Search Results for: Philip K. Dick

Tags are useful, but incomplete. To help you (and me) keep track of some of the ongoing themes, issues and analysis in science fiction, I present this  partial and ongoing index. I will update and link back to it whenever it is appropriate: Decline and Fall of Science Fiction Chatter Before the Coup: 1991 in […]

If the eye could see the demons that people the universe, existence would be impossible. — Talmud, Berakhot, 6 So, over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten a good look at lies, damned lies and maybe even a few “statistics.” Now I’d like to return attention to The Man in the High Castle, with those […]

The conspiracy theory of society…comes from abandoning God and then asking “Who is in his place?” -Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, as quoted in Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco I started with the concept of counterfeit antiques (and historicity) a few weeks ago, and last week I glanced at the importance of counterfeit religion in Asimov’s […]

I consulted the I Ching before writing this starter’s guide to The Man in the High Castle. It presented me with Hexagram 14. All things come to the man…in a high position. – From Hexagram 14, I Ching Never let it be said that the ancients have no sense of humor.

I’m in the process of taking a more comprehensive look at the past 60 years of science fiction or so (ending at 2010 for now, to avoid the potential noise of the recent ebook explosion, independent press, and general diversification of the market), but an intriguing development has emerged. Some have argued that one of […]

A cartoon that I know absolutely nothing about has come under fire from its fanbase for tacking on a Pink SF message to the series finale. Of course, the usual media advocates of the Brave New World don’t even bother with a fig leaf of objectivity in their reportage: So let’s continue to celebrate both […]

H.P. Lovecraft was fatherless, and his mother fell to madness. C.S. Lewis lost his mother before he turned 10. Ray Bradbury’s formative years were in a stable community and a large supportive family. Orson Scott Card–a direct descendant of Brigham Young–comes from a traditional Latter Day Saints background, complete with five siblings. Gene Wolfe is […]

Last week, Jill commented on the madness and prophecy of Philip K. Dick: And then you have those oddities, such as Phillip K. Dick, who was clearly insane, but had uncanny predictions about the future. Most sci fi writers just plunge ahead and get things wrong or a little off, though. Fortunately for the sane […]