DrEvilO
10/31/2016
When one reads a PKD novel, one enters a whole new universe. And I don't mean it as in each book is a different universe blah blah blah. Dick's worlds are almost solid with a psychedelic quality in them, reflected in every word and every punctuation mark. I don't know exactly how this works but I can feel the auras of those worlds through the lines and it's amazing.
Jason Taverner is a TV show host watched and loved by 30 million people until one day he wakes up and he isn't. He finds himself to be not only totally unknown but also without any certification that he actually exists. Felix Buckman is a rather fair police officer who gets involved in the Taverner case and soon enough he feels the up to now solid ground beneath his feet shaking.
The tears flow and so does the plot as we follow Taverner in his desperate attempt to make sense of what hapened to his world. The characters are all expertly crafted as they face existential issues that seem to be the main theme of the novel. The ending comes like a cool breeze with the policeman and his tears but the true inspiration is in the epilogue. And to think that Dick wrote science fiction!