Dick's First Novel
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Rereading Philip K. Dick
REFLECTIONS Robert Silverberg REREADING PHILIP K. DICK They were ugly little things. I mean the tner. Dick was only twenty-seven when first editions of Philip K. Dick’s first nov- Solar Lottery came out, a youthful begin- els—squat, scrunchy, cheaply printed ner who had appeared in the science fic- 1950s paperbacks, artifacts of a primitive tion magazines just three years before era in science fiction publishing. Ace with a double handful of ingenious short Books was the name of the publishing stories. I had already begun to sell some company—they are still in business, stories myself in 1955, so in terms of ca- though vastly transformed—and Ace reer launch we were virtually contempo- writers then were paid one thousand dol- raries, but I was only twenty, a college ju- lars per novel, which even then was the nior, and that seven-year gap in our ages bottom rate for paperback books, al- made me regard Dick as vastly older, though in modern purchasing power it’s vastly wiser, vastly more skillful in the a good deal more than most new SF writ- art of storytelling. I was an earnest be- ers can command today. ginner; he was already a pro. Still, there were harbingers of things to He was good, all right. But I don’t come in those early Dick books. The very think either of us realized, back there in first sentence of the very first one tells us 1955, that he was destined to make an that in the most literal way: “There had imperishable mark on American popular been harbingers.” That’s Solar Lottery, culture. -
1: for Me, It Was Personal Names with Too Many of the Letter "Q"
1: For me, it was personal names with too many of the letter "q", "z", or "x". With apostrophes. Big indicator of "call a rabbit a smeerp"; and generally, a given name turns up on page 1... 2: Large scale conspiracies over large time scales that remain secret and don't fall apart. (This is not *explicitly* limited to SF, but appears more often in branded-cyberpunk than one would hope for a subgenre borne out of Bruce Sterling being politically realistic in a zine.) Pretty much *any* form of large-scale space travel. Low earth orbit, not so much; but, human beings in tin cans going to other planets within the solar system is an expensive multi-year endevour that is unlikely to be done on a more regular basis than people went back and forth between Europe and the americas prior to steam ships. Forget about interstellar travel. Any variation on the old chestnut of "robots/ais can't be emotional/creative". On the one hand, this is realistic because human beings have a tendency for othering other races with beliefs and assumptions that don't hold up to any kind of scrutiny (see, for instance, the relatively common belief in pre-1850 US that black people literally couldn't feel pain). On the other hand, we're nowhere near AGI right now and it's already obvious to everyone with even limited experience that AI can be creative (nothing is more creative than a PRNG) and emotional (since emotions are the least complex and most mechanical part of human experience and thus are easy to simulate). -
Book Reviews from the Sf Press
BOOK REVIEWS FROM THE SF PRESS Solar Lottery Anthony Boucher: Fantasy & Science Fiction August 1955, p. 94 Philip K. Dick’s SOLAR LOTTERY (Ace, 35 cents) is kept from a Grade A rating only by a tendency, in both its nicely contrasted plots, to dwindle away at the end. This first novel by one of the most interesting new magazine writers (one of F&SF’s discoveries, I may add proudly) creates a strange and highly convincing and self-consistent future society, peculiarly governed by Games Theory and the principle of randomness; against this background, built up with the detail of a Heinlein and the satire of a Kornbluth, it relates a taunt melodrama of political conflict and a stirring space-quest to rediscover a lost tenth planet. P. Schuyler Miller: Astounding Science Fiction November 1955, p. 151 Here’s another demonstration that you get a whale of a lot for your money from Ace. “Solar Lottery” is in the van Vogt tradition, taking a man with a mission, involving him hopelessly in a society built on a novel concept of science or philosophy, and allowing all sorts of unseen forces to prowl and putter behind the scenes. This time the gimmick is not non-Aristotelian semantics but von Neumann’s Theory of Games, which the author has built up as the mainspring of a Twenty-third Century planetary lottery whose one winner, the Quizmaster, is dictator of mankind until an assassin cuts him down or the “bottle” – never quite explained – twitches someone else in his place. Outside the Game, those who have special skills useful to the manufacturing combines may sell themselves into absolute serfdom, while those who have only manual skills are “unclassified” and hopeless. -
Panel About Philip K. Dick
Science Fiction Book Club Interview with Andrew M. Butler and David Hyde July 2018 Andrew M. Butler is a British academic who teaches film, media and cultural studies at Canterbury Christ Church University. His thesis paper for his PhD was titled “Ontology and ethics in the writings of Philip K. Dick.” He has also published “The Pocket essential Philip K. Dick”. He is a former editor of Vector, the Critical Journal of the British Science Fiction Association and was membership secretary of the Science Fiction Foundation. He is a former Arthur C. Clarke Award judge and is now a member of the Serendip Foundation which administers the award. David Hyde, a.k.a. Lord Running Clam, joined the Philip K. Dick Society in 1985 and contributed to its newsletter. When the PKDS was discontinued, he created For Dickheads Only in 1993, a zine that was active until 1997. Since then, his activities include many contributions to and editorial work for the fanzine PKD OTAKU. His book, PINK BEAM: A Philip K. Dick Companion, is a detailed publication history of PKD's novels and short stories. In 2010, David organized the 21st century's first Philip K. Dick Festival in Black Hawk, Colorado. Recently, in partnership with Henri Wintz at Wide Books, he has published two full-color bibliographies of the novels and short stories of Philip K. Dick. In early 2019 Wide Books will publish the French bibliography. On the 35th anniversary of Phil’s passing in 2017 David held a memorial celebration for PKD fans in Ft. Morgan, Colorado, the final resting place of Phil and his twin sister Jane. -
PKD Otaku # 12 - February 2004 1 a Question of Chronology: 1955 – 1958 Frame
"SCOTT MEREDITH TO PKD" September 30 [1968] Dear Phil, Thanks very much for our letter. Doubleday can't yet release the full $4500 because the money hasn't come in yet from NAL. We have asked them to advance some -- up to $1500 -- and we're confident this will be coming in very soon. In the meantime, I'm happy to send you a check for the $1500, less commission, as our advance on the Doubleday money. Here, then, is $1350. Doubleday, of course, is very anxious to see the new book you've mentioned to us and to Larry, and if you could send in a completed half, say in two weeks or so, they'll be able to issue an immediate contract. And, of course, they're very anxious about DEUS IRAE, mostly because they'd like to contract for THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH as soon as possible, but cannot until they have something more on DEUS IRAE. This is necessary because GAME in only in outline form, whereas the new one is completed in rough draft. Now I'd like to pass on some very encouraging news from Norman Spinrad -- we know you've been talking to him about this -- that the editor at Essex House is very interested in seeing some of your old unpublished novels. They are of course moving out of the sex lines and the editor is an old S-F fan. They would pay from $1000 to $1500 for any they might want to do. By all means, send in these old ones and we'll be happy to push for you in his area. -
Norman Spinrad 1 Rue Frederic Sauton Paris 75004 France the TRANSMOGRIFICATION of PHILIP K. DICK by Norman Spinrad I Really Didn
Norman Spinrad 1 rue Frederic Sauton Paris 75004 France THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF PHILIP K. DICK by Norman Spinrad I really didn't want to write this essay, for Philip K. Dick was a close friend, his untimely death affected me deeply, and aside from a brief obituary I was cozened into writing at the time and an introduction to one volume of his collected short stories, I have been unwilling and perhaps unable to write about Phil since. But this book is intended as a critical overview of the modern literature, Phil Dick is arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived and certainly a central figure in the literary history of the field, so SCIENCE FICTION IN THE REAL WORLD would not only have a gaping void at its heart if a consideration of Dick's work were omitted, it would do a disservice to his literary legacy. However, I will not be so disingenuous as to pretend to objectivity; indeed it is obvious from the two opening paragraphs that I cannot even decide upon a comfortable way of referring to my late friend and literary comrade. I cannot help but commit innumerable sins against conventional critical objectivity in this essay, which perforce must be as much a personal memoir as a piece of literary criticism. Furthermore, I freely admit that what finally moved me to break my grieved silence on the subject of Philip K. Dick was the growing amount of cultish rubbish written about Phil since his death, which, I believe, has done a disservice to the serious critical perception of the true greatness of his ouevre by obscuring its center, which has little to do with relatively minor works like VALIS and THE DIVINE INVASION, let alone the so-called "Exegesis." Gregg Rickman has entitled one book of interpreted interviews with Phil THE FINAL TESTAMENT and it concentrates mainly on VALIS, THE DIVINE INVASION, Phil's experience with the so-called "pink light" and the dybbuk of a 14th Century rabbi who supposedly dictated to him the material of the "Exegesis" upon which these novels were based. -
Psychological Terror and Social Fears in Philip K. Dick's Science Fiction
Belphégor Giuliano Bettanin Psychological Terror and Social Fears in Philip K. Dick's Science Fiction As it developed during the twentieth century, the genre of science fiction has often used themes belonging to horror literature. In point of fact, these two genres have a good deal in common. Most obviously, science fiction and horror share a fantastic background and a detachment from the probabilities of realistic fiction. Also, the birth of science fiction is closely connected to the development of the gothic novel. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which is commonly considered proto-science fiction, also represents a nineteenth-century development of the gothic novel. In addition, Herbert George Wells, whose work lies at the basis of modern science fiction, wrote at least one gothic novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau.1 The fusion of horror and science fiction has often generated figures of terrifying and evil aliens, robots that rebel against their human creators, and apocalyptic, post-thermonuclear-global-war scenarios. In this brief essay I shall analyze the ways in which Philip K. Dick incorporated horror themes into his oeuvre and the highly original results he obtained by mingling the two genres. For this purpose I shall discuss several of his short stories and his early novel Eye in the Sky. Besides the already mentioned motifs of the alien, the rebel robot and the atomic holocaust, Dick develops a mystical-religious motif as he explores a number of metaphysical problems that are strictly connected to his most characteristic interest in epistemological questions. From the moment of the publication of his first short stories and novels in the 1950s, Dick became one of the most representative authors of American social science fiction. -
And Philip K. Dick Wept
And Philip K. Dick Wept Steve Mizrach Many people have seen Philip K. Dick as a unique figure in science fiction. I would argue that some of the themes in his writing anticipated the particular science fiction movement that so many people now call "cyberpunk". Not surprisingly, he is often not included in the canons of this genre, but if his writing were closely examined, there are many reasons why he should have been. Clearly, Dick frequently dealt with the theme "what is human ?" by introducing characters that dealt with precisely that dilemma - the replicants of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - by beginning to question the difference between man and machine. If in the cyberpunk novel humans are beginning to cross the man/machine boundary by replacing more and more of their "meat" with cybernetic implants, then often Dick's characters - like Commander Data on Star Trek - are frequently seeking to become more human. Philip K. Dick eventually answered this question (it was more easy for him than "what is real ?") by suggesting that the hallmark of humanity was kindness. Palmer Eldritch did not lose his humanity by his artificial implants ("stigmata") or even by becoming consumed by an intelligent Fungus from the Prox system. Instead, Philip K. Dick hints his humanity was lost when his compassion finally was also, which is why Leo Bulero triumphs over him. Philip K. Dick never denied the possibility that machines might know kindness, and Deckard himself comes to this conclusion in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. All kinds of beings and races inhabit Philip K. -
Technology – Activities Monday
Technology – Activities Monday English Philip K. Dick was a science fiction writer who imagined near-futures shaped by technology. Indulge your imagination by writing blurbs for what you envisage some of the following stories to be about: • The Preserving Machine • Solar Lottery • The Unteleported Man • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? • We Can Remember It for You Wholesale • The Electric Ant Try to write at least three of your own, then compare them to the real plot synopses you can find online. Extend yourself further by reading a short story by Dick (available for free online) and making a list of the genre conventions within it. Maths Isambard Kingdom Brunel is considered one of the most important engineers in history. Research some of his many engineering feats and choose one to write about in more detail. Include any mathematical facts you can find and any appropriate constructions. You could even build your own scaled model of one of your favourite designs. Science Investigate the different factors that affect how quickly a text message can be sent from one phone to another. Does being upstairs or downstairs make a difference? Indoors or outdoors? You could try putting the phones in different containers or change how close together the phones are. Try it at home with family or plan an investigation with a friend to carry out remotely. Technology – Activities Tuesday English Write a profile of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who is widely regarded as the inventor of the Internet. Maths Early computers worked on a binary system, in which numbers are represented using only two symbols: 0 and 1. -
JAKE JAKAITIS Director of Undergraduate Studies in English
JAKE JAKAITIS Director of Undergraduate Studies in English Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN 47809 E-mail: [email protected] Home Page: http://isu.indstate.edu/jakaitis EDUCATION 1990: Ph.D. (English, with Certification in Critical Theory) University of Illinois, Urbana 1984-88: Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois, Urbana 1974-76: A.M. (English) University of Illinois, Urbana 1972-74: A.B. (English) University of Illinois, Urbana PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Indiana State University, 1988 to Present Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of English, January 2006-Present Coordinator of General Education, July 2001-January 2006 Acting Director of International Studies Program, ISU, 1996-1997 Courses: Freshman Writing, Introduction to Fiction, Major American Authors, Advanced Expository Writing (Cultural Criticism), Advanced Expository Writing (Writing About Film), Literature and Life: Film As Literature, Science Fiction, Multicultural American Literature, Women Writers of Great Britain, Seminar in Literary Criticism and Theory, Seminar in Postmodern Realism, Seminar in American Literature from 1945-Present, Seminar in American Literature and the Two Cultures. Editor and Referee: College Literature, Referee 1990-2000; Advisory Editor Spring 2000-Present College English, Referee 1989-1994 Shandong University (Jinan, People’s Republic of China), January 1995 to January 1996 Fulbright Scholar Seminars in 19th & 20th Century American Literature, Metafiction and Postmodernism, and Literary Theory and Criticism PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH Published Work: Crossing Boundaries in Graphic Narrative: Essays on Forms, Series, and Genres. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2012. Print. [Edited with James F. Wurtz.] “The Terror of Nature Not Understood: Science, Mysticism, and the Unknowable in Don DeLillo’s Ratner’s Star.” in Science Fiction and the Two Cultures. -
Kathleen Singles Alternate History Narrating Futures
Kathleen Singles Alternate History Narrating Futures Edited by Christoph Bode Volume 5 Kathleen Singles Alternate History Playing with Contingency and Necessity The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) / ERC grant agreement no. 229135. Dissertation, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2012. ISBN 978-3-11-027217-8 e-ISBN 978-3-11-027247-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de . © 2013 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Typesetting: PTP-Berlin Protago-TEX-Production GmbH, Berlin Printing and binding: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Content 1 Introduction | 1 1.1 Contexts: Alternate Histories and Future Narratives | 1 1.2 Methodology | 4 1.3 Proceedings and Theses | 6 1.4 Selection of Primary Sources | 10 1.4.1 Medium vs. Genre | 10 1.4.2 The International Spectrum | 11 2 The Poetics of Alternate History | 14 2.1 ‘History’ in Alternate History | 26 2.1.1 The Postmodern Challenge to History | 26 2.1.2 Referentiality: Possible-worlds Theory | 33 2.1.3 ‘History’ as the Normalized Narrative of the Past | 43 -
Exhibition List Jack Sharkey, the Secret Martians
MARCH-JUNE 2012 35c cabinet 14: ace double back sf cabinet 18 (large): non-fiction and omnibus sf Poul Anderson, Un-Man and Other Novellas. New York: Ace Life in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by M. Vassiliev and S. Books, 1962 Gouschev. London: Souvenir Press, 1960 Charles L. Fontenay, Rebels of the Red Planet. New York: Ace Murray Leinster, ‘First Contact’ in Stories for Tomorrow. Books, 1961 Selections and prefaces by William Sloane. London: Eyre & Gordon R. Dickson, Delusion World. New York: Ace Books, 1961 Spottiswoode, 1955 ___, Spacial Delivery. New York: Ace Books, 1961 I.M. Levitt, A Space Traveller’s Guide to Mars. London: Victor Margaret St. Clair, The Green Queen. New York: Ace Books, 1956 Gollancz, 1957 ____, The Games of Neith. New York: Ace Books, 1960 Men Against the Stars. Edited by Martin Greenberg. London: The Fred Fastier Science Fiction Collection Ray Cummings, Wandl the Invader. New York: Ace Books, 1961 Grayson & Grayson, 1951 Fritz Leiber, The Big Time. New York: Ace Books, 1961 Martin Caidin, Worlds in Space. London: Sidgwick and Poul Anderson, War of the Wing-Men. New York: Ace Books, 1958 Jackson, 1954 G. McDonald Wallis, The Light of Lilith. New York: Ace Patrick Moore, Science and Fiction. London: George G. Harrap Books, 1961 & Co., 1957 Exhibition List Jack Sharkey, The Secret Martians. New York: Ace Books, [1960] Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited. London: Chatto & Eric Frank Russell, The Space Willies. New York: Ace Books, 1958 Windus, 1959 Robert A. W. Lowndes, The Puzzle Planet. New York: Ace J. B. Rhine, The Reach of the Mind.