so-soI know it's a genre classic and is appreciated by many. Despite its engaging language and pace, the narrative has numerous logical gaps, unresolved plot threads, and a murky ending. Though it explores intriguing concepts, none are fully developed. Furthermore, its misogyny, especially considering the era of its publication amidst second-wave feminism, is particularly jarring. One wonders if the author ever ventured beyond his hovel.
#bookclub
"In a civil war… every side is wrong. It‘s hopeless to try to untangle it. Everyone is a victim.” ?
pickThe unreality of everyday life, and glimpses of an alternate or underlying order of being, is a common PKD theme, explored here in a setting contemporary with its writing (1958), but with glimpses that something is wrong, or out of joint.
The sci-fi element is less interesting than the phenomenological musings, but this was a time PKD's attempts to break into the mainstream was being roundly rebuffed, so I guess dressing the story in genre ⬇️
My 2023 reading summary pictured above, courtesy of StoryGraph. I actually read 181 books and 31,244 pages, with an average of 175 pages per book, courtesy of the more accurate Library Thing 😊📚
“It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.“
Remembering Philip K. Dick on his birthday.
🚘 Monopoly. I like to be the car or the horse, never the thimble or wheelbarrow!!
📚 Tagged book. It's kind of cheating, not exactly a board game, but it is a very twisted version of Monopoly played on a planet wide scale.
Thank you for the tag @TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday
Tag anyone who wants to join in.
#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Movie: The Truman Show
This was a tricky one. This has a similar feel to the movie but the plot is some different.
#BookHaul
We're on a short break in Shropshire: I don't think we'll be bothering that rather damp fire pit while we're here, but will probably take a dip in the hot tub ?
I found a lovely little record/book shop in Shrewsbury, Left For Dead, with a small but well chosen selection of titles, from which I came away with these.
"The Shutter of Snow" because I've enjoyed the other Faber Editions I've tried and am trusting in their editorship that ⬇️
pickPublished in 1964, this remarkable novel imagines a future in which World War III happened, forcing humanity to take refuge in underground "ant tanks" to survive. On the surface, the war ended long ago; the economy is based on perpetuating "the big lie" that it's still going on so the tank residents will keep producing robot labor for the surface dwellers. Fascinating, especially in our time of deep fakes and disinformation. Also, I love the title
@Leftcoastzen See now, you made me want to get all my Paladin PKD mainstream books out to relish the wonderfulness of their Americana cover art 😍 #BlameItOnLinda 😄
