Addy
Win awards!
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 352
OK, guys, I'm becoming the annoying I-can't-believe-there's-no-subforum-for-such-and-such-writer guy.
But, anyway, here goes. I can't believe there's no subforum for Philip K. Dick! The guy was a freaking genius.
So from now I'm making a point to review each of his books I've read in separate threads. Anyone who would like to chime in, please do.
Let's start with Now Wait For Last Year.
Plot summary from wikipedia.com (WITH SPOILERS):
Plot summary
Set during a war between the 'Starmen (inhabitants of the planet Lilistar) and the Reegs, Now Wait for Last Year is the story of Eric Sweetscent, an organ-transplant doctor who gets wrapped up in Earth-Lilistar politics, and who is stuck in an abusive relationship with his manipulative wife.
At the onset of the story, Sweetscent is the personal org-trans surgeon for Virgil Ackerman, the president of Tijuana Fur & Dye. Using an off-world lichen which can imitate the cell-structure of anything it touches, TF&D had been the largest manufacturer of synthetic furs on the planet. But like all of the major corporations on Earth at the time, it has been requisitioned to produce for the war effort.
Ackerman invites Sweetscent to his vacation getaway on Mars where he announces he had an ulterior motive in inviting him along. Waiting for them when they arrive is a guest—Gino Molinari, the elected leader of Earth. Known as "the Mole", he is rumored to have the enigmatic ability to repeatedly die and come back. He has requested the services of Sweetscent. Ackerman glady passes Sweetscent on to Molinari.
Meanwhile, Sweetscent's wife, Kathy, participates in a test trial for a new drug, JJ-180, which proves to be highly toxic and addictive. The effects of the drug are not clear at first, however, only hours off of it, Kathy finds herself unable to function and violently craving JJ-180 again. She is visited by the 'Starmen who claim that the Reegs invented JJ-180 as a chemical weapon against the 'Starmen and Terrans. They claim that there is no possible cure for the drug's addiction. Kathy is now a slave to JJ-180.
The 'Starmen inform Kathy of her husband's new employment to Molinari and suspect Molinari's possible defection to the Reegs. Kathy is promised more JJ-180 if she agrees to spy on her husband for Lilistar. Kathy is hesitant to comply, not willing to face the reality of the impossibility of recovery, but is given a sample retainer of JJ-180 while she considers the offer. Eventually, she takes a second dose of the drug as her ability to perform at her job becomes nearly impossible due the effects of the withdrawal. Jumping into a taxi-cab, both she and the cab are plunged back in time to the mid-20th century. As the effects of the drug wear off, they slowly make their way back to the present time, uncertain as to whether or not the past visited was theirs or an alternate timeline.
Paranoid, Kathy sets off to visit her husband.
Under his new employer, Eric Sweetscent is let in on certain state secrets. Molinari seems to have a psychosomatic condition that mirrors any illness or disease of anyone else in his vicinity. The effects of this condition appear to be real, yet the Mole pulls through every time, always just on the brink of death.
Book cover from 1977 Manor paperback edition.
Molinari, like everyone else, has realized that in siding with the 'Starmen against the Reegs, Earth has doomed itself to the wrong side of a losing battle. There does not seem to be any safe way to defect to the Reegs, and Molinari fears that his current deteriorated state will not instill any confidence into the people of Earth should the 'Starmen retaliate, as they are certain to do. Sweetscent is shown footage of a healthier, younger version of Molinari in uniform and is led to believe that an android look-alike of the President has been created for public appearances. But that does not account for the fact that scattered throughout the Mole's headquarters are his various corpses, all killed in different fashions.
Kathy arrives and informs her husband of her addiction. In an effort to motivate him to find a cure, she slips a pill of JJ-180 into his drink. Without enough time to be furious, Eric slips a year into the future where he is informed by his colleagues that he had disappeared the day that Kathy came to visit.
He also witnesses that Earth has sided with the Reegs and Lilistar has lost the war.
Upon returning to the present, Sweetscent is eager to present this information to Molinari, who reveals that he too has been taking JJ-180, and that the effect is different for each user. Some users are sent to the past, while others are sent to the future. Each trip is in an alternate universe, and therefore no one can effectively change their own past or future, just that of another version of themselves. However, aside from minor details, the events of all of the universes seem to be moving in the same direction, and therefore, information obtained from one future will most likely be applicable to another.
Molinari, however, slips sideways in time under the drug's influence, and is able to pull present versions of himself into his own timeline as his previous self dies, always being replaced by a youthfull, more zealous Mole.
Having learned the secret to Molinari's remarkable recoveries, as well as confirming the feasibility of an alliance with the Reegs, Eric takes a larger dose of JJ-180 which propels him farther into the future than the first time. While there, he obtains a cure for JJ-180's addiction, an item of wide accessibility in the future, as well as obtaining more information about the future of the war. He also gathers information about the effects of JJ-180 on the brain as he is increasingly worried about Kathy's mental condition. Taking a fraction of a pill so as to not immediately return to his own time, Eric ends up one year in his future again, where the 'Starmen have occupied Earth after learning of the Terrans' defection to the Reegs. He is arrested by a 'Star patrol but saved by his future self, who informs him that Ackerman and the rest of the crew at TF&D have taken a stand against Lilistar, using Ackerman's getaway on Mars as their hideout.
Now knowing the general history of the next few years, Eric returns to his own time where his wife's mental condition is deteriorating every day. He resolves to check her into a clinic and is sent into deep reflection about the nature of their relationship. Feeling that he would be justified, he attempts to arrange an affair with a younger girl who Molinari recommends to him, he backs out in the end and begins to slip into a deep depression in reflection of his life. He goes to Mexico to purchase poison with which to commit suicide. He decides against it at the last second, just as the 'Starmen begin their invasion of Earth. Deciding that he is destined to join Ackerman's resistance against the 'Starmen, Eric enters a cab bound for TF&D. He asks the automated cab driver what it would do if its wife suffered from brain-damage and there was no possibility of recovery (which Eric had confirmed by contacting his future self). After pointing out that robots do not marry, the driver hypothetically concludes that it would stay with her. Life, argued the driver, is made up of a series of circumstances, different for each person. To leave one's wife would be to say that he/she requires a uniquely easier set of circumstances than what has been provided. That reasoning, to the driver, was an irrational way of thinking.
Eric agrees and decides to stay with his wife despite their challenges and her condition and is commended by the driver.
But, anyway, here goes. I can't believe there's no subforum for Philip K. Dick! The guy was a freaking genius.
So from now I'm making a point to review each of his books I've read in separate threads. Anyone who would like to chime in, please do.
Let's start with Now Wait For Last Year.
Plot summary from wikipedia.com (WITH SPOILERS):
Plot summary
Set during a war between the 'Starmen (inhabitants of the planet Lilistar) and the Reegs, Now Wait for Last Year is the story of Eric Sweetscent, an organ-transplant doctor who gets wrapped up in Earth-Lilistar politics, and who is stuck in an abusive relationship with his manipulative wife.
At the onset of the story, Sweetscent is the personal org-trans surgeon for Virgil Ackerman, the president of Tijuana Fur & Dye. Using an off-world lichen which can imitate the cell-structure of anything it touches, TF&D had been the largest manufacturer of synthetic furs on the planet. But like all of the major corporations on Earth at the time, it has been requisitioned to produce for the war effort.
Ackerman invites Sweetscent to his vacation getaway on Mars where he announces he had an ulterior motive in inviting him along. Waiting for them when they arrive is a guest—Gino Molinari, the elected leader of Earth. Known as "the Mole", he is rumored to have the enigmatic ability to repeatedly die and come back. He has requested the services of Sweetscent. Ackerman glady passes Sweetscent on to Molinari.
Meanwhile, Sweetscent's wife, Kathy, participates in a test trial for a new drug, JJ-180, which proves to be highly toxic and addictive. The effects of the drug are not clear at first, however, only hours off of it, Kathy finds herself unable to function and violently craving JJ-180 again. She is visited by the 'Starmen who claim that the Reegs invented JJ-180 as a chemical weapon against the 'Starmen and Terrans. They claim that there is no possible cure for the drug's addiction. Kathy is now a slave to JJ-180.
The 'Starmen inform Kathy of her husband's new employment to Molinari and suspect Molinari's possible defection to the Reegs. Kathy is promised more JJ-180 if she agrees to spy on her husband for Lilistar. Kathy is hesitant to comply, not willing to face the reality of the impossibility of recovery, but is given a sample retainer of JJ-180 while she considers the offer. Eventually, she takes a second dose of the drug as her ability to perform at her job becomes nearly impossible due the effects of the withdrawal. Jumping into a taxi-cab, both she and the cab are plunged back in time to the mid-20th century. As the effects of the drug wear off, they slowly make their way back to the present time, uncertain as to whether or not the past visited was theirs or an alternate timeline.
Paranoid, Kathy sets off to visit her husband.
Under his new employer, Eric Sweetscent is let in on certain state secrets. Molinari seems to have a psychosomatic condition that mirrors any illness or disease of anyone else in his vicinity. The effects of this condition appear to be real, yet the Mole pulls through every time, always just on the brink of death.
Book cover from 1977 Manor paperback edition.
Molinari, like everyone else, has realized that in siding with the 'Starmen against the Reegs, Earth has doomed itself to the wrong side of a losing battle. There does not seem to be any safe way to defect to the Reegs, and Molinari fears that his current deteriorated state will not instill any confidence into the people of Earth should the 'Starmen retaliate, as they are certain to do. Sweetscent is shown footage of a healthier, younger version of Molinari in uniform and is led to believe that an android look-alike of the President has been created for public appearances. But that does not account for the fact that scattered throughout the Mole's headquarters are his various corpses, all killed in different fashions.
Kathy arrives and informs her husband of her addiction. In an effort to motivate him to find a cure, she slips a pill of JJ-180 into his drink. Without enough time to be furious, Eric slips a year into the future where he is informed by his colleagues that he had disappeared the day that Kathy came to visit.
He also witnesses that Earth has sided with the Reegs and Lilistar has lost the war.
Upon returning to the present, Sweetscent is eager to present this information to Molinari, who reveals that he too has been taking JJ-180, and that the effect is different for each user. Some users are sent to the past, while others are sent to the future. Each trip is in an alternate universe, and therefore no one can effectively change their own past or future, just that of another version of themselves. However, aside from minor details, the events of all of the universes seem to be moving in the same direction, and therefore, information obtained from one future will most likely be applicable to another.
Molinari, however, slips sideways in time under the drug's influence, and is able to pull present versions of himself into his own timeline as his previous self dies, always being replaced by a youthfull, more zealous Mole.
Having learned the secret to Molinari's remarkable recoveries, as well as confirming the feasibility of an alliance with the Reegs, Eric takes a larger dose of JJ-180 which propels him farther into the future than the first time. While there, he obtains a cure for JJ-180's addiction, an item of wide accessibility in the future, as well as obtaining more information about the future of the war. He also gathers information about the effects of JJ-180 on the brain as he is increasingly worried about Kathy's mental condition. Taking a fraction of a pill so as to not immediately return to his own time, Eric ends up one year in his future again, where the 'Starmen have occupied Earth after learning of the Terrans' defection to the Reegs. He is arrested by a 'Star patrol but saved by his future self, who informs him that Ackerman and the rest of the crew at TF&D have taken a stand against Lilistar, using Ackerman's getaway on Mars as their hideout.
Now knowing the general history of the next few years, Eric returns to his own time where his wife's mental condition is deteriorating every day. He resolves to check her into a clinic and is sent into deep reflection about the nature of their relationship. Feeling that he would be justified, he attempts to arrange an affair with a younger girl who Molinari recommends to him, he backs out in the end and begins to slip into a deep depression in reflection of his life. He goes to Mexico to purchase poison with which to commit suicide. He decides against it at the last second, just as the 'Starmen begin their invasion of Earth. Deciding that he is destined to join Ackerman's resistance against the 'Starmen, Eric enters a cab bound for TF&D. He asks the automated cab driver what it would do if its wife suffered from brain-damage and there was no possibility of recovery (which Eric had confirmed by contacting his future self). After pointing out that robots do not marry, the driver hypothetically concludes that it would stay with her. Life, argued the driver, is made up of a series of circumstances, different for each person. To leave one's wife would be to say that he/she requires a uniquely easier set of circumstances than what has been provided. That reasoning, to the driver, was an irrational way of thinking.
Eric agrees and decides to stay with his wife despite their challenges and her condition and is commended by the driver.
