"Dr. Bloodmoney" by Philip K. Dick

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick (1965)

This novel is somewhat unusual for the author. It's longer than most of his books, with more characters and a longer time scale. Unlike the distortions of reality seen in novels like Ubik or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, the story is told in a linear, realistic way, almost like an old-fashioned mainstream novel. (The one exception is that the events in Chapter Four seem to be out of order. As far as I can tell, there is no reason why this should be so, and I can only assume a publishing error.) This doesn't mean that the events in the novel aren't strange.

The theme is a familiar one to SF readers: life after the Bomb. The setting is Marin County, not far from San Francisco. The major characters include "Hoppy" Harrington, a limbless thalidomide victim who gets around in a special vehicle, and who also has powerful telekinetic powers; Edie Keller, a little girl whose brother Bill lives inside her body; Walt Dangerfield, an astronaut trapped in orbit when the bombs go off; and Bruno Bluthgeld, the "Doctor Bloodmoney" of the title, a brilliant physicist who also happens to be a paranoid schizophrenic, and who may have caused the nuclear war. In addition to these odd people, there are a number of more ordinary folks around, adding to the book's sense of reality.

The book's plain and simple style, combined with its realistic depiction of post-war society, contrast strongly with the very peculiar events of the story, particularly what happens to the characters I've named above. Dr. Bloodmoney might serve as a good introduction to the very special talents of Philip K. Dick.

 

[EricWard]

This one has been on my list for a while. I think I might have to bump it up a few places now.

 

[Fried Egg]

I would never recommend this book to a PKD newbie; it's a rambling mish-mash of ideas that never quite come together well. The weakest novel of his I have read so far.

 

[J-Sun]

I would never recommend this book to a PKD newbie; it's a rambling mish-mash of ideas that never quite come together well. The weakest novel of his I have read so far.

Well, that's vigorously stated. It's not the weakest I've read (The Zap Gun probably holds that title for me) but I otherwise agree - a lot of people really like this and it's often held up as being... oh, say "in the bottom half of his top few books" or a minor classic or something, but it was pretty punchless, didn't do much for me, and is one of the very few PKDs I got rid of.

 

[gully_foyle]

I would put it lower down my list than most of the Dicks. It had a bit of the horrific post apocalyptic element to it that was best done in A Canticle for Liebowitz.

 

[Sigfrid von Shrink]

PKD wrote a very interesting afterword which is published in the Gollancz masterworks edition:

Personally, I found the postwar world deeply chilling, but Dick says "despite the war ... it is a good future. I would have enjoyed being there with them in their microcosm, their postwar West Marin world".

He also says that he identified most with Stuart, the TV/rat-trap salesman, and himself used to work in a TV shop on the same street.

He doesn't consider Hoppy evil, but loathes Bluthgeld and his type ("they hate me back and would do exactly to me what I would do to them").

 

[Vertigo]

My take:

The bombs have finally been dropped and Dr Bloodmoney follows the efforts of a small rural community to create a new post-apocalyptic life. It is, even by Dick’s standards, a slightly weird story with talking dogs, nose flute playing rats, telekinesis, a child with her twin brother living inside her, and an astronaut stuck in a satellite orbiting earth and acting as a DJ for the world. It is however, ultimately, a surprisingly optimistic take on a post-apocalyptic future.

For the purposes of veracity, I do feel Dr Bloodmoney suffers a little for what seemed at that time to be a common misconception of just how small the increments in successful evolution are. Yes, something like radiation can generate much bigger step change mutations but the chance of these being even survivable are probably quite remote and certainly the chances of them being so beneficial as to confer intelligence on animals or telekinesis on humans are almost certainly vanishingly small. But let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story. And this is a good story. It examines fear, greed, betrayal and, particularly, discrimination and, as is not uncommon with Dick, mental instability.

I found Dick’s approach to discrimination particularly interesting in this book. Written the civil rights movement in America it was, I imagine, fairly radical in its day. Very early on the reader meets a black salesman, Stuart McConchie, who has been given a job by a white employer determined to give equal opportunities to all, and Stuart is very appreciative of this chance. But his employer also decides to give a job to, Hoppy, a thalidomide victim (possibly one of the first appearances of thalidomide in literature?) and Stuart is quite clearly prejudiced against Hoppy, considering his hiring to be bad for business. An interesting way to turn the issue on its head.

Dr Bloodmoney is a good book; not in my view one of Dick’s best but still a very good, interesting story which, despite its weirder elements, is a much more straightforward read than much of his other work.

My edition has an afterword by Dick in which he comments on some of his predictions and effectively reviews his own book. Definitely worth finding an edition with this afterword and I’d recommend reading it before the book.



4/5 stars

 

[Toby Frost]

I remember rather liking this one: it seemed to be going in a slightly different direction to a lot of Dick's books, and the introduction of "normal" life was interesting. I don't think I've ever read a PKD novel that felt entirely satisfactory, but this was engrossing and enjoyable: both more normal and weirder than usual, if that makes any sense. I agree that the afterward is worth a look: I wish Dick had written more about SF, because his comments on his short stories are good, too.

 

[Vertigo]

both more normal and weirder than usual, if that makes any sense.

That makes absolute sense and I agree completely!

 

[Toby Frost]

Phew!