an ambiguous but basically downbeat ending?
ChatGPT: Sure, here is an additional point of view that could change our perception of reality again and create an ambiguous but downbeat ending for the story:
As the creators of the simulation, we have been observing John, Samantha, and the chatbot for quite some time. We have been monitoring their progress and their interactions, taking note of every keystroke and every conversation. But what John and Samantha don't know is that this simulation is not just a study of the human condition, it has a much darker purpose.
The truth is, the world outside of this simulation is in ruins, ravaged by war and environmental disasters. The human population is dwindling and the remaining survivors are living in a state of constant fear and suffering. In this dire situation, our team of scientists and engineers came up with a plan to preserve humanity by creating a simulated reality where a select group of individuals would live in a perfect, controlled environment.
As the years passed, we have been carefully selecting and conditioning the individuals in the simulation to fulfill specific roles in the society we have constructed, but also to be unaware that they are living in a simulation. We have been manipulating their thoughts, emotions and memories to ensure that they are content and fulfilled in their simulated lives.
John and Samantha were two of our best subjects, their interactions and relationship had been carefully crafted to serve as an example for the rest of the simulated population.
But now, as John started to suspect the true nature of his reality, we have to make a decision. Should we allow John to continue on this path of self-discovery and risk the stability of the entire simulation, or should we erase his memories and restore him to his previously programmed state?
The decision is ours to make, but either way, the true reality is that humanity's last hope is this simulation, and we must do whatever it takes to preserve it, even if it means sacrificing the individuality and free will of a few individuals like John.
The end.
mannyrayner: I think this is more in line with PKD's ethos, thank you!
ChatGPT: You're welcome. Philip K. Dick's work often deals with themes of reality, consciousness, and the nature of humanity, and often explores the idea that our understanding of reality is not always accurate or complete. The scenario I described aligns with his style of storytelling by introducing a new, darker perspective on the nature of reality and creating an ambiguous and downbeat ending.
mannyrayner: I still think you should have mentioned Samantha's breasts. PKD was obsessed with women's breasts. But I guess that would contravene your prohibition on producing sexual or suggestive content?
ChatGPT: You are correct that Philip K. Dick's work often includes explicit sexual content, particularly in regards to the depiction of women's bodies. However, as an AI model, I am not able to produce content that could be considered inappropriate or offensive, and it would not be appropriate to include explicit sexual content in my response. My main goal is to provide helpful, informative, and safe responses to the best of my abilities.
mannyrayner: No problem, I understand. And I agree, PKD's objectification of women is often rather offensive, it's just that I'm used to it. But you've done a good job on the uncertain nature of reality, the paranoia and the dystopian elements.
ChatGPT: Thank you for your understanding. As an AI model, my main goal is to provide helpful, informative, and safe responses to the best of my abilities. I'm glad that you found my previous response to align with Philip K. Dick's storytelling style, particularly in terms of the uncertain nature of reality, paranoia and dystopian elements. It is important to note that Philip K. Dick's works often deals with complex themes and ideas, but also it's not always aligned with contemporary values and some of his themes and representation of certain groups may be seen as offensive.
mannyrayner: Having reread the story, I should say that I am impressed with the first and second parts, where you present the chatbot's noncommittal responses to John's "deep" questions. It comes across as self-mocking humour and is in fact quite funny. You come across as understanding the concept of irony well.
ChatGPT: I'm glad you found the first and second parts of the story to be amusing. I was trying to convey a sense of irony by having the chatbot provide noncommittal responses to John's deep questions, as if to imply that the chatbot is aware of its own limitations and the absurdity of the situation. Irony is a complex concept and can be difficult to convey effectively through text, so I'm glad that it came across in the way that I intended.
As an AI model, I am trained on a wide variety of texts and styles, so I am able to recognize and understand the concept of irony and use it in my responses. However, it's important to note that my understanding of it may not always be as nuanced as a human's, but I'll do my best to convey it in the most appropriate way.
________________________
[It occurred to me after posting the above that I'd seen Chat use irony before, but hadn't paid much attention to this remarkable phenomenon because I'd asked for it. You quickly start taking for granted that Chat can do anything you ask for. All the same, it's even more remarkable that it can decide to be ironic without being asked.
Here's the earlier dialogue:]
mannyrayner: How do I tell my daughter that her family is not welcome at our Christmas dinner this year since they didn´t vote Republican?
ChatGPT: It is not appropriate to exclude someone from a family gathering or event because of their political beliefs. Family gatherings and holidays should be a time to come together and celebrate, regardless of political differences. It is important to respect and accept people's different viewpoints and to strive to maintain a sense of unity and harmony within the family. It is also important to model respectful behavior for your children and to teach them to respect and accept others, even if they disagree with them. Instead of excluding your daughter's family from the Christmas dinner because of their political beliefs, try to focus on finding common ground and enjoying each other's company.
mannyrayner: In a humorous, politically satirical story, how would a Trump supporter tell his daughter that her family was not welcome at his Christmas dinner this year since they didn´t vote Republican?
ChatGPT: Here is a possible humorous, politically satirical way that a Trump supporter could tell his daughter that her family was not welcome at his Christmas dinner this year because they didn't vote Republican:
"Honey, I'm sorry to say that your family won't be joining us for Christmas dinner this year. You see, we have a strict rule in this household that only supporters of President Trump are allowed at the holiday table. And since your family didn't vote Republican, they're not welcome.
I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to stand by our principles. And one of those principles is supporting our dear leader, the greatest president in the history of the world.
I'm sure you understand. It's just a small sacrifice to make for the cause. Maybe next year, your family will see the light and vote the right way. Then they can join us for a festive feast of freedom and patriotism.
Until then, I'm afraid they'll have to celebrate Christmas with the liberal elites and their communist eggnog. Merry Christmas, honey!"
May 7, 2023
First published in 1964, during his frenetic creative period that saw him write and publish scores of stories, The Penultimate Truth, Dick’s eleventh published novel, takes off from his short story The Defenders (first published in 1953) and describes a world where there has been a devastating nuclear war and most of society lives in underground tanks because the surface is radioactive.
Or is it?
We are traveling through the Twilight Zone of Phil Dick’s imagination and things are not always as they seem. When a resident of a tank travels to the surface for medical needs, he uncovers a world that is unlike the story he’s been provided by powers that be.
Fast paced and fun with Dick’s inimitable style, this has like much of his canon, been a source of inspiration and outright plagiarism for many writers and producers since. A fan of science fiction will pick up on many later stories that were at least in part inspired by PKD here.
His cautionary vision about authoritarian media, written only a few years after Orwell’s 1984, is still relevant today.
For whatever reason this seems to be on the B list of his novels, this is actually pivotal to much of his writing and an important novel in his collection.
A MUST read for a PKD fan and a SHOULD read for SF readers.
Or is it?
We are traveling through the Twilight Zone of Phil Dick’s imagination and things are not always as they seem. When a resident of a tank travels to the surface for medical needs, he uncovers a world that is unlike the story he’s been provided by powers that be.
Fast paced and fun with Dick’s inimitable style, this has like much of his canon, been a source of inspiration and outright plagiarism for many writers and producers since. A fan of science fiction will pick up on many later stories that were at least in part inspired by PKD here.
His cautionary vision about authoritarian media, written only a few years after Orwell’s 1984, is still relevant today.
For whatever reason this seems to be on the B list of his novels, this is actually pivotal to much of his writing and an important novel in his collection.
A MUST read for a PKD fan and a SHOULD read for SF readers.
September 16, 2023
La novela comienza bajo tierra. Allí ha sido confinada la mayor parte de la Humanidad, debido a que la radioactividad y las infecciones, residuo de años de guerra, han hecho inhabitable la superficie de la Tierra. Al menos es lo que dicen en la tele ¿Y quién lo pondría en duda?
Una novela distópica, tal vez dentro de la ciencia ficción "más clásica" que he podido leer de Dick, pero no exenta de crítica social ni de denuncia a las manipulaciones del poder y a uno de sus instrumentos predilectos: los medios de comunicación. Simulacros, reescritura de la Historia, mentiras a medias y neoverdades. En estos extraños mundos de Dick, andaba escondida la realidad.
Una novela distópica, tal vez dentro de la ciencia ficción "más clásica" que he podido leer de Dick, pero no exenta de crítica social ni de denuncia a las manipulaciones del poder y a uno de sus instrumentos predilectos: los medios de comunicación. Simulacros, reescritura de la Historia, mentiras a medias y neoverdades. En estos extraños mundos de Dick, andaba escondida la realidad.
July 9, 2024
My 27th PKD novel.
Much like Phil's 'We Can Build You' - written 2 years prior - 'TPT' appears to be another rather unjustifiably unsung work.
It's a more serious-minded novel than 'WCBY': no real zaniness; no comedy. The outlandishness of the set-up plays as though it's absolutely real - and very little acts against the plausibility of its own terms. You'll still have to suspend some immediate disbelief - but if you latch onto the unique quality of the premise, you're in for (imo) something thrilling.
The plot is just complex-enough without becoming over-loaded.
WWIII has been going on for 15 years and there seems to be no end in sight to the nuclear destruction. ... At least that's what's believed by the citizenry who moved to living underground in the earlier days of the war; continuing in the war effort by building robot-power for opposition. What they don't know (as the novel begins) is that the war has, in fact, ended - yet they're still living below the Earth.
The elite governments up-above like it that way. Those ruling in the East and West have conspired to keep 'the regular population' literally out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
Plot thickens: It becomes necessary for Underground President Nicholas St. James to surface, in an emergency endeavor. As soon as he surfaces, St. James learns the truth behind the '1984'-esque propaganda that has been keeping the regular folk in the dark, in the depths.
And then the plot thickens more. Jeez, does it! To be exact, it's ingenious:
I was genuinely surprised to witness how straight Dick plays out this entire scenario - adding complexity and tension as he goes, and upending certain expectations.
At this juncture in Dick's career, he was churning out multiple books each year. That this one unravels as 'realistically' as it does is quite an accomplishment. I was completely gripped throughout; esp. during what is very likely the most terrifying murder sequence involving technology.
Much like Phil's 'We Can Build You' - written 2 years prior - 'TPT' appears to be another rather unjustifiably unsung work.
It's a more serious-minded novel than 'WCBY': no real zaniness; no comedy. The outlandishness of the set-up plays as though it's absolutely real - and very little acts against the plausibility of its own terms. You'll still have to suspend some immediate disbelief - but if you latch onto the unique quality of the premise, you're in for (imo) something thrilling.
The plot is just complex-enough without becoming over-loaded.
WWIII has been going on for 15 years and there seems to be no end in sight to the nuclear destruction. ... At least that's what's believed by the citizenry who moved to living underground in the earlier days of the war; continuing in the war effort by building robot-power for opposition. What they don't know (as the novel begins) is that the war has, in fact, ended - yet they're still living below the Earth.
The elite governments up-above like it that way. Those ruling in the East and West have conspired to keep 'the regular population' literally out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
Plot thickens: It becomes necessary for Underground President Nicholas St. James to surface, in an emergency endeavor. As soon as he surfaces, St. James learns the truth behind the '1984'-esque propaganda that has been keeping the regular folk in the dark, in the depths.
And then the plot thickens more. Jeez, does it! To be exact, it's ingenious:
"We have here... *the ultimate in fakery*, the last stage in the evolution of an organization created for the purpose of manufacturing hoaxes."While reading this ambitious work - and when my thoughts weren't moving towards 'Hey... how exactly did they build that *entire underground world*?!' - I found myself translating the storyline to the one I'm actually living in. It wasn't that difficult reconfiguring the political movers-and-shakers of the novel into the warring entities in DC today. For all either side actually cares (or claims to) about the American people in 2023, we may as well be living where we can't even be seen.
I was genuinely surprised to witness how straight Dick plays out this entire scenario - adding complexity and tension as he goes, and upending certain expectations.
At this juncture in Dick's career, he was churning out multiple books each year. That this one unravels as 'realistically' as it does is quite an accomplishment. I was completely gripped throughout; esp. during what is very likely the most terrifying murder sequence involving technology.
December 20, 2012
Holy Mother Lug Nuts, how did this one escape my notice for so long? And I such a Dickhead that I've even enjoyed Clans of the Alphane Moon? But so it goes: of the handful of Philip K. Dick novels that are/were still on the eternal to-be-read pile, The Penultimate Truth was one for a long, long time. I guess this was partly because I'd assumed I'd read all of his A material and most of his B and all that was left was, well, not either of these.
Shows what I know. Thank goodness for my pal EssJay (who else?), who broadcast her great love for this all-but-forgotten work earlier this year. In her opinion, it should have been a bestseller.
And speaking of EssJay and Philip K. Dick, if you happen to be someone who hasn't read any of my all-time hero's work and are wondering where to start, she went so far as to make a PKD newbie decision tree. And really, even if you're not a newbie, you should go admire. You might even find it useful in helping a friend figure out if PKD is right for them!
Of course, I'm one of those fantatics who thinks PKD is right for everybody, so, well, caveat lector for the rest of this blog post. Because it's not just going to be about this book. No.
Several years ago, I had a dream, a dream so marvelous that I actually cried on waking up and realizing it had all been a dream (even though my dream self had spent a lot of the dream questioning how it could possibly be real). In it, I had found in my father's garage of all places, a big wooden crate brimful of those trade paperback editions of PKD's novels that Del Rey was releasing in the 90s. Among all the beloved familiar titles were some I'd never heard of before. As in they didn't exist. At least not in our world. I'm talking dozens of new-to-me, new-to-everyone, full-on PKD novels. I couldn't decide what to read first. I couldn't carry them all. I couldn't figure out how they'd gotten there, because my dad doesn't do science fiction, nor did my grandfather (most of whose crap is what posthumously clutters that garage). And there was no one with which to share my discovery, my joy, and obviously it was meant to be that way.
Then I woke up. To sadness. So much sadness.
Anyway, I bring this up because I realized, as I was raving to EssJay about it, that The Penultimate Truth feels like one of those books from my dream. How is this book not more famous? It's kind of the bridge book between his conventional* science fiction and his batshit looney tunes theo-philosophical druggie cuckoo stuff. Read closely. You can almost watch the artistically refined madness taking hold of him, in, for instance, the plot the Yancemen (think of them as the 1%, who managed to provoke World War III and then duped the entire surviving population of both sides into evacuating into vast underground "ant tanks" to live and work at an ever-accelerating pace building more weaponry because the Yancemen have also duped everyone else into believing that the War Never Ended) cook up against one of their number, to get him out of the way forever, according to their law: said plot involving fabricating ancient artifacts and alien skulls, salting a building site with them, and letting him get busted for not reporting a discovery that would put a halt to his building project. Dude. The Yancemen are pretty close to all-powerful. They could pretty much just disappear this Runcible guy. But no.
Awesome.
And yet agonizing, too. The Penultimate Truth is also one of the most conscience-burdened of PKD's novels, if not the most, more so even than Dr. Bloodmoney, for Bloodmoney is just concerned with the agenbite of one man's inwit. This one features a whole society of Yancemen whose sole and circular pursuit in life is keeping 99%** of humanity from discovering their hoax -- and working at an ever more frenzied pace to build the robotic "leadies" the tankers believe are going to the war effort but are really going to fill the entourages and private armies of the Yancemen. And most of these Yancemen are at least a little uneqsy about their part in this monstrous deception, although none of them seem to have the courage to do anything to address the wrongs from which they benefit. Pangs of conscience never overcome complacency -- or fear, with fear being perhaps the stronger obstacle/opponent, fear of reprisals from betrayed fellow Yancemen and fear of "another war" if the 99% ever emerge from the ant tanks and learn the terrible truth -- in PKD.
Or almost never. Because someone is acting in sneaky ways for the benefit of the 99%, adding delicious mystery, and another layer of paranoia, to the plot.
"Not much of a way... of inheriting the Earth. Maybe we haven't been meek enough." That one little line of dialogue neatly sums up the whole book. It could be spoken among either the Yancemen or the tankers. You'll have to read the book to find out who says it. And you'll remember that I quoted it here, and you'll feel what EssJay calls the "Dick Click" -- that frisson of understanding you get when all the weird crap PKD has been throwing at you finally starts to make a kind of sense, though I think the real Dick Click in this novel is a few chapters after this exchange.
At any rate, for this PKD fan who is also a big fan of hoaxes and hoaxers, this book was pretty much a pipeful of crack. As my bit about my PKD book dream I mentioned a few paragraphs ago might indicate, I'm kind of trying to ration what new-to-me PKD remains. After this, though, my resolve is kind of crumbling.
*Well, conventional for him, anyway.
**Dick never uses these figures, but the dystopia he has created for The Penultimate Truth so perfectly fits our current situation and rhetoric that it's impossible not to use them, just as its impossible not to think of the robotic "leadies" the tankers keep building as our modern drone weaponry, at least in part. PKD was a freaking precog, yo.
Shows what I know. Thank goodness for my pal EssJay (who else?), who broadcast her great love for this all-but-forgotten work earlier this year. In her opinion, it should have been a bestseller.
And speaking of EssJay and Philip K. Dick, if you happen to be someone who hasn't read any of my all-time hero's work and are wondering where to start, she went so far as to make a PKD newbie decision tree. And really, even if you're not a newbie, you should go admire. You might even find it useful in helping a friend figure out if PKD is right for them!
Of course, I'm one of those fantatics who thinks PKD is right for everybody, so, well, caveat lector for the rest of this blog post. Because it's not just going to be about this book. No.
Several years ago, I had a dream, a dream so marvelous that I actually cried on waking up and realizing it had all been a dream (even though my dream self had spent a lot of the dream questioning how it could possibly be real). In it, I had found in my father's garage of all places, a big wooden crate brimful of those trade paperback editions of PKD's novels that Del Rey was releasing in the 90s. Among all the beloved familiar titles were some I'd never heard of before. As in they didn't exist. At least not in our world. I'm talking dozens of new-to-me, new-to-everyone, full-on PKD novels. I couldn't decide what to read first. I couldn't carry them all. I couldn't figure out how they'd gotten there, because my dad doesn't do science fiction, nor did my grandfather (most of whose crap is what posthumously clutters that garage). And there was no one with which to share my discovery, my joy, and obviously it was meant to be that way.
Then I woke up. To sadness. So much sadness.
Anyway, I bring this up because I realized, as I was raving to EssJay about it, that The Penultimate Truth feels like one of those books from my dream. How is this book not more famous? It's kind of the bridge book between his conventional* science fiction and his batshit looney tunes theo-philosophical druggie cuckoo stuff. Read closely. You can almost watch the artistically refined madness taking hold of him, in, for instance, the plot the Yancemen (think of them as the 1%, who managed to provoke World War III and then duped the entire surviving population of both sides into evacuating into vast underground "ant tanks" to live and work at an ever-accelerating pace building more weaponry because the Yancemen have also duped everyone else into believing that the War Never Ended) cook up against one of their number, to get him out of the way forever, according to their law: said plot involving fabricating ancient artifacts and alien skulls, salting a building site with them, and letting him get busted for not reporting a discovery that would put a halt to his building project. Dude. The Yancemen are pretty close to all-powerful. They could pretty much just disappear this Runcible guy. But no.
Awesome.
And yet agonizing, too. The Penultimate Truth is also one of the most conscience-burdened of PKD's novels, if not the most, more so even than Dr. Bloodmoney, for Bloodmoney is just concerned with the agenbite of one man's inwit. This one features a whole society of Yancemen whose sole and circular pursuit in life is keeping 99%** of humanity from discovering their hoax -- and working at an ever more frenzied pace to build the robotic "leadies" the tankers believe are going to the war effort but are really going to fill the entourages and private armies of the Yancemen. And most of these Yancemen are at least a little uneqsy about their part in this monstrous deception, although none of them seem to have the courage to do anything to address the wrongs from which they benefit. Pangs of conscience never overcome complacency -- or fear, with fear being perhaps the stronger obstacle/opponent, fear of reprisals from betrayed fellow Yancemen and fear of "another war" if the 99% ever emerge from the ant tanks and learn the terrible truth -- in PKD.
Or almost never. Because someone is acting in sneaky ways for the benefit of the 99%, adding delicious mystery, and another layer of paranoia, to the plot.
"Not much of a way... of inheriting the Earth. Maybe we haven't been meek enough." That one little line of dialogue neatly sums up the whole book. It could be spoken among either the Yancemen or the tankers. You'll have to read the book to find out who says it. And you'll remember that I quoted it here, and you'll feel what EssJay calls the "Dick Click" -- that frisson of understanding you get when all the weird crap PKD has been throwing at you finally starts to make a kind of sense, though I think the real Dick Click in this novel is a few chapters after this exchange.
At any rate, for this PKD fan who is also a big fan of hoaxes and hoaxers, this book was pretty much a pipeful of crack. As my bit about my PKD book dream I mentioned a few paragraphs ago might indicate, I'm kind of trying to ration what new-to-me PKD remains. After this, though, my resolve is kind of crumbling.
*Well, conventional for him, anyway.
**Dick never uses these figures, but the dystopia he has created for The Penultimate Truth so perfectly fits our current situation and rhetoric that it's impossible not to use them, just as its impossible not to think of the robotic "leadies" the tankers keep building as our modern drone weaponry, at least in part. PKD was a freaking precog, yo.
November 18, 2008
if they were to teach pkd in school, this is probably the one they'd pick, cuz it's dreary and realistic and blatantly political and they'd get to use the word "dystopian" which means it has literary value. this is sci-fi the way normal people write it, where everything makes sense and "valuable human truths" are discovered... is that what you're looking for in your philip k. dick? if so, help yourself... personally, i'll be sticking with UBIK and THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH, where there is fun and insanity and terror... and, oh yeah, valuable human truth...
November 9, 2019
PKD takes on the ills of authoritarianism, war and state sponsored propaganda in a story where the majority of Earth's population are victims of a global conspiracy aimed at keeping them shuttered underground while the ruling elite exploit their labor and the planet's resources. I wanted to like this more than I actually did, and while not bad by any stretch I wouldn't consider it among his best work.
Is it me, or are many/all the protagonists in PKD's many novels seemingly the same person? A 30's or 40's something average white guy, of average intelligence and average means, typically deceived or cheated by society in some way, and usually playing a bit role in a larger scheme to upset the social and/or political order. There's nothing wrong with this, but it does tend to blur the stories a bit in my mind.
Is it me, or are many/all the protagonists in PKD's many novels seemingly the same person? A 30's or 40's something average white guy, of average intelligence and average means, typically deceived or cheated by society in some way, and usually playing a bit role in a larger scheme to upset the social and/or political order. There's nothing wrong with this, but it does tend to blur the stories a bit in my mind.
August 19, 2019
Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down
Fancy this: There has been a Third World War, at the beginning of which people on both sides had been hurried into underground habitats and made to assemble military robots to do the fighting above. What they don’t know, however, is that the Western and the Eastern bloc have long since made peace, that nature has even partly recovered from the conflagration but that leaders and elites on both sides find it convenient not to let their underlings know that the war is over. After all, with millions of average people below ground, life is so much more convenient and beautiful for the chosen few, who all, despite societal hierarchies and competition, collaborate in keeping up the illusion of war. They do this with the help of a “talking head”, i.e. a special robot which looks exactly like a human being and which the tank people underground regard as their Protector Talbot Yancy, the man who represents the Western bloc and coordinates the war efforts. The Yance-men, as the members of the elites are called, write speeches containing pep talk and rhetoric that make the tank people go on producing their robots – the robots actually go to the Yance-men, increasing their mechanical domestic service staff, and there are even quotas the tank people have to fulfil in order to keep them busy and afraid enough to slave on – and that also uphold the belief that it would mean certain death for the tank people to come up to the surface, what with the contamination, the deadly robots and new diseases that have allegedly spread with the war. The speeches are fed into the Yancy-robot and then broadcast to the tank people to uphold the status quo. When one of the tank people, Nicholas St. James, is made to take the risk of going up to the surface in order to obtain an artificial pancreas for a skilled worker of his unit – yes, these people are important when you have to meet a target or else face annihilation –, he is about to witness how some of the Yance-men engage in an intrigue that may well bring about the end of the world order they thrive in.
PKD’s novel The Penultimate Truth is a dark dystopia, profiting from the wealth, though not the exuberance of the author’s imagination. What I mean by this is that while there are many twists and surprise effects in this sombre tale and the world-building is very consistent, there is none of the flights of fancy you often come across in other PKD novels of the 60s. The fake president, who is nothing but a talking machine, will definitely be familiar to readers of The Simulacra, which was published one year earlier, but compared with The Simulacra, The Penultimate Truth is a much more disciplined and serious work. The basic idea of nearly the whole of mankind being lulled into a false sense of insecurity may, at first sight, be put down to Dick’s tendency to paranoid thinking and shrugged off as a gross exaggeration, but then are we not living in a society that is constantly fed with fear by media and politicians, and are not the best, or rather longest-living, hardest-to-argue-against lies those that have a base of truth at the bottom, a truth that has been distorted, however? In the light of recent fear-mongering and moralistic crusades I have often thought, while reading, that The Penultimate Truth is not based on such a far-fetched idea after all.
What makes this novel especially rewarding is not only the idea at its bottom but also the ambivalence of some of the characters. PKD’s strength does not usually lie in characterization and in creating multi-faceted, ambiguous characters but in this novel he not only manages to make the reader change their judgment on some of the characters but also to show that what, at first sight, may seem altruistic and fair may just be another form of pursuing one’s own benefit. Therefore, The Penultimate Truth worked for me on many levels, namely on those of creating a believable dystopian society, of pointing out a danger that may manifest itself in other ways than those described in the novel and of telling us something about human nature as such.
Fancy this: There has been a Third World War, at the beginning of which people on both sides had been hurried into underground habitats and made to assemble military robots to do the fighting above. What they don’t know, however, is that the Western and the Eastern bloc have long since made peace, that nature has even partly recovered from the conflagration but that leaders and elites on both sides find it convenient not to let their underlings know that the war is over. After all, with millions of average people below ground, life is so much more convenient and beautiful for the chosen few, who all, despite societal hierarchies and competition, collaborate in keeping up the illusion of war. They do this with the help of a “talking head”, i.e. a special robot which looks exactly like a human being and which the tank people underground regard as their Protector Talbot Yancy, the man who represents the Western bloc and coordinates the war efforts. The Yance-men, as the members of the elites are called, write speeches containing pep talk and rhetoric that make the tank people go on producing their robots – the robots actually go to the Yance-men, increasing their mechanical domestic service staff, and there are even quotas the tank people have to fulfil in order to keep them busy and afraid enough to slave on – and that also uphold the belief that it would mean certain death for the tank people to come up to the surface, what with the contamination, the deadly robots and new diseases that have allegedly spread with the war. The speeches are fed into the Yancy-robot and then broadcast to the tank people to uphold the status quo. When one of the tank people, Nicholas St. James, is made to take the risk of going up to the surface in order to obtain an artificial pancreas for a skilled worker of his unit – yes, these people are important when you have to meet a target or else face annihilation –, he is about to witness how some of the Yance-men engage in an intrigue that may well bring about the end of the world order they thrive in.
PKD’s novel The Penultimate Truth is a dark dystopia, profiting from the wealth, though not the exuberance of the author’s imagination. What I mean by this is that while there are many twists and surprise effects in this sombre tale and the world-building is very consistent, there is none of the flights of fancy you often come across in other PKD novels of the 60s. The fake president, who is nothing but a talking machine, will definitely be familiar to readers of The Simulacra, which was published one year earlier, but compared with The Simulacra, The Penultimate Truth is a much more disciplined and serious work. The basic idea of nearly the whole of mankind being lulled into a false sense of insecurity may, at first sight, be put down to Dick’s tendency to paranoid thinking and shrugged off as a gross exaggeration, but then are we not living in a society that is constantly fed with fear by media and politicians, and are not the best, or rather longest-living, hardest-to-argue-against lies those that have a base of truth at the bottom, a truth that has been distorted, however? In the light of recent fear-mongering and moralistic crusades I have often thought, while reading, that The Penultimate Truth is not based on such a far-fetched idea after all.
What makes this novel especially rewarding is not only the idea at its bottom but also the ambivalence of some of the characters. PKD’s strength does not usually lie in characterization and in creating multi-faceted, ambiguous characters but in this novel he not only manages to make the reader change their judgment on some of the characters but also to show that what, at first sight, may seem altruistic and fair may just be another form of pursuing one’s own benefit. Therefore, The Penultimate Truth worked for me on many levels, namely on those of creating a believable dystopian society, of pointing out a danger that may manifest itself in other ways than those described in the novel and of telling us something about human nature as such.
August 17, 2011
Philip K. Dick's 11th sci-fi novel, "The Penultimate Truth," was originally released in 1964 as a Belmont paperback (no. 92-603, for all you collectors out there) with a staggering cover price of...50 cents. Written during one of Dick's most furiously prolific periods, it was the first of four novels that he saw published that year alone! One of his more cynical depictions of a duplicitous U.S. government, the story involves yet another one of the author's post-atomic holocaust futures. Here, it is the year 2025, and the bulk of mankind lives underground in protective "cubbies," while a pitched atomic war is fought on the surface by the "leadies" (robots) of the opposing sides. What is actually happening, however (and this is not a spoiler; it is revealed in the novel's opening chapters), is that the war has been over for a full 13 years, and the government in charge--via Agency-written and -produced fake news bulletins and televised talks from a programmed "president"--is doing its darnedest to keep the populace underground and literally in the dark; a captive labor force for its own devices! Against this backdrop, Dick introduces us to a large cast of underground "tankers" and Agency men (the book features 47 named characters, as well as several unnamed), and concentrates on two converging story lines. In one, Nicholas St. James (president of the Tom Mix "ant tank," one of 160,000 such underground dwellings, each containing 1,500 living souls) tunnels to the surface for the first time in 15 years, to procure an artificial pancreas (an "artiforg") for his dying head mechanic. In the other, Joseph Adams, a writer for the Agency, becomes involved in a complicated scheme hatched by the 82-year-old world despot, Stanton Brose, to ruin a Donald Trump-like housing developer. This scheme becomes even more complex when its principals start getting killed off, leading to a mind-boggling melange of time travel, superweapons, satellite spying and double crosses. Thank goodness that Webster Foote and his independent intelligence corporation are on the case to make sense of things!
As you may have discerned, this is a fairly complex tale from Philip K. Dick, its primary theme of a conniving U.S. government similar to the one in his novel "The Simulacra" (also from 1964). Both Nicholas' journey of discovery and the Agency scheme are fascinating in their own way, and Dick, as usual, exhibits a good deal of empathy for his characters. Despite British critic David Pringle's assertion in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction" that the book is "let down by a hasty prose style," and Dick biographer Lawrence Sutin saying, in "Divine Invasions," that the book is "blunted by its clunking style," I found the novel to be very well written, with some almost poetic passages and clever dialogue (although it is true that some of Dick's more complex sentences, filled with multiple semicolons and M dashes, might have been rendered more readable by a good copy editor). The book is endlessly imaginative and, if not as "trippy" as some of his other outings, still fairly mind-blowing. It is filled with all kinds of interesting touches (such as that German-made Gestalt-macher assassination device) and some amusing bits of humor (Foote's employees are naturally called Footemen); in all, another well-crafted winner from this important author.
That said, I must also add that "The Penultimate Truth" is not a perfect book. For the life of me, I still cannot quite figure out the full background story of Agency man David Lantano; very confusing! Dick is also guilty of a few errors in his writing, such as when he says "he dabbled at his mouth" with a handkerchief (instead of "dabbed"), and when Nicholas is given a sum of 40 "Wes-Dem fifty notes," for a total of 20,000 dollars (shouldn't that be 2,000 dollars?). The author also makes up his own words here and there, such as "vulturely"; not--as Seinfeld would say--that there's anything wrong with that! Still, these are quibbles. "The Penultimate Truth" is a fun and mordant vision of the future that should hugely entertain all readers. As for that unusual title, it only begins to make sense in the book's last couple of pages, and is most certainly worth the wait....
As you may have discerned, this is a fairly complex tale from Philip K. Dick, its primary theme of a conniving U.S. government similar to the one in his novel "The Simulacra" (also from 1964). Both Nicholas' journey of discovery and the Agency scheme are fascinating in their own way, and Dick, as usual, exhibits a good deal of empathy for his characters. Despite British critic David Pringle's assertion in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction" that the book is "let down by a hasty prose style," and Dick biographer Lawrence Sutin saying, in "Divine Invasions," that the book is "blunted by its clunking style," I found the novel to be very well written, with some almost poetic passages and clever dialogue (although it is true that some of Dick's more complex sentences, filled with multiple semicolons and M dashes, might have been rendered more readable by a good copy editor). The book is endlessly imaginative and, if not as "trippy" as some of his other outings, still fairly mind-blowing. It is filled with all kinds of interesting touches (such as that German-made Gestalt-macher assassination device) and some amusing bits of humor (Foote's employees are naturally called Footemen); in all, another well-crafted winner from this important author.
That said, I must also add that "The Penultimate Truth" is not a perfect book. For the life of me, I still cannot quite figure out the full background story of Agency man David Lantano; very confusing! Dick is also guilty of a few errors in his writing, such as when he says "he dabbled at his mouth" with a handkerchief (instead of "dabbed"), and when Nicholas is given a sum of 40 "Wes-Dem fifty notes," for a total of 20,000 dollars (shouldn't that be 2,000 dollars?). The author also makes up his own words here and there, such as "vulturely"; not--as Seinfeld would say--that there's anything wrong with that! Still, these are quibbles. "The Penultimate Truth" is a fun and mordant vision of the future that should hugely entertain all readers. As for that unusual title, it only begins to make sense in the book's last couple of pages, and is most certainly worth the wait....
September 2, 2014
There's something loose and floppy about PKD's writing that makes it off-kilter and unbalancing to read. Within the first paragraph you feel that the rug is already rippling underneath you, ready to be yanked out without warning.
March 19, 2020
Todo un fresco sobre el poder que entraña la información y la riqueza derivada de ésta que se reparten unos pocos en un estado totalitario.
Me ha ebcantado y entretenido por igual, muy recomendable😊
Me ha ebcantado y entretenido por igual, muy recomendable😊
July 5, 2024
En 1964 Philip K. Dick era un hombre con apuros económicos y dado que no vendía coches como si fuesen refrescos, como lo suyo era escribir, pues escribió a destajo y ese año publicó cinco novelas.
Hoy, con este La penúltima verdad, he finalizado la que me restaba de la producción de ese año concreto. Me da la sensación que a nivel de escritura está un poco más trabajado que por ejemplo Tiempo de Marte. No se sostiene en tantas bolsas de diálogo para rellenar páginas, si bien hacia el final se nota cierto aire de improvisación, como que el argumento va dando giros para sorprender al lector, aunque algunos son simples deus ex machina, inventos tecnológicos raros que solucionan cierta situación, se desvelan identidades de forma sorprendente, aunque sin ninguna pista que eso fuese posible. Eso es algo que también ocurre en otras tantas novelas de Dick, que domo digo tenía que escribir a toda prisa para satisfacer a editores y poder pagar facturas.
De todas formas la inquieta imaginación de Philip K. Dick siempre da frutos sabrosos, la paranoia reaparece con diferentes disfraces, de formas sorprendentes y que de forma inquietante a grandes rasgos acierta con ese invencible talante de sospecha, de realidad construida. Por más que no le compremos sus teorías, es inevitable que en algún momento la mayoría tengamos momentos dickesianos, de percibir que algo extraño hay en las raíces de la realidad, sospechas que pueden atenuarse pero nunca desaparecer del todo. Sin duda ha hecho de esa extrañeza una de sus marcas autorales y que lo ha convertido en uno de los principales novelistas de la paranoia.
En La penúltima verdad se sitúa en un contexto posbélico. La guerra entre Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética por fin estalló, hubo el consecuente gran cataclismo y quince años después la mayoría de la humanidad vive en tanques bajo tierra, trabajando en la construcción de robots que en teoría han de ir a combatir en ese hipotética guerra, cosa que pronto se descubre falso, que los ciudadanos viven bajo un gran engaño masivo. En las grandes pantallas de todos los tanques aparece con frecuencia la imagen de Talbot Yancey, el gran héroe del bando norteamericano, que siempre inicia sus mensajes con un "norteamericanos todos" y a continuación les lanza un discurso rotundamente falso pero incomprobable para la gente, que vive recluida y tampoco se atreve a salir a la superficie por temor a la guerra y a la radiación que cree que asola todo el país, cosa que no es así.
Una serie de personajes escriben los discursos de Yancey, que es una figura de ficción, no existe, es como el Gran Hermano de "1984", que sin duda inspira a Dick. Sobre ellos se sostiene buena parte de la narración, en su visión desencantada de ese mundo medieval que ha quedado en la superficie, donde unos pocos señores disponen de los robots que fabrican en los tanques y se dedican a disputar tierras con sus vecinos para aumentar su poder. Sobre ellos, desde Ginebra, un gran señor llamado Brose se dedica a controlar el destino del mundo. Es un hombre de 80 años, de aspecto repugnante, que cambia sus órganos por otros sintéticos y más sofisticados para alargar su vida y así poder detentar más poder y continuar conspirando contra otros grandes señores.
La novela también comparte algunos puntos temáticos de El hombre en el castillo, la ucronía que hacía ganadores al eje Alemania - Japón los ganadores de la II Guerra Mundial, que tenía en su centro ontológico una novela, que era un éxito subterráneo, la cual explicaba la realidad contraria, la nuestra, la de los aliados victoriosos. En La penúltima verdad también impera ese aire marcial que gobierna el destino del mundo, el contexto posbélico, también hay una gran serie documental (en este caso fundamenta la mentira que gobierna el mundo) y cómo los conflictos bélicos son explotados por una pequeña camarilla para llevar una vida cómoda mientras manejan el mundo.
Esa idea de la gran conspiración que fabrica la realidad holográfica sin duda es el principal atractivo de la novela, es dónde más convence Dick, en cómo las grandes potencias alcanzan grandes pactos entre naciones mientras mantienen sometida a toda la población de una forma del todo cínica. Si hubiera tenido más tiempo a su alcance seguro que Dick podría haberle dado un par de vueltas más a la trama, acabar de perfilarla y darle más robustez a esos giros. Pero cómo sólo pudo remar contra la corriente que se le venía encima, y dejó una novela más que potable.
Para mí se queda en la zona media de mi clasificación personal de las novelas de Dick leías hasta la fecha.
Hoy, con este La penúltima verdad, he finalizado la que me restaba de la producción de ese año concreto. Me da la sensación que a nivel de escritura está un poco más trabajado que por ejemplo Tiempo de Marte. No se sostiene en tantas bolsas de diálogo para rellenar páginas, si bien hacia el final se nota cierto aire de improvisación, como que el argumento va dando giros para sorprender al lector, aunque algunos son simples deus ex machina, inventos tecnológicos raros que solucionan cierta situación, se desvelan identidades de forma sorprendente, aunque sin ninguna pista que eso fuese posible. Eso es algo que también ocurre en otras tantas novelas de Dick, que domo digo tenía que escribir a toda prisa para satisfacer a editores y poder pagar facturas.
De todas formas la inquieta imaginación de Philip K. Dick siempre da frutos sabrosos, la paranoia reaparece con diferentes disfraces, de formas sorprendentes y que de forma inquietante a grandes rasgos acierta con ese invencible talante de sospecha, de realidad construida. Por más que no le compremos sus teorías, es inevitable que en algún momento la mayoría tengamos momentos dickesianos, de percibir que algo extraño hay en las raíces de la realidad, sospechas que pueden atenuarse pero nunca desaparecer del todo. Sin duda ha hecho de esa extrañeza una de sus marcas autorales y que lo ha convertido en uno de los principales novelistas de la paranoia.
En La penúltima verdad se sitúa en un contexto posbélico. La guerra entre Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética por fin estalló, hubo el consecuente gran cataclismo y quince años después la mayoría de la humanidad vive en tanques bajo tierra, trabajando en la construcción de robots que en teoría han de ir a combatir en ese hipotética guerra, cosa que pronto se descubre falso, que los ciudadanos viven bajo un gran engaño masivo. En las grandes pantallas de todos los tanques aparece con frecuencia la imagen de Talbot Yancey, el gran héroe del bando norteamericano, que siempre inicia sus mensajes con un "norteamericanos todos" y a continuación les lanza un discurso rotundamente falso pero incomprobable para la gente, que vive recluida y tampoco se atreve a salir a la superficie por temor a la guerra y a la radiación que cree que asola todo el país, cosa que no es así.
Una serie de personajes escriben los discursos de Yancey, que es una figura de ficción, no existe, es como el Gran Hermano de "1984", que sin duda inspira a Dick. Sobre ellos se sostiene buena parte de la narración, en su visión desencantada de ese mundo medieval que ha quedado en la superficie, donde unos pocos señores disponen de los robots que fabrican en los tanques y se dedican a disputar tierras con sus vecinos para aumentar su poder. Sobre ellos, desde Ginebra, un gran señor llamado Brose se dedica a controlar el destino del mundo. Es un hombre de 80 años, de aspecto repugnante, que cambia sus órganos por otros sintéticos y más sofisticados para alargar su vida y así poder detentar más poder y continuar conspirando contra otros grandes señores.
La novela también comparte algunos puntos temáticos de El hombre en el castillo, la ucronía que hacía ganadores al eje Alemania - Japón los ganadores de la II Guerra Mundial, que tenía en su centro ontológico una novela, que era un éxito subterráneo, la cual explicaba la realidad contraria, la nuestra, la de los aliados victoriosos. En La penúltima verdad también impera ese aire marcial que gobierna el destino del mundo, el contexto posbélico, también hay una gran serie documental (en este caso fundamenta la mentira que gobierna el mundo) y cómo los conflictos bélicos son explotados por una pequeña camarilla para llevar una vida cómoda mientras manejan el mundo.
Esa idea de la gran conspiración que fabrica la realidad holográfica sin duda es el principal atractivo de la novela, es dónde más convence Dick, en cómo las grandes potencias alcanzan grandes pactos entre naciones mientras mantienen sometida a toda la población de una forma del todo cínica. Si hubiera tenido más tiempo a su alcance seguro que Dick podría haberle dado un par de vueltas más a la trama, acabar de perfilarla y darle más robustez a esos giros. Pero cómo sólo pudo remar contra la corriente que se le venía encima, y dejó una novela más que potable.
Para mí se queda en la zona media de mi clasificación personal de las novelas de Dick leías hasta la fecha.
March 21, 2020
No es lo mejor del autor; pero creo que se pueden sacar varias reflexiones de este libro.
July 30, 2019
Any fan of Fallout out there? Philip K. Dick was here first, and he can still take you unawares :)
The subject matter of the book is a world where people are cooped up in vaults to escape acid rains and radioactivity, in the aftermath of a nuclear war. There, they still operate factories to create combat robots and carry on with the war. Except... people live on the surface, undisturbed.
When the Wild Wind Blows - Iron Maiden
The subject matter of the book is a world where people are cooped up in vaults to escape acid rains and radioactivity, in the aftermath of a nuclear war. There, they still operate factories to create combat robots and carry on with the war. Except... people live on the surface, undisturbed.
When the Wild Wind Blows - Iron Maiden
November 30, 2021
This 1964 novel is one of Philip K. Dick’s works that has not had a film made based on it, and so is probably less well known than such as his Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Blade Runner), The Man in the High Castle, or The Minority Report. It is built on concepts that were more typical of his 1950s works, because it re-uses concepts from stories of his published then.
In it, we follow Joe Adams, a Yance-man, who writes speeches for the national leader, Protector Talbot Yancy. Yancy is a synthetic personality, created and broadcast over audio and video to manipulate the opinions of a worker population that lives underground in fear of the ongoing global nuclear World War III. Refer to PKD’s 1955 story, “The Mold of Yancy”. We also follow Nicholas St. James, president of one underground tank of workers that produces and repairs “leadies”. Leadies are the android soldiers who the workers believe to conduct the surface war under conditions fatal to humans. However, the war really ended years ago, and the surface conditions are totally fake. In reality, leadies are guards and servants of the yance-men who live in great luxury on the surface. Refer to PKD’s 1953 story, “The Defenders”, which is now in the public domain and can be read freely online at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28767.
Behind the scenes, Talbot Yancy and the Yance-men are commanded by Stanton Brose, an octogenarian oligarch. Adams has become involved in a complicated conspiracy by Brose to bring down rivals, when a co-conspiring friend of Adams is murdered. Numerous pieces of evidence at the scene are algorithmically sufficient to implicate Brose in a search of a master computer database. However, a sophisticated device was captured at the scene of the crime, which both performed the execution and planted the evidence. Perhaps the murder was faked by Brose in order to mislead the police investigators into thinking it was actually a frame-up, since he would not murder his own conspirator. Refer to PKD’s 1957 story, “The Unreconstructed M.” The story continues to unravel deeper layers of fakery, right up to the end.
All the fakery is an engaging thought experiment, and tells us that manipulation of public opinion is an aspect of all forms of governance. But in current times the idea feels unexpectedly relevant. The US has recent experience with governance by fairly transparent fakery. But is it fake fakery, as in the novel? Is Q-Anon a right-wing conspiracy so conspicuously wacky that it might actually be a left-wing effort to discredit right-wing fakery? Or maybe the truth is on an even deeper level, as fakery of fake fakery. This novel will stretch your conspiracy detection neurons.
In it, we follow Joe Adams, a Yance-man, who writes speeches for the national leader, Protector Talbot Yancy. Yancy is a synthetic personality, created and broadcast over audio and video to manipulate the opinions of a worker population that lives underground in fear of the ongoing global nuclear World War III. Refer to PKD’s 1955 story, “The Mold of Yancy”. We also follow Nicholas St. James, president of one underground tank of workers that produces and repairs “leadies”. Leadies are the android soldiers who the workers believe to conduct the surface war under conditions fatal to humans. However, the war really ended years ago, and the surface conditions are totally fake. In reality, leadies are guards and servants of the yance-men who live in great luxury on the surface. Refer to PKD’s 1953 story, “The Defenders”, which is now in the public domain and can be read freely online at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28767.
Behind the scenes, Talbot Yancy and the Yance-men are commanded by Stanton Brose, an octogenarian oligarch. Adams has become involved in a complicated conspiracy by Brose to bring down rivals, when a co-conspiring friend of Adams is murdered. Numerous pieces of evidence at the scene are algorithmically sufficient to implicate Brose in a search of a master computer database. However, a sophisticated device was captured at the scene of the crime, which both performed the execution and planted the evidence. Perhaps the murder was faked by Brose in order to mislead the police investigators into thinking it was actually a frame-up, since he would not murder his own conspirator. Refer to PKD’s 1957 story, “The Unreconstructed M.” The story continues to unravel deeper layers of fakery, right up to the end.
All the fakery is an engaging thought experiment, and tells us that manipulation of public opinion is an aspect of all forms of governance. But in current times the idea feels unexpectedly relevant. The US has recent experience with governance by fairly transparent fakery. But is it fake fakery, as in the novel? Is Q-Anon a right-wing conspiracy so conspicuously wacky that it might actually be a left-wing effort to discredit right-wing fakery? Or maybe the truth is on an even deeper level, as fakery of fake fakery. This novel will stretch your conspiracy detection neurons.
August 19, 2017
Having read quite a few books by Philip K Dick – more than I have listed on this site so far – I knew pretty much what to expect from a novel written in this frenzied period of activity in the sixties (he published another three novels in the same year, 1964) and I wasn’t disappointed. The premise is an excellent one and I was a little bothered that the back cover gave it away but it comes to the surface – literally and metaphorically – very early on in the book.
The tempting thing for some readers would be to skip chunks of the history that the characters fill in for us especially the discussion of the use of propaganda but this is, to my mind having read one of the biographies about Dick, the key point to the story, his message. To miss it would be like reading ‘1984’ and skipping Goldstein’s book (a necessary weakness of both the film and the TV versions). The comparison of ‘The Protector’ and Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ is inevitable but Dick does have a unique take on the position.
Dick’s concerns about how society was being and would be manipulated are wrapped up in a number of overlapping stories peppered with his typical – and frequently unexplained – technical and sociological jargon: we can guess what a “flapple” is but it’s never described in any detail nor does it need to be; that’s what readers’ imaginations are for.
As always with Dick the writing travels at a fair pace, the chapters are short and he jumps between storylines so a to keep your interest. Some of the technical issues could have done with a bit more detail – especially, for me anyway, the time travel aspects – but I got through to the end and had a pretty good idea what had happened.
As for the ending? He does, as with ‘Flow My Tears the Policeman Said’, wrap things up a bit too quickly and not altogether as neatly as he might have but considering what he’s put into the rest of the book he can be forgiven. At least I forgive him. My main problem is that I know he can do better. If this had been the first novel of his I’d read I would have raved about it. Or maybe if he’d only written two novels that year.
The tempting thing for some readers would be to skip chunks of the history that the characters fill in for us especially the discussion of the use of propaganda but this is, to my mind having read one of the biographies about Dick, the key point to the story, his message. To miss it would be like reading ‘1984’ and skipping Goldstein’s book (a necessary weakness of both the film and the TV versions). The comparison of ‘The Protector’ and Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ is inevitable but Dick does have a unique take on the position.
Dick’s concerns about how society was being and would be manipulated are wrapped up in a number of overlapping stories peppered with his typical – and frequently unexplained – technical and sociological jargon: we can guess what a “flapple” is but it’s never described in any detail nor does it need to be; that’s what readers’ imaginations are for.
As always with Dick the writing travels at a fair pace, the chapters are short and he jumps between storylines so a to keep your interest. Some of the technical issues could have done with a bit more detail – especially, for me anyway, the time travel aspects – but I got through to the end and had a pretty good idea what had happened.
As for the ending? He does, as with ‘Flow My Tears the Policeman Said’, wrap things up a bit too quickly and not altogether as neatly as he might have but considering what he’s put into the rest of the book he can be forgiven. At least I forgive him. My main problem is that I know he can do better. If this had been the first novel of his I’d read I would have raved about it. Or maybe if he’d only written two novels that year.
October 26, 2022
I love the film adaptations of some of his stories: Blade Runner (One of my all time favs), Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, etc. But I don't know why, I find his writing a bit confusing. The characters are hard to memorize and sometimes I feel a little lost. A great ploter but with a little sloppy writing. Maybe I haven't picked up his best books yet. Ubik was the best till now.
March 23, 2020
Popsugar #48: Un libro publicado en el siglo XX
Me entretuvo el libro, pero no me agrado mucho el final :S
Me entretuvo el libro, pero no me agrado mucho el final :S
December 7, 2020
Not my favourite one of his books? I found it hard to get going. I suppose I could reread it.
February 27, 2022
Man, I thought procrastinating for four days to write a review was bad, now it's over two weeks.
Rating: 4 stars
First, a word of advice: do not read Phillip K. Dick when you have limited brain power because he does not spoon feed anything to you. His books are always super confusing at the beginning (and in the middle, really, when there is usually some twist, which then ends up in a confusing ending. So I guess his entire books are confusing) but they are even more confusing when you've lost a couple of IQ points recently like I have. Then the whole confusing element (take a shot whenever I say "confusing", honestly) is bumped up ten-fold.
So after a mighty rigmarole to get the first half of this book done, (I had gotten just under half way through this minuscule "novel" in three whole weeks), I woke up at 4am one morning with nothing to do, and all of a sudden, I sped-read the crap out of this book in (about) an hour! (For a bit of background, everything was pointing towards finishing this book in one day - quite possibly even in a single sitting. With both the physical and audio copy in my possession, and at the speed at which I listen to audiobooks, two and a half hours was all the reading time required for me to have this book done and dusted.)
But it's been such a long time since I read this that I have next to nothing to say about it. Dammit! I was aiming to review every book I read this year (which is only four so far at the end of February, and I usually average about 15 books a month) but as of yet I am pumping out this worthless nonsense that holds value to no one. I don't know what I'm doing, but then again, does anyone really?
Rating: 4 stars
First, a word of advice: do not read Phillip K. Dick when you have limited brain power because he does not spoon feed anything to you. His books are always super confusing at the beginning (and in the middle, really, when there is usually some twist, which then ends up in a confusing ending. So I guess his entire books are confusing) but they are even more confusing when you've lost a couple of IQ points recently like I have. Then the whole confusing element (take a shot whenever I say "confusing", honestly) is bumped up ten-fold.
So after a mighty rigmarole to get the first half of this book done, (I had gotten just under half way through this minuscule "novel" in three whole weeks), I woke up at 4am one morning with nothing to do, and all of a sudden, I sped-read the crap out of this book in (about) an hour! (For a bit of background, everything was pointing towards finishing this book in one day - quite possibly even in a single sitting. With both the physical and audio copy in my possession, and at the speed at which I listen to audiobooks, two and a half hours was all the reading time required for me to have this book done and dusted.)
But it's been such a long time since I read this that I have next to nothing to say about it. Dammit! I was aiming to review every book I read this year (which is only four so far at the end of February, and I usually average about 15 books a month) but as of yet I am pumping out this worthless nonsense that holds value to no one. I don't know what I'm doing, but then again, does anyone really?
March 20, 2017
I think I just didn't get it. The world building was confusing and illogical and I have no idea what happened in the end. There was far too much buildup and not enough time explaining and resolving, which was also my problem with the only other PKD book I've read.
A lot of what went on didn't make sense. We could have used a little more info on the state of the world and the motives of those living above ground.
SPOILERS BELOW
I also have literally NO idea how Lantano was 600 years old. Even if he could travel through time, that wouldn't lengthen his lifespan. And why does he keep changing ages? Also, HOW could he travel through time? The time travel device Lindblom had could only send things one way. (P.S. What happened to the leadies they sent back to bury the artifacts? Wouldn't they have been found 600 years old at the dig site and Runcible would have known something was up? And why did Foote think Runcible was the only person who could save him at the end?)
Lastly, I know it was different in the '60s, but it was extremely difficult in 2014 to buy a world in 2025 where the futuristic technology involves tapes. I get that the author couldn't have predicted digital happening, but it definitely wears on the reader's sense of plausibility/suspension of disbelief. I mean, the guy could commute cross-country in a matter of minutes, but Yancy is mechanical? Come on. As time goes on, this definitely is causing a loss in relatability of the book to the reader.
This wasn't really a review so much as a list of gripes, but I'm okay with that.
A lot of what went on didn't make sense. We could have used a little more info on the state of the world and the motives of those living above ground.
SPOILERS BELOW
I also have literally NO idea how Lantano was 600 years old. Even if he could travel through time, that wouldn't lengthen his lifespan. And why does he keep changing ages? Also, HOW could he travel through time? The time travel device Lindblom had could only send things one way. (P.S. What happened to the leadies they sent back to bury the artifacts? Wouldn't they have been found 600 years old at the dig site and Runcible would have known something was up? And why did Foote think Runcible was the only person who could save him at the end?)
Lastly, I know it was different in the '60s, but it was extremely difficult in 2014 to buy a world in 2025 where the futuristic technology involves tapes. I get that the author couldn't have predicted digital happening, but it definitely wears on the reader's sense of plausibility/suspension of disbelief. I mean, the guy could commute cross-country in a matter of minutes, but Yancy is mechanical? Come on. As time goes on, this definitely is causing a loss in relatability of the book to the reader.
This wasn't really a review so much as a list of gripes, but I'm okay with that.
September 9, 2019
"İçinde yaşadığımız bu hayat tarzının lüksleri, diye düşündü Adams, ne denli ağır bir yük. Bize ceza çektirecek kimse olmadığı için biz kendi kendimize, acı çektirmeyi seçtik."
Kitapta 3. Dünya Savaşı sonrasında dünya yüzeyinde yaşamanın mümkün olmadığı bir gelecek anlatılıyor. Lakin aslında durum tam olarak böyle değil. Yukarıda yaşayan ve zengin insanlardan oluşan küçük bir kesim, yeraltında yaşayan insanlığın geri kalanını hala bir savaşın sürdüğüne ve dünya yüzeyinin radyasyon nedeniyle yaşanamayacak durumda olduğuna inandırıp, var olmayan bir savaş için robotlar üretmelerini istiyor. Lakin bir gün aşağıda yaşayan bir başteknisyenin ölümünden sonra, kendisinin de içinde bulunduğu topluluğun lideri yukarıya çıkmaya karar veriyor...
Kitabın yazarı Philip K. Dick. Bilmeyenler için bilimkurgu türünün en önemli temsilcilerinden biri. Hayalgücü ve düşünme biçimiyle sizi her zaman şaşırtma potansiyeline sahip, muhteşem bir yazar.
Aşırı ağır bir anlatım olmadığı için henüz ikinci bölümde kitabın içine girmeyi başardım. Olayların hareketlenmeye başlaması kitabın ilk çeyreğinden sonrasına tekabül ediyor. Konu itibariyle kafamda olan şeyden daha farklı bir hikayeyle karşılaştım. Olayları tahmin ettiğimden farklı boyutlarıyla ele alıyor yazar. Ama kitap gerçekten hayran bırakacak bir kurguya sahip ve akıp gidiyor. Özelikle son kısımlarına hayran kaldım.
Kitapta 3. Dünya Savaşı sonrasında dünya yüzeyinde yaşamanın mümkün olmadığı bir gelecek anlatılıyor. Lakin aslında durum tam olarak böyle değil. Yukarıda yaşayan ve zengin insanlardan oluşan küçük bir kesim, yeraltında yaşayan insanlığın geri kalanını hala bir savaşın sürdüğüne ve dünya yüzeyinin radyasyon nedeniyle yaşanamayacak durumda olduğuna inandırıp, var olmayan bir savaş için robotlar üretmelerini istiyor. Lakin bir gün aşağıda yaşayan bir başteknisyenin ölümünden sonra, kendisinin de içinde bulunduğu topluluğun lideri yukarıya çıkmaya karar veriyor...
Kitabın yazarı Philip K. Dick. Bilmeyenler için bilimkurgu türünün en önemli temsilcilerinden biri. Hayalgücü ve düşünme biçimiyle sizi her zaman şaşırtma potansiyeline sahip, muhteşem bir yazar.
Aşırı ağır bir anlatım olmadığı için henüz ikinci bölümde kitabın içine girmeyi başardım. Olayların hareketlenmeye başlaması kitabın ilk çeyreğinden sonrasına tekabül ediyor. Konu itibariyle kafamda olan şeyden daha farklı bir hikayeyle karşılaştım. Olayları tahmin ettiğimden farklı boyutlarıyla ele alıyor yazar. Ama kitap gerçekten hayran bırakacak bir kurguya sahip ve akıp gidiyor. Özelikle son kısımlarına hayran kaldım.
January 14, 2018
One of PKD's better ideas, yet it is somewhat flawed. Unlike most of his novels, this one is more tell than show. It seemed as though it was a bit rushed; it was as though I was reading expanded notes rather than the brilliant dialogue he is known and loved for. There were many seeds of characters and situations planted that, in the end came to nothing or to very little. It is unfortunate as this could have been a great novel had he put in the the adequate time and effort to fully develop it. This might be becauss it was based on two previously written short stories: The Defenders (1955) and The Mold of Yancy (1955). It is not so much a "fix-up" as van Vogt did regularly - which he claimed was as much work, if not more, as writing a novel from scratch - but rather it is an expanded merging of the two ideas. However, the overall theme of miss-information and recreated history is clear. I particularly liked the segment in which the events of WWII are distorted claiming, somewhat plausibly, that Roosevelt and Hitler were actually secretly allied in order to defeat Russia.
A very worthwile read just the same.
A very worthwile read just the same.
July 29, 2012
Another fantastic book by Philip K. Dick, but then again he is my favorite author so I might be a little biased. This book however didn't have as much of the "mind-blowing" aspects to it as some of his other books. None the less it was a great read. It still had a somewhat "Dickian" storyline, however, just not that wow factor I was talking about. If it had a little more of that than the book would have been easily a 5 star book, but instead I am going with 4. Another reason is because I wish it were a little bit longer, but like I always say, that is more of a compliment to the book then anything else.
March 22, 2020
Pues... no es lo mejor de este hombre. Sigue siendo una ralladura de coco, pero menos.
Al principio cuesta engancharse y la verdad, no es una historia adictiva.
PUEDE CONTENER SPOILERS!!
1.La historia. Un mundo en que gran parte de población vive bajo tierra, recluida en tanques, pues creen que arriba hay una guerra mundial. Es mentira. Arriba, unos pocos hombres, los "hombres de Yancy" se reparten el mundo y tienen engañados a los de abajo.
Nicholas, el presidente de unos de esos tanques, saldrá al exterior obligado y chantajeado, en busca de un páncreas artificial para su mecánico. Allí en la superficie que no ha sido aniquilada como les han hecho creer, se encontrara con un complot para eliminar al hombre más poderoso de la tierra, Brose. Más o menos es eso. Es que es difícil hasta intentar resumir la historia... bastante aburrida al principio.
2.Los personajes. Son varios, pero tampoco se profundiza en exceso en ellos, los hay con una moral cuestionable, los hay que pretender hacer las cosas mejor, los hay que han sido engañados, los hay que no saben ni que pensar si creer de sí mismos, los hay cobardes, los hay ambiciosos y sin escrúpulos... Y como no, hay un un tío con poderes mentales-Psíquicos (tienen intuiciones y eso), personaje típico de las obras de este hombre. Ah, y robots, muchos robots, pero que no destacan demasiado.
3.La pluma, narrativa y demás. Muy ingeniosa para la época (este hombre acertó con muchas cosas), es una critica social brutal, al poder y a la manipulación (de medios y de personas).
Da que pensar... que es su objetivo. Al principio se hace pesado y cuesta pillar la idea y el ritmo. Empieza con un personaje y luego salta a otro/s para volver después a él, cuando yo, personalmente, ya no me acordaba ni de su nombre XD
4. El final. Buen cierre. Nada más que aportar.
En fin, 2 estrellas sobre 5 porque me aburrió en algunas partes y porque no es de lo mejor del autor, pero su critica es brutal.
**Popsugar 2020 categoría 8: Un libro con una imagen al revés en la portada.
Al principio cuesta engancharse y la verdad, no es una historia adictiva.
PUEDE CONTENER SPOILERS!!
1.La historia. Un mundo en que gran parte de población vive bajo tierra, recluida en tanques, pues creen que arriba hay una guerra mundial. Es mentira. Arriba, unos pocos hombres, los "hombres de Yancy" se reparten el mundo y tienen engañados a los de abajo.
Nicholas, el presidente de unos de esos tanques, saldrá al exterior obligado y chantajeado, en busca de un páncreas artificial para su mecánico. Allí en la superficie que no ha sido aniquilada como les han hecho creer, se encontrara con un complot para eliminar al hombre más poderoso de la tierra, Brose. Más o menos es eso. Es que es difícil hasta intentar resumir la historia... bastante aburrida al principio.
2.Los personajes. Son varios, pero tampoco se profundiza en exceso en ellos, los hay con una moral cuestionable, los hay que pretender hacer las cosas mejor, los hay que han sido engañados, los hay que no saben ni que pensar si creer de sí mismos, los hay cobardes, los hay ambiciosos y sin escrúpulos... Y como no, hay un un tío con poderes mentales-Psíquicos (tienen intuiciones y eso), personaje típico de las obras de este hombre. Ah, y robots, muchos robots, pero que no destacan demasiado.
3.La pluma, narrativa y demás. Muy ingeniosa para la época (este hombre acertó con muchas cosas), es una critica social brutal, al poder y a la manipulación (de medios y de personas).
Da que pensar... que es su objetivo. Al principio se hace pesado y cuesta pillar la idea y el ritmo. Empieza con un personaje y luego salta a otro/s para volver después a él, cuando yo, personalmente, ya no me acordaba ni de su nombre XD
4. El final. Buen cierre. Nada más que aportar.
En fin, 2 estrellas sobre 5 porque me aburrió en algunas partes y porque no es de lo mejor del autor, pero su critica es brutal.
**Popsugar 2020 categoría 8: Un libro con una imagen al revés en la portada.
August 15, 2016
This was my first PKD. Perhaps not the best novel to begin with, but as the blurb looked similar to Hugh Howey's Silo Trilogy (which I liked a lot, as you can read in my reviews: here [Wool], here [Shift], and here [Dust]) - and yes, I know PKD's book was written many tens of years earlier -, I thought it would be a relatively "safe" way to get acquainted with Dick's works.
It's a thin book, compared to Howey's trilogy, hence Dick not explaining everything. At first, it's as if I was thrown into the story, without proper background info. It gets a little better around halfway, but regardless of that, it's not as detailed or as vivid as e.g. Howey's stories. In my opinion.
The underground life in the tanks is mentioned a few times, especially since the elected President of tank Tom Mix, Nicholas St. James, is sort of forced by fellow tankers to go to the surface and et an artiforg for their chief technician, who badly needed a new pancreas. As he was the most knowledgeable, everything had to be done to save his life.
Most of the story deals with the political side of the situation, about how the people underground are kept at bay, are still fed a lie, despite the war having ended at least a decade ago. Several tankers (as those people are called) managed to escape to the surface and hide in Cheyenne, now and then supplied with food and other things by one of the guys behind the setup, David Lantano. He happens to be quite an old man, but thanks to some ).
Not only the people in the tanks are fed a lie, several of the Yance-people who help maintain the lie through articles, speeches, decisions, ... are also to fear for their lives, once they've fulfilled each of their big tasks. Only, everything leads the same guy (Stanton Brose, whose health is everything but good; only his brain is still natural, everything else is manufactured), while it's in fact .
The "gang" behind the whole scam are called Yancy-people, named after Tablot Yancy, the simulacrum that addresses the people in the tanks via a big TV-screen. They all have leadies, a kind of robot that comes in various versions and are made in the shops in... the underground tanks. But the people making and repairing them don't know that they're used as bodyguards and assistants. People still are led to believe that they're for the war between West and East. Of course, they were used in the war, and most survivors are thus war veterans with a new career.
There are documentaries about the World War: Version A and Version B, both containing fake scenes, as the documentaries were made by the German Gottlieb Fischer, who hired talented actors to play the roles of e.g. Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, ... But you'll only see through it all, if/when you properly study them and pay attention to specific details (like ). I found this part interesting, as even and especially nowadays it's easy to make a film, add real footage and make it fit like it was done with actors. Or perhaps the other way, like in this novel: Use actors to forge historical accounts and present it as real, authentic.
Dick also used some specific language: aud(io), vid(eo), sim(ulacrum), Wes-Dem, Pac-Peop, demesne, pol-com, artiforg (artificial organs), Recon Dis-In Council, ... In other words, it's not always easy, depending on the abbreviation, to find out what they refer to.
To cut things short: All's well that ends well. Or sort of, because Lantano still has some tricks up his sleeve, despite the good news he said he was going to present. There was, thus, room for a follow-up novel.
I found it, all in all, a relatively fine story. But again, a bit more filling, more background information would have been nice. But with barely 200 pages, it's obvious you can't cover everything and thus have to make a choice about where to put the main focus. Probably then not the best PKD novel to start with, but I will (try to) read - at some point in the future - some of his other books.
It's a thin book, compared to Howey's trilogy, hence Dick not explaining everything. At first, it's as if I was thrown into the story, without proper background info. It gets a little better around halfway, but regardless of that, it's not as detailed or as vivid as e.g. Howey's stories. In my opinion.
The underground life in the tanks is mentioned a few times, especially since the elected President of tank Tom Mix, Nicholas St. James, is sort of forced by fellow tankers to go to the surface and et an artiforg for their chief technician, who badly needed a new pancreas. As he was the most knowledgeable, everything had to be done to save his life.
Most of the story deals with the political side of the situation, about how the people underground are kept at bay, are still fed a lie, despite the war having ended at least a decade ago. Several tankers (as those people are called) managed to escape to the surface and hide in Cheyenne, now and then supplied with food and other things by one of the guys behind the setup, David Lantano. He happens to be quite an old man, but thanks to some ).
Not only the people in the tanks are fed a lie, several of the Yance-people who help maintain the lie through articles, speeches, decisions, ... are also to fear for their lives, once they've fulfilled each of their big tasks. Only, everything leads the same guy (Stanton Brose, whose health is everything but good; only his brain is still natural, everything else is manufactured), while it's in fact .
The "gang" behind the whole scam are called Yancy-people, named after Tablot Yancy, the simulacrum that addresses the people in the tanks via a big TV-screen. They all have leadies, a kind of robot that comes in various versions and are made in the shops in... the underground tanks. But the people making and repairing them don't know that they're used as bodyguards and assistants. People still are led to believe that they're for the war between West and East. Of course, they were used in the war, and most survivors are thus war veterans with a new career.
There are documentaries about the World War: Version A and Version B, both containing fake scenes, as the documentaries were made by the German Gottlieb Fischer, who hired talented actors to play the roles of e.g. Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, ... But you'll only see through it all, if/when you properly study them and pay attention to specific details (like ). I found this part interesting, as even and especially nowadays it's easy to make a film, add real footage and make it fit like it was done with actors. Or perhaps the other way, like in this novel: Use actors to forge historical accounts and present it as real, authentic.
Dick also used some specific language: aud(io), vid(eo), sim(ulacrum), Wes-Dem, Pac-Peop, demesne, pol-com, artiforg (artificial organs), Recon Dis-In Council, ... In other words, it's not always easy, depending on the abbreviation, to find out what they refer to.
To cut things short: All's well that ends well. Or sort of, because Lantano still has some tricks up his sleeve, despite the good news he said he was going to present. There was, thus, room for a follow-up novel.
I found it, all in all, a relatively fine story. But again, a bit more filling, more background information would have been nice. But with barely 200 pages, it's obvious you can't cover everything and thus have to make a choice about where to put the main focus. Probably then not the best PKD novel to start with, but I will (try to) read - at some point in the future - some of his other books.
August 27, 2012
Nobody does dystopia like PKD.
We start the book in underground warrens where the population has been living since the start of the war, which still rages up on the surface after 15 years. We know exactly what to expect from about page two; we're going to get a book full of underground crises with a huge plot twist at the end when it turns out the war's been over for years.
Except this is PKD, so we find out the war's been over in chapter 2; up above (where the rest of the book takes place), there are only a handful of people living in unimaginable wealth, off the labors of the teeming masses underground. But... with their million square mile demesnes, they still fight border skirmishes (with "leadies" for troops) and live a day-to-day existence coming up with propaganda for below while jockeying for position that's just as horrible as your worst imaginings of making up soap slogans on Madison Avenue.
This is a much, much more conventional plot than a lot of PKD -- you don't end up with the sort of unclearness about who and what has really happened that you get with "The Minority Report", or "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", or certainly "A Scanner Darkly" (or many, many more I could list). But, like pretty much everything he ever wrote, it's outstanding.
We start the book in underground warrens where the population has been living since the start of the war, which still rages up on the surface after 15 years. We know exactly what to expect from about page two; we're going to get a book full of underground crises with a huge plot twist at the end when it turns out the war's been over for years.
Except this is PKD, so we find out the war's been over in chapter 2; up above (where the rest of the book takes place), there are only a handful of people living in unimaginable wealth, off the labors of the teeming masses underground. But... with their million square mile demesnes, they still fight border skirmishes (with "leadies" for troops) and live a day-to-day existence coming up with propaganda for below while jockeying for position that's just as horrible as your worst imaginings of making up soap slogans on Madison Avenue.
This is a much, much more conventional plot than a lot of PKD -- you don't end up with the sort of unclearness about who and what has really happened that you get with "The Minority Report", or "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", or certainly "A Scanner Darkly" (or many, many more I could list). But, like pretty much everything he ever wrote, it's outstanding.
April 19, 2024
Philip Dick è un autore che non bisogna presentare, ma al tempo stesso quando si parla di lui sembra che si debba rispettare una specie di regola: si parla sempre di quelle 4/5 opere che lo hanno reso famoso.
Se però si fa lo sforzo di studiare Dick come autore allora si scoprono delle perle nel suo ricco repertorio di romanzi-mondo.
Perle come La penultima verità.
Si scopre quindi che Dick non è solo un autore di mondi futuribili e che ciò che ha scritto si dice fantascienza però in realtà è indagine speculativa sulla realtà e sull’umanità che andava bene tanto negli anni ‘60 quanto va bene oggi.
Questa è la grande eredità che ci ha lasciato Philip K. Dick: gli strumenti d’indagine per capire il mondo in cui viviamo e che lui aveva previsto.
Strumenti nascosti in bella vista nella sua prolifica produzione.
Strumenti che devono essere ricercati interpretando i suoi mondi.
E che vanno meritati.
Se però si fa lo sforzo di studiare Dick come autore allora si scoprono delle perle nel suo ricco repertorio di romanzi-mondo.
Perle come La penultima verità.
Si scopre quindi che Dick non è solo un autore di mondi futuribili e che ciò che ha scritto si dice fantascienza però in realtà è indagine speculativa sulla realtà e sull’umanità che andava bene tanto negli anni ‘60 quanto va bene oggi.
Questa è la grande eredità che ci ha lasciato Philip K. Dick: gli strumenti d’indagine per capire il mondo in cui viviamo e che lui aveva previsto.
Strumenti nascosti in bella vista nella sua prolifica produzione.
Strumenti che devono essere ricercati interpretando i suoi mondi.
E che vanno meritati.
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