Simulacra- Part 2

I must admit, I am getting a little bored with time travel, Mars, and the future. But, I’m guessing that’s all PKD writes about, so I will just have to endure it. I didn’t follow this book as well as the other stories we’ve read, with there being so many different character plots to connect. Again, I felt that the central theme was government control, its oppression of the people, and the use of time-travel for personal gain. The individual characters were interesting, especially Kongrosian and his phobias and illnesses. As I said on the discussion post, it’s rather difficult to pin down one protagonist and antagonist. It seems as though the goal of the novel was either to overthrow and expose the flaws of the government, or for human survival, which would’ve been a fail with the end of the novel showing that the human race was no longer going to be the dominant race. I do wish PKD would expand and tell us more about life on Mars and what happens once people immigrate there. I’d also be interested in hearing the specifics on WWIII and how that all went down. I did enjoy how each story line about the individual characters connected towards the end of the novel through Superb and Nicole. The patient that Superb was supposed to stay open for and fail to help really surprised me; my guess was Kongrosian, but I was wrong! I did wonder how the government functioned so long with it being led by fakes; I can’t believe the Ges kept their secrets from the Bes even though they are in contact with each other every day. The storyline seems to be the same in this book as the others, but we’ll have to see what the next novel holds in store for me.

Simulacra- Part 1

This week I read The Simulacra chapters 1-8. Some things I am noticing that PKD likes to include in his stories are government control, mystery, suspense, advanced technology, and the harshness of reality. It took me a little bit to get into the story, but I really like it. It's interesting how PKD introduces his characters one piece at a time, rather than giving their whole life stories and connections right away; it adds suspense. I am really intrigued by the government and society in the novel. Lately in a women's poetry class I am taking, we have been discussing feminism and the oppression of women in today’s society, and the fact that everything is controlled by the First Lady seems really interesting. I love that PKD brought history into the novel with Hitler and WWII. I’m excited to see what happens with the time machine and going back to that time period. It’s also noteworthy that they would want it to be illegal to practice psychoanalysis. I am very curious to see where that leads and what happens with the pianist and his body odor phobia (I find this hilarious). The side story with Vince and his brother and his ex-wife is great; I love the love triangle, although their idea of marriage and divorce is freakishly similar to how our society’s is. Marriage doesn’t seem to be on the same pedestal as it once was. Can’t wait to read more!

PKD's Short Stories

This week we read the short stories, “Paycheck,” “Roog,” “The Preserving Machine,” “If There Were no Benny Cemoli,” and “The Golden Man.” The thing that I found most important in all of these stories was the theme of fear and control. It’s also noteworthy that each story is set in the future after some sort of disaster that destroyed the world as we know it. In “Paycheck” the characters were afraid of government control and that is why Jennings acts as he does and blackmails Rethrick Construction Company. In “Roog,” Boris is afraid of the garbage men stealing food. I really enjoyed “The Preserving Machine” and the fact that Dr. Labyrinth was afraid of all the music being destroyed in a war/world disaster. I never would’ve thought of turning sheet music into animals. The humans were afraid of the different creatures and what they’d do to the world in “The Golden Man.” I enjoyed all of the short stories and the fact that they all have the same central themes; they all also had a good deal of suspense and action!