This book was certainly not what I was expecting. Certain aspects of it (the reality questions and interest in religious themes) are pretty standard Dick stuff, but the way that the book was marketed as “Galactic Invaders have taken over a small town!” is incredibly misleading. The book feels more like a Neil Gaiman fantasy novel than a sci-fi piece. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and I wonder as I read more in this genre if I’ll find more instances where the two (sci-fi and fantasy) blend together.
Speaking of reading more sci-fi! I enjoyed doing this enough that I’m going to hope to make a project out of it! I realized about midway through that not only have I not read much of Philip K. Dick, but I haven’t read much of sci-fi at all. I’ll be reading more sci-fi from here on, and potentially watching some as well.
Some projects that I’ve listed for my reading:
The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
Herland – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
We – Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Dune – Frank Herbert
The Foundation Trilogy – Isaac Asimov
Solaris – Stanislav Lem
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’engle
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur Clarke
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula LeGuin
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler
American Gods – Neil Gaiman (I know it’s more fantasy, but I like Gaiman and haven’t read it)
Y: The Last Man – Brian K. Vaughan
Ghost in the Shell, 2nd gig
Ergo Proxy
AND MUCH MORE
Truly I just went to various blogs where people made lists of “notable or required sci-fi” and picked the ones that I’d heard about before. I’m always willing to take suggestions, especially if people want to point me in the direction of sci-fi authors who aren’t white cis dudes, I’d appreciate it. All suggestions are welcome, however!
I do think I’m mostly going to do this in chronological order. It seems that a lot of these sci-fi authors knew each other and some of their pieces were written almost in conversation with one another. So to that end, I want to start far back and move forward. I know that theoretically I could really stretch the bounds of sci-fi, but I want to get to some of those big names sooner rather than later, so there are a few books that might be considered parts of the genre that I won't be including.
Showing posts with label Philip K. Dick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philip K. Dick. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2016
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 15
Chapter 15
A pretty slow closing chapter to the book. Ted packs up his things and bids the town farewell as the old town slowly returns to its normal state. Some funny descriptions in here, like how in certain stores, pockets of the illusionary town still exist, so a person can literally walk into the other dimension, although when they do they transform into whatever they were over there.
Christopher bids Ted farewell before shifting back into his original, unchanged state. This version only has a vague impression that he knows Ted at all, being only somewhat aware of the whole battle for the town.
As Ted drives off, he thinks to his wife, who he basically accepts is going to divorce him (apparently this is a bit of a theme in Dick’s work), and he seems to be okay with that; rather dismissive of Peg in fact. He looks out the window and is generally left in awe of Armaiti in a pseudo-religious type of worship.
A few closing thoughts next post, and also talking more generally about sci-fi stuff in general, as I want to continue doing this.
A pretty slow closing chapter to the book. Ted packs up his things and bids the town farewell as the old town slowly returns to its normal state. Some funny descriptions in here, like how in certain stores, pockets of the illusionary town still exist, so a person can literally walk into the other dimension, although when they do they transform into whatever they were over there.
Christopher bids Ted farewell before shifting back into his original, unchanged state. This version only has a vague impression that he knows Ted at all, being only somewhat aware of the whole battle for the town.
As Ted drives off, he thinks to his wife, who he basically accepts is going to divorce him (apparently this is a bit of a theme in Dick’s work), and he seems to be okay with that; rather dismissive of Peg in fact. He looks out the window and is generally left in awe of Armaiti in a pseudo-religious type of worship.
A few closing thoughts next post, and also talking more generally about sci-fi stuff in general, as I want to continue doing this.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 14
Chapter 14: TW for talk of misogyny and brief mention of drugs
Well, that’s one way to solve a cosmological battle of deities that’s taking place over a small Virginia town.
Turns out the last chapter ended with a fakeout. A happy one at least! The golem on Ted’s shoulder turns out to be the one which Mary had controlled, and is now fully inhabiting. The rest of the battle feels very grey goo-ish, with Ahriman taking a pretty passive role in the whole “consuming everything” business. Most of the work is done by the rats, golems, snakes and spiders. However, Mary has a plan, and begins guiding Ted along, fighting off rats with her tiny spear (made of a needle stuck to a twig). I love the image of guy just running through a horde of rats with a tiny person on his shoulder fighting off the horde with essentially a nail. It’s pretty comical.
Eventually, Ted figures out what he needs to do. Or rather, Mary tells him. He needs to wake up Ohrmazd. Making his way through the crowd, Ted realizes who it is. Doc Meade. Ted drags the doctor out of his car and reminds him who he is in a very Spirited Away manner.
Suddenly the book takes a turn that is really hard to describe. I have a bit of an issue with sci-fi writing generally, and PKD in particular that shows up here. The reality breaks, while certainly impressive, are usually handled in a fashion that’s a bit over-the-top. I know that might seem unintuitive, of course a reality break should be over the top. It’s a break in reality. However, I feel like Eye in the Sky did it well with the subtle implications that something was just “off”, and the much more delicate understanding of “reality” as a philosophical construct rather than a purely ontic experience. There are passages in here that describe like, the entire unmaking of a star cluster and the pulsing feeling of Ted’s body floating outside of the whole of the known universe and it’s all a bit too much.
My problem, I guess, is that it’s hard to visualize the gravity of the situation. I can imagine a star exploding in my head, as though it were on a film. However, it seems like in the imaging of that occurrence, the magnitude of the event is undone somewhat. Similarly, when I attempt to imagine the magnitude of such a fundamental shift in reality as the universe being potentially unmade, it’s impossible to visualize. Any image doesn’t seem to quite capture the sheer awesomeness of the event being described. Honestly, I think I’d need to be tripping to really get into the headspace where I could both visualize the happenings and imagine their impact.
Anyways, the long and short of this sequence is that Ohrmazd and Ahriman just kinda… leave. I realize how ridiculous it is, but that’s what happens! They just start fighting and go carry on their fight somewhere else, and thus Millgate returns to normal! I feel like we’re less in sci-fi and more in weird fiction at this point. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just kind of ludicrous how rather mundane the actual events that solve the conflict end up being.
Ted and the Wanderers quickly gain the upper hand in the fight and drive away the rest of Ahriman’s horde. The town and the people in it are slowly returning back to the way they were before The Change occurred.
Which just leaves Mary. Ted talks with her, and it’s… I don’t know. It hits a bit of a mixed feeling with me. So basically, what happens is Ted asks Mary who/what she really is. She replies that she is Armaiti, daughter of Ohrmazd. Mary was the form she took during the eighteen years since The Change. She was the one who engineered events so that Ted would leave town before Ahriman arrived, so that some years later she could bring him back and awaken her father to go fight Ahriman once more. Ted and Christopher then set about returning her to her original form, and it’s described as being this rather tall and inhumanly beautiful woman before she then dissolves back into the Earth. On the surface level, I’m fine with all of this. It’s a pretty satisfying conclusion to the chapter. However, Dick inserts this weird conversation between Ted and Armaiti in which he kind of objectifies her body while in golem form, talking about how “she sure doesn’t look thirteen anymore”. It’s a really strange juxtaposition and I’m a bit put off by it. I guess on the one hand I understand the urge to position and describe deities as being human-like but epitomes of human beauty in some ways. However, the beauty described here (apart from the final line “she was the essence of generation, the bursting power of woman, of all life.”) is rather cis-het male oriented in what it lingers on (hair, breasts, eyes, sleek body). I’m not sure exactly what would have made this better. Like I said, at one level I understand the tendency in writing to make gods “beautiful” but on the other it certainly seems rather normative. Ahriman is a grey-goo blob, Ohrmazd is a giant radiating glow of night sky with stars in place of a head, Armaiti is a really pretty woman?
All this said, the chapter ends with a nice sentiment by Armaiti to Ted. Ted kind of feels like I do about the absurdity and randomness of Millgate being selected as the site for this battle to take place, and how ultimately the decision was fairly arbitrary and that Millgate didn’t really have any sort of significance. I think the solace she gives Ted is pretty helpful with regard to this:
“It was small compared to the greater picture. But it’s a part of the greater picture. The struggle is vast; much bigger than anything you can experience. I’ve never seen the real extent, myself, the final regions it’s entered. Only the two of them see it as it’s really waged. But Millgate is important. It was never forgotten.”
[since writing this review, and finishing the book, I’ve found a comparison online that likens the whole sequence with Ohrmazd awakening to the intro of Katamari Damacy, and I think the comparison is actually pretty spot on to my problems with the way it’s written. It’s kind of campy in its execution of this great mystical event].
Well, that’s one way to solve a cosmological battle of deities that’s taking place over a small Virginia town.
Turns out the last chapter ended with a fakeout. A happy one at least! The golem on Ted’s shoulder turns out to be the one which Mary had controlled, and is now fully inhabiting. The rest of the battle feels very grey goo-ish, with Ahriman taking a pretty passive role in the whole “consuming everything” business. Most of the work is done by the rats, golems, snakes and spiders. However, Mary has a plan, and begins guiding Ted along, fighting off rats with her tiny spear (made of a needle stuck to a twig). I love the image of guy just running through a horde of rats with a tiny person on his shoulder fighting off the horde with essentially a nail. It’s pretty comical.
Eventually, Ted figures out what he needs to do. Or rather, Mary tells him. He needs to wake up Ohrmazd. Making his way through the crowd, Ted realizes who it is. Doc Meade. Ted drags the doctor out of his car and reminds him who he is in a very Spirited Away manner.
Suddenly the book takes a turn that is really hard to describe. I have a bit of an issue with sci-fi writing generally, and PKD in particular that shows up here. The reality breaks, while certainly impressive, are usually handled in a fashion that’s a bit over-the-top. I know that might seem unintuitive, of course a reality break should be over the top. It’s a break in reality. However, I feel like Eye in the Sky did it well with the subtle implications that something was just “off”, and the much more delicate understanding of “reality” as a philosophical construct rather than a purely ontic experience. There are passages in here that describe like, the entire unmaking of a star cluster and the pulsing feeling of Ted’s body floating outside of the whole of the known universe and it’s all a bit too much.
My problem, I guess, is that it’s hard to visualize the gravity of the situation. I can imagine a star exploding in my head, as though it were on a film. However, it seems like in the imaging of that occurrence, the magnitude of the event is undone somewhat. Similarly, when I attempt to imagine the magnitude of such a fundamental shift in reality as the universe being potentially unmade, it’s impossible to visualize. Any image doesn’t seem to quite capture the sheer awesomeness of the event being described. Honestly, I think I’d need to be tripping to really get into the headspace where I could both visualize the happenings and imagine their impact.
Anyways, the long and short of this sequence is that Ohrmazd and Ahriman just kinda… leave. I realize how ridiculous it is, but that’s what happens! They just start fighting and go carry on their fight somewhere else, and thus Millgate returns to normal! I feel like we’re less in sci-fi and more in weird fiction at this point. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just kind of ludicrous how rather mundane the actual events that solve the conflict end up being.
Ted and the Wanderers quickly gain the upper hand in the fight and drive away the rest of Ahriman’s horde. The town and the people in it are slowly returning back to the way they were before The Change occurred.
Which just leaves Mary. Ted talks with her, and it’s… I don’t know. It hits a bit of a mixed feeling with me. So basically, what happens is Ted asks Mary who/what she really is. She replies that she is Armaiti, daughter of Ohrmazd. Mary was the form she took during the eighteen years since The Change. She was the one who engineered events so that Ted would leave town before Ahriman arrived, so that some years later she could bring him back and awaken her father to go fight Ahriman once more. Ted and Christopher then set about returning her to her original form, and it’s described as being this rather tall and inhumanly beautiful woman before she then dissolves back into the Earth. On the surface level, I’m fine with all of this. It’s a pretty satisfying conclusion to the chapter. However, Dick inserts this weird conversation between Ted and Armaiti in which he kind of objectifies her body while in golem form, talking about how “she sure doesn’t look thirteen anymore”. It’s a really strange juxtaposition and I’m a bit put off by it. I guess on the one hand I understand the urge to position and describe deities as being human-like but epitomes of human beauty in some ways. However, the beauty described here (apart from the final line “she was the essence of generation, the bursting power of woman, of all life.”) is rather cis-het male oriented in what it lingers on (hair, breasts, eyes, sleek body). I’m not sure exactly what would have made this better. Like I said, at one level I understand the tendency in writing to make gods “beautiful” but on the other it certainly seems rather normative. Ahriman is a grey-goo blob, Ohrmazd is a giant radiating glow of night sky with stars in place of a head, Armaiti is a really pretty woman?
All this said, the chapter ends with a nice sentiment by Armaiti to Ted. Ted kind of feels like I do about the absurdity and randomness of Millgate being selected as the site for this battle to take place, and how ultimately the decision was fairly arbitrary and that Millgate didn’t really have any sort of significance. I think the solace she gives Ted is pretty helpful with regard to this:
“It was small compared to the greater picture. But it’s a part of the greater picture. The struggle is vast; much bigger than anything you can experience. I’ve never seen the real extent, myself, the final regions it’s entered. Only the two of them see it as it’s really waged. But Millgate is important. It was never forgotten.”
[since writing this review, and finishing the book, I’ve found a comparison online that likens the whole sequence with Ohrmazd awakening to the intro of Katamari Damacy, and I think the comparison is actually pretty spot on to my problems with the way it’s written. It’s kind of campy in its execution of this great mystical event].
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 13
Chapter 13
I’m hoping the book will get better at this point. I’ve heard that PKD sometimes has endings that are not the best, and as this book heads toward its ending, I’m getting the sense that this may end up being one of those cases.
The Wanderers’ headquarters comes under attack by Peter… or, more appropriately now, Ahriman. Seems Peter was somehow able to transform into Ahriman, or perhaps Ahriman was sealed inside of the body of Peter.
That said, the descriptions of Ahriman are pretty generic. It reminds me vaguely of a being from Digimon Tamers. Most of the rest of the chapter is just pretty mindless action. Ahriman’s creatures attack and the Wanderers are pretty thoroughly trounced. The chapter leaves off with a golem about to thrust a spear into Ted’s eyes. I’m hoping the book goes back to some of the big questions it was toying with. There’s a brief mention in this chapter as Doc Meade is afraid of the town changing back, fearing that he’ll no longer be human or will somehow “die” in the shift. This is good stuff! It’s just kind of sad it’s got this mediocre action plot around it.
I’m hoping the book will get better at this point. I’ve heard that PKD sometimes has endings that are not the best, and as this book heads toward its ending, I’m getting the sense that this may end up being one of those cases.
The Wanderers’ headquarters comes under attack by Peter… or, more appropriately now, Ahriman. Seems Peter was somehow able to transform into Ahriman, or perhaps Ahriman was sealed inside of the body of Peter.
That said, the descriptions of Ahriman are pretty generic. It reminds me vaguely of a being from Digimon Tamers. Most of the rest of the chapter is just pretty mindless action. Ahriman’s creatures attack and the Wanderers are pretty thoroughly trounced. The chapter leaves off with a golem about to thrust a spear into Ted’s eyes. I’m hoping the book goes back to some of the big questions it was toying with. There’s a brief mention in this chapter as Doc Meade is afraid of the town changing back, fearing that he’ll no longer be human or will somehow “die” in the shift. This is good stuff! It’s just kind of sad it’s got this mediocre action plot around it.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Honestly this chapter was kinda boring… despite a lot of things “happening” in it. Ted, Christopher, and Meade meet up with the Wanderers in a nearby cave and they just lay out their plan. The chapter details that the Wanderers have been keeping up with this battle for a long time, trying to bring back Millgate through a painstaking reconstruction of it. Also, it seems like in this space the Wanderers are a bit more corporeal.
This said, the whole chapter kind of falls apart because so much of it is dedicated to the Wanderers, and specifically the lead Wanderer Hilda’s, plans that the end of the chapter kind of just undoes. It seemed like Ted’s restoration of the park was causing more Wanderers to remember aspects of the town and The Haze began to peel away from around the park. However, then at the end we’re told that the new park is shrinking, which… okay? I mean, it’s not good but it just feels so much like setup for a final confrontation with Peter or with Ahriman that I'm not sure what more there is to say about it…
Umm.. oh I did think it was pretty cool when we found out that the Wanderers make use of animals as spies and that Peter’s animals are almost explicitly engineered to fight against them. So like, the Wanderers make use of moths at night, and Peter makes use of spiders who catch the moths, disrupting the flow of information back to the Wanderers. Also, apparently, the source of Peter and Mary’s power is basically unknown, or more specifically, it’s unknown why exactly Peter and Mary have these powers that set them apart from the Wanderers or the other citizens of Millgate.
Honestly this chapter was kinda boring… despite a lot of things “happening” in it. Ted, Christopher, and Meade meet up with the Wanderers in a nearby cave and they just lay out their plan. The chapter details that the Wanderers have been keeping up with this battle for a long time, trying to bring back Millgate through a painstaking reconstruction of it. Also, it seems like in this space the Wanderers are a bit more corporeal.
This said, the whole chapter kind of falls apart because so much of it is dedicated to the Wanderers, and specifically the lead Wanderer Hilda’s, plans that the end of the chapter kind of just undoes. It seemed like Ted’s restoration of the park was causing more Wanderers to remember aspects of the town and The Haze began to peel away from around the park. However, then at the end we’re told that the new park is shrinking, which… okay? I mean, it’s not good but it just feels so much like setup for a final confrontation with Peter or with Ahriman that I'm not sure what more there is to say about it…
Umm.. oh I did think it was pretty cool when we found out that the Wanderers make use of animals as spies and that Peter’s animals are almost explicitly engineered to fight against them. So like, the Wanderers make use of moths at night, and Peter makes use of spiders who catch the moths, disrupting the flow of information back to the Wanderers. Also, apparently, the source of Peter and Mary’s power is basically unknown, or more specifically, it’s unknown why exactly Peter and Mary have these powers that set them apart from the Wanderers or the other citizens of Millgate.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 11
Chapter 11
This book took SUCH a hard left turn, y’all. Like, I’m kind of amazed that this book was marketed with the whole “cosmic invaders from beyond the stars!” type of marketing. It’s so clearly not, and I’m actually seeing a lot of things that I know Dick explored later (namely Gnosticism) emerging here pretty readily.
So Ted and Christopher arrive at the hospital where Doc Meade is wondering where Mary is (oh please no). Then things almost immediately start becoming strange when Ted tells Meade about the whole park-changing fiasco and Meade’s reaction is so muted that it becomes immediately apparent that he knew more than he was letting on. Suddenly, a Wanderer appears and speaks with Doc Meade, informing him that Mary has died, and Doc Meade just launches into a complete recontextualization of the book.
It turns out that The Change which came through eighteen years ago was, as the characters have suspected, a sort of glamer or illusion that has been placed over the true town (DEMIURRRRGGEEE…..) and the Wanderers are the original inhabitants of the town. The Wanderers go around with their eyes (I’m assuming figuratively) closed, which allows them to maintain their transient forms. When they open their eyes, they are transported into the same illusion world that the characters are inhabiting. Ted then gets the idea to go find wherever the headquarters is and team up with them in order to bring back the town that they all must collectively remember.
Then Doc Meade throws out a gigantic load of a topic for Ted and Christopher to consider (though notably, Christopher is still really muted in his own reaction to Doc Meade’s words). It seems that Doc Meade came into existence after The Change, as did Mary and a number of other people in the illusion-Millgate. He begins to wonder aloud whether many people will help Ted, as it’s possible that they won’t exist after the change occurs, and they want to keep on existing.
This actually really gets into one of the big points of argument that I’ve talked about with The Matrix. Ted, and the heroes/directors of that movie both seem to hold a sort of unwarranted veneration for the “real” world. Ted’s whole argument of why they should want to get rid of the illusion-Millgate is because it isn’t real, as though that would matter at all to the beings whose existence is entirely predicated upon the continuation of this illusionary town.
This whole argument is unfortunately not gone into very much, I suppose the novel is still under the auspices of an action plot rather than a philosophical meditation. However, then Meade drops another bomb on Ted (either Christopher isn’t reacting or we just aren’t getting it, so I’m not including him). The giants that comprise the two “sides” of the town are the cause of The Change, and their names are Ohrmazd and Ahriman…..
So here’s what I know about Zoroastrianism. I know I am approaching this from a Western lens and only a casual interest in world religions (though I’m hoping to do more study with them in my career), so if anyone has more familiarity with this religion feel free to chime in.
1)Ohrmazd, or Ahura Mazda, is the sort of supreme deity figure of the religion
2)There’s a sort of dualism, and the opposing figure is Ahriman
3)All sorts of things tend to be ascribed to these two figures, but generally they are large cosmological beings, and, from what I understand, there’s less of a definite winner in their struggle as there is in the two “sides” of Christian theology.
4)The religion is heavily concerned with the four elements
5)It is a very old religion that influenced much of the Abrahamic religions (in particular some of the mystical branches of Judaism and Christianity).
6)Ahriman would later show up as a figure in Rudolf Steiner’s conception of anthroposophy, this time as a dualist force compared to Lucifer. This anthroposophy is still the guiding principle of Waldorf schools.
These two gods, and I’m just going to call them gods now, are doing their battle over Millgate, which is pretty hilarious.
And it seems like things are about to get MASSIVELY out of hand.
Peter is pleased with the fact that Mary has been killed, and begins to walk through the town, noticing that one of the gods, Ahriman, is stirring. Peter is very excited for this, it seems, and as he wanders through the towns he finds that his golems die if they enter into the park which Ted and Christopher reformed. Die seems to be the wrong word, actually. It’s more like they are somehow obliterated.. “ungolemed” is the term the book uses, seeming to convey that this unmakes them in a much more total manner.
Peter is perplexed by this but quickly becomes happy, as he sees a ring of fire morphing around the town (fire, I’m going to assume, is associated with Ahriman). Peter heads into the flame, to what end I am not sure, but I don’t imagine it to be good.
This is so fucked up.
This book took SUCH a hard left turn, y’all. Like, I’m kind of amazed that this book was marketed with the whole “cosmic invaders from beyond the stars!” type of marketing. It’s so clearly not, and I’m actually seeing a lot of things that I know Dick explored later (namely Gnosticism) emerging here pretty readily.
So Ted and Christopher arrive at the hospital where Doc Meade is wondering where Mary is (oh please no). Then things almost immediately start becoming strange when Ted tells Meade about the whole park-changing fiasco and Meade’s reaction is so muted that it becomes immediately apparent that he knew more than he was letting on. Suddenly, a Wanderer appears and speaks with Doc Meade, informing him that Mary has died, and Doc Meade just launches into a complete recontextualization of the book.
It turns out that The Change which came through eighteen years ago was, as the characters have suspected, a sort of glamer or illusion that has been placed over the true town (DEMIURRRRGGEEE…..) and the Wanderers are the original inhabitants of the town. The Wanderers go around with their eyes (I’m assuming figuratively) closed, which allows them to maintain their transient forms. When they open their eyes, they are transported into the same illusion world that the characters are inhabiting. Ted then gets the idea to go find wherever the headquarters is and team up with them in order to bring back the town that they all must collectively remember.
Then Doc Meade throws out a gigantic load of a topic for Ted and Christopher to consider (though notably, Christopher is still really muted in his own reaction to Doc Meade’s words). It seems that Doc Meade came into existence after The Change, as did Mary and a number of other people in the illusion-Millgate. He begins to wonder aloud whether many people will help Ted, as it’s possible that they won’t exist after the change occurs, and they want to keep on existing.
This actually really gets into one of the big points of argument that I’ve talked about with The Matrix. Ted, and the heroes/directors of that movie both seem to hold a sort of unwarranted veneration for the “real” world. Ted’s whole argument of why they should want to get rid of the illusion-Millgate is because it isn’t real, as though that would matter at all to the beings whose existence is entirely predicated upon the continuation of this illusionary town.
This whole argument is unfortunately not gone into very much, I suppose the novel is still under the auspices of an action plot rather than a philosophical meditation. However, then Meade drops another bomb on Ted (either Christopher isn’t reacting or we just aren’t getting it, so I’m not including him). The giants that comprise the two “sides” of the town are the cause of The Change, and their names are Ohrmazd and Ahriman…..
So here’s what I know about Zoroastrianism. I know I am approaching this from a Western lens and only a casual interest in world religions (though I’m hoping to do more study with them in my career), so if anyone has more familiarity with this religion feel free to chime in.
1)Ohrmazd, or Ahura Mazda, is the sort of supreme deity figure of the religion
2)There’s a sort of dualism, and the opposing figure is Ahriman
3)All sorts of things tend to be ascribed to these two figures, but generally they are large cosmological beings, and, from what I understand, there’s less of a definite winner in their struggle as there is in the two “sides” of Christian theology.
4)The religion is heavily concerned with the four elements
5)It is a very old religion that influenced much of the Abrahamic religions (in particular some of the mystical branches of Judaism and Christianity).
6)Ahriman would later show up as a figure in Rudolf Steiner’s conception of anthroposophy, this time as a dualist force compared to Lucifer. This anthroposophy is still the guiding principle of Waldorf schools.
These two gods, and I’m just going to call them gods now, are doing their battle over Millgate, which is pretty hilarious.
And it seems like things are about to get MASSIVELY out of hand.
Peter is pleased with the fact that Mary has been killed, and begins to walk through the town, noticing that one of the gods, Ahriman, is stirring. Peter is very excited for this, it seems, and as he wanders through the towns he finds that his golems die if they enter into the park which Ted and Christopher reformed. Die seems to be the wrong word, actually. It’s more like they are somehow obliterated.. “ungolemed” is the term the book uses, seeming to convey that this unmakes them in a much more total manner.
Peter is perplexed by this but quickly becomes happy, as he sees a ring of fire morphing around the town (fire, I’m going to assume, is associated with Ahriman). Peter heads into the flame, to what end I am not sure, but I don’t imagine it to be good.
This is so fucked up.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 10
Chapter 10
TW for… I don’t even know what? Arachnophobia, death, discussion of pain and vermin-based nastiness
I… I don’t even know what happened at the end here… y’all what the fuck was that? It’s horrifying to think about and kind of ridiculous at the same time….
So Ted and Christopher talk with Mary, who’s impressed that the two are able to disrupt the Haze so effectively. It’s noted here that while Ted is pretty insistent that he couldn’t have done it without Christopher, both Christopher and Mary are quick to shift all of the credit to Ted. Ted is uncomfortable with this, and I kind of am too. Pet theory at the moment is that Ted’s meeting Christopher was no accident, so a lot of what Christopher says is suspect to me at this point.
Mary tells Ted that he should stay at her father’s hospital instead of the boarding house in order to stay away from Peter. Ted acquiesces and heads off, as does Christopher. Mary then goes to the barn (Peter’s workshop) and shifts her consciousness into the golem, guiding it to go meet him..
And then…oh jeez y’all the image is just horrifying. Suddenly spiders (one of Peter’s animals) begin to drop down on Mary and a swarm of rats comes at her. All of these animals start picking away at her as she runs off… but apparently spiders and rats are able to eat through human flesh like a school of piranhas and they chomped through Mary down to her skeleton… like… I don’t even know how to fathom this. Dick says that she was dead before her body stopped running. It’s actually pretty absurd and ludicrous to imagine, but there you go. Jeezum, this Peter kid is so messed up.
Poor Mary, poor Doc Meade… I’m kinda shuddering just remembering.
So fucked up.
TW for… I don’t even know what? Arachnophobia, death, discussion of pain and vermin-based nastiness
I… I don’t even know what happened at the end here… y’all what the fuck was that? It’s horrifying to think about and kind of ridiculous at the same time….
So Ted and Christopher talk with Mary, who’s impressed that the two are able to disrupt the Haze so effectively. It’s noted here that while Ted is pretty insistent that he couldn’t have done it without Christopher, both Christopher and Mary are quick to shift all of the credit to Ted. Ted is uncomfortable with this, and I kind of am too. Pet theory at the moment is that Ted’s meeting Christopher was no accident, so a lot of what Christopher says is suspect to me at this point.
Mary tells Ted that he should stay at her father’s hospital instead of the boarding house in order to stay away from Peter. Ted acquiesces and heads off, as does Christopher. Mary then goes to the barn (Peter’s workshop) and shifts her consciousness into the golem, guiding it to go meet him..
And then…oh jeez y’all the image is just horrifying. Suddenly spiders (one of Peter’s animals) begin to drop down on Mary and a swarm of rats comes at her. All of these animals start picking away at her as she runs off… but apparently spiders and rats are able to eat through human flesh like a school of piranhas and they chomped through Mary down to her skeleton… like… I don’t even know how to fathom this. Dick says that she was dead before her body stopped running. It’s actually pretty absurd and ludicrous to imagine, but there you go. Jeezum, this Peter kid is so messed up.
Poor Mary, poor Doc Meade… I’m kinda shuddering just remembering.
So fucked up.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 9
So now we’re jumping to Mary once again. I’m interested in the game these kids are playing, and I’m also noting that most of the events of this book are taking place over… I think two days? Interesting how much information seems crammed into this short book in such an in-verse short period of time.
Mary is sitting in her house when suddenly a Wanderer enters. Mary realizes that it’s trying to find her, apparently counting its steps through the house so that it can figure where it is. Apparently this kind of thing has happened before, and Wanderers can materialize into this world by “opening their eyes”. Evidently, one materialized into the wall some time ago, and the smell lingered for a long time….. well that’s horrifying.
Mary chases down the Wanderer, and then catches it causing it to materialize. She has a cryptic conversation with the Wanderer, here materializing as an older woman, who says that they want to get their hands on Peter. To what end, we are not sure, because Mary springs into action catching a golem.
It’s further gone into here: Peter and Mary can both manipulate certain beings to act as agents for them. Peter is apparently better than Mary at this, because he’s able to shape golems out of clay, where Mary has to rely on certain animals with predetermined bodies. Mary’s got some kind of recourse though.
I’ll say, the descriptions here are rather strange. Mary, having caught the golem, puts it in a vase and then fashions her own clay… poultice? And eats it, allowing her to project some of her consciousness into the golem and control it through some sort of psychic connection. She decides she’s going to send this golem back to Peter to spy on him. This in her mind, Mary heads into town.
However, heading into town she passes by.. well who else but Christopher and Ted? I will say it’s kind of hilarious that it’s just described as her seeing these two drunk guys, who she recognizes, shouting at an abandoned house about a cannon. Soon though, she sees what they are about as they materialize an entire park where this row of abandoned houses had been projected. After they celebrate at their success, Mary decides it’s time for her to go talk to them.
Mary is sitting in her house when suddenly a Wanderer enters. Mary realizes that it’s trying to find her, apparently counting its steps through the house so that it can figure where it is. Apparently this kind of thing has happened before, and Wanderers can materialize into this world by “opening their eyes”. Evidently, one materialized into the wall some time ago, and the smell lingered for a long time….. well that’s horrifying.
Mary chases down the Wanderer, and then catches it causing it to materialize. She has a cryptic conversation with the Wanderer, here materializing as an older woman, who says that they want to get their hands on Peter. To what end, we are not sure, because Mary springs into action catching a golem.
It’s further gone into here: Peter and Mary can both manipulate certain beings to act as agents for them. Peter is apparently better than Mary at this, because he’s able to shape golems out of clay, where Mary has to rely on certain animals with predetermined bodies. Mary’s got some kind of recourse though.
I’ll say, the descriptions here are rather strange. Mary, having caught the golem, puts it in a vase and then fashions her own clay… poultice? And eats it, allowing her to project some of her consciousness into the golem and control it through some sort of psychic connection. She decides she’s going to send this golem back to Peter to spy on him. This in her mind, Mary heads into town.
However, heading into town she passes by.. well who else but Christopher and Ted? I will say it’s kind of hilarious that it’s just described as her seeing these two drunk guys, who she recognizes, shouting at an abandoned house about a cannon. Soon though, she sees what they are about as they materialize an entire park where this row of abandoned houses had been projected. After they celebrate at their success, Mary decides it’s time for her to go talk to them.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 8
A really short chapter this time (6 pages), but an interesting one all the same.
Ted and Christopher (I guess I didn’t catch that his first name was Will, the book just keeps calling him Christopher) work on seeing if they can restore the tire iron. Ted tries to use the Spell Remover, and succeeds! The tire iron is restored perfectly, but then Christopher points out that, actually, the Spell Remover failed. Ted was just somehow able to do this on his own. With this in mind, the two set out to see if they can just use whatever ability Ted has to set the town right.
Okay this is getting really reminiscent to some of the themes brought up in ‘Eye in the Sky’. In that book, there was a pretty persistent issue on how perception shapes reality, and how certain characters (namely those marginalized by 1950’s US society) weren’t quite as gung-ho at the prospect of being able to return to straight-cis-white dude’s “normal” world. I think something similar can be said here. I’m sure Ted “remembers” the town in the same way that I remember my neighborhood from when I was seven (always sunny, houses much bigger and full of kids my age). In either case, though, there’s the problem that still remains over whether what Ted remembers is “real” or not. Also, I find it rather suspicious that Ted’s able to do this in the first place, and that Christopher is so willing to jump on board with this. It all seems a little too suspicious and I don’t think things are going to necessarily end well for Ted here.
Ted and Christopher (I guess I didn’t catch that his first name was Will, the book just keeps calling him Christopher) work on seeing if they can restore the tire iron. Ted tries to use the Spell Remover, and succeeds! The tire iron is restored perfectly, but then Christopher points out that, actually, the Spell Remover failed. Ted was just somehow able to do this on his own. With this in mind, the two set out to see if they can just use whatever ability Ted has to set the town right.
Okay this is getting really reminiscent to some of the themes brought up in ‘Eye in the Sky’. In that book, there was a pretty persistent issue on how perception shapes reality, and how certain characters (namely those marginalized by 1950’s US society) weren’t quite as gung-ho at the prospect of being able to return to straight-cis-white dude’s “normal” world. I think something similar can be said here. I’m sure Ted “remembers” the town in the same way that I remember my neighborhood from when I was seven (always sunny, houses much bigger and full of kids my age). In either case, though, there’s the problem that still remains over whether what Ted remembers is “real” or not. Also, I find it rather suspicious that Ted’s able to do this in the first place, and that Christopher is so willing to jump on board with this. It all seems a little too suspicious and I don’t think things are going to necessarily end well for Ted here.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 7
TW for brief mention of alcoholism
So, a lot was revealed in this chapter! I guess I’m about halfway into the book so I should expect to know something by now. Ted goes back to Christopher’s house where Christopher confides that he wasn’t always a destitute alcoholic, but was originally a mechanic. Ted is a bit disbelieving until Christopher takes out a bottle of wine and puts it near a machine he created called the Spell Remover (Not a very clever name). Suddenly, the bottle metamorphoses into a coffee grinder that Christopher says he once owned.
Apparently, the entirety of the original Millgate is still present, but an event (ominously referred to as The Change) occurred and seems to have suddenly altered the town and everything in it about eighteen years prior to the story. Christopher points out that there was some mistake, however, and that The Change didn’t manage to coat his memories, meaning that while he was physically altered by it, his mind remained the same. This has allowed Christopher to secretly work against whatever forces are maintaining this illusion (which Christopher refers to as The Haze) around the town.
Christopher shows Ted that he owns one of the town’s famous relics (a tire iron used to stop a bank robbery when Ted was a kid), but it’s stuck in the form of a brown piece of string at the moment. Ted becomes emboldened to help reverse The Change and set the town back to normal.
Maybe it’s just my pessimism here, but this all feels very similar to Winston in 1984 trusting O’Brien. I’m not sure if I trust Christopher, or whether whatever caused The Change intentionally put in an agent (similar to Peter or Mary) that could lead on and neutralize threatening elements like Ted.
If I wanted to go really mind-bendy, I’d predict that Ted himself, and the idea that he has false memories, may in and of itself be a false memory caused by The Haze.. though to what end I would not be sure.
So, a lot was revealed in this chapter! I guess I’m about halfway into the book so I should expect to know something by now. Ted goes back to Christopher’s house where Christopher confides that he wasn’t always a destitute alcoholic, but was originally a mechanic. Ted is a bit disbelieving until Christopher takes out a bottle of wine and puts it near a machine he created called the Spell Remover (Not a very clever name). Suddenly, the bottle metamorphoses into a coffee grinder that Christopher says he once owned.
Apparently, the entirety of the original Millgate is still present, but an event (ominously referred to as The Change) occurred and seems to have suddenly altered the town and everything in it about eighteen years prior to the story. Christopher points out that there was some mistake, however, and that The Change didn’t manage to coat his memories, meaning that while he was physically altered by it, his mind remained the same. This has allowed Christopher to secretly work against whatever forces are maintaining this illusion (which Christopher refers to as The Haze) around the town.
Christopher shows Ted that he owns one of the town’s famous relics (a tire iron used to stop a bank robbery when Ted was a kid), but it’s stuck in the form of a brown piece of string at the moment. Ted becomes emboldened to help reverse The Change and set the town back to normal.
Maybe it’s just my pessimism here, but this all feels very similar to Winston in 1984 trusting O’Brien. I’m not sure if I trust Christopher, or whether whatever caused The Change intentionally put in an agent (similar to Peter or Mary) that could lead on and neutralize threatening elements like Ted.
If I wanted to go really mind-bendy, I’d predict that Ted himself, and the idea that he has false memories, may in and of itself be a false memory caused by The Haze.. though to what end I would not be sure.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 6
Well, looks like Ted’s found a friend. Leaving Peter behind on the ledge, Ted decides that he’s going to try to get out of town, despite being warned that he can’t.
Have to say, it’s pretty cool that the barrier isn’t this entirely supernatural thing. Ted drives to the edge of town and finds an abandoned lumber truck with its logs spilled out across the street around it. Trying to get around it, Ted finds a steep slope that he can’t climb on one side and a pit that, while possible to vault across, doesn’t seem to have a bottom. Ted decides it isn’t worth it to try the pit so he tries to climb over the logs. However…. I don’t even know how to describe this… he gets stuck inside of them? Or under them maybe? The logs seem to be shifting like water around him, rematerializing and trapping him inside.. and then… the barrier gets even weirder, if that was possible. Despite this seeming to only take ten minutes, Ted checks his watch and finds that he’s been at this for seven hours. I have to say, this is probably not the best written description of time dilation I’ve seen (that moniker currently belongs to Huxley or Leary..).
Suddenly, Peter shows up and lets Ted know that he’s the one who’s been warping time around Ted… and preventing him from crossing the barrier. He helps Ted out of his predicament and lets Ted know that, while he is preventing Ted from leaving, he is not the one who brought Ted to Millgate. Angered by this (like yeah, I would be too), Ted drives off leaving Peter behind. I have to say, it’s pretty hilarious how, apparently, this reality-warping kid can just be easily bested by someone driving off quickly and leaving him up on a mountain road.
Ted heads into a bar back in town and runs into one of the people who laughed at him during his initial frantic episode in the middle of Millgate. I don’t think Ted quite knows the score here.. if you’re in a situation where you’re in a seemingly reality-warped town, you always have to find the people who apparently seem outcast by the rest of the muggles in the scenario. This old man, Christopher, is apparently the only person aware of the shift, and knows some of the locations which Ted is speaking about that once inhabited the old Millgate.
Have to say, it’s pretty cool that the barrier isn’t this entirely supernatural thing. Ted drives to the edge of town and finds an abandoned lumber truck with its logs spilled out across the street around it. Trying to get around it, Ted finds a steep slope that he can’t climb on one side and a pit that, while possible to vault across, doesn’t seem to have a bottom. Ted decides it isn’t worth it to try the pit so he tries to climb over the logs. However…. I don’t even know how to describe this… he gets stuck inside of them? Or under them maybe? The logs seem to be shifting like water around him, rematerializing and trapping him inside.. and then… the barrier gets even weirder, if that was possible. Despite this seeming to only take ten minutes, Ted checks his watch and finds that he’s been at this for seven hours. I have to say, this is probably not the best written description of time dilation I’ve seen (that moniker currently belongs to Huxley or Leary..).
Suddenly, Peter shows up and lets Ted know that he’s the one who’s been warping time around Ted… and preventing him from crossing the barrier. He helps Ted out of his predicament and lets Ted know that, while he is preventing Ted from leaving, he is not the one who brought Ted to Millgate. Angered by this (like yeah, I would be too), Ted drives off leaving Peter behind. I have to say, it’s pretty hilarious how, apparently, this reality-warping kid can just be easily bested by someone driving off quickly and leaving him up on a mountain road.
Ted heads into a bar back in town and runs into one of the people who laughed at him during his initial frantic episode in the middle of Millgate. I don’t think Ted quite knows the score here.. if you’re in a situation where you’re in a seemingly reality-warped town, you always have to find the people who apparently seem outcast by the rest of the muggles in the scenario. This old man, Christopher, is apparently the only person aware of the shift, and knows some of the locations which Ted is speaking about that once inhabited the old Millgate.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 5
A bit of a slower paced chapter this time relative to chapter 4. We encounter Mary again (another of the kids from chapter 1) didn’t think we’d be seeing her again. Turns out that the bees which attacked Peter in the last chapter were likely under her… control? Guidance? Authority? It’s not exactly clear. Regardless, it seems that she has an affinity with bees and is able to speak with them, while Peter is able to similarly communicate with spiders.
Peter reaches out to Ted, asking him to drive him out to a ledge on the valley which overlooks Millgate.
Ted agrees, and things aren’t going so well for Ted. His wife is sick of being put up in a hotel and says that if Ted stays in Millgate any longer she’s going to leave and divorce him. While I feel like Teds putting her up in a hotel away from town probably wasn’t the best course of action, I do think Peg is being a bit unsympathetic here. Ted is clearly encountering some sort of bizarre experience with this town that is driving him to act in this way. All that said, it’s a complicated scenario and it seems like this is more meant to make Ted a bit more ‘down and out’ than present a point of dramatic tension for the plot to be working against.
Ted goes to the ledge of the valley with Peter, who points out that the town is in fact... I guess “constructed from” would be the right term… two gigantic figures. Almost like giant apparitions (similar to the Wanderers I guess) whose bodies are made out of the landscape itself. The giant which Ted is able to see has a body composed out of the other side of the valley, its legs are mountains, and its head is the sun itself. As Ted remarks on this to Peter, Peter indicates that if he could figure out the giant’s name, he could control it. I wonder if this is a rule which applies to all of the things that Peter (and I suppose Mary) have governance over.. Peter points out to Ted that the other figure is split off at the valley that they are standing on and then he begins to wake the figure. Ted seems to say that the sensation of being surrounded by this waking landscape giant is similar to the feeling of the Wanderers passing through him the night before. Bewildered, Ted leaves Peter behind, saying he’s going to try to leave the town.
I’m getting the feeling that perhaps the… cosmology? Of this book might be a bit too unwieldy for its own good. Part of the reason that Eye in the Sky worked so well was that it kept a relatively simple premise (eight people wake up in a world in which one of their group’s perception of reality acts as indisputable law) and played that out to its logical extremes several times over (also worth noting, the book’s advertising wrote that the story is “hilarious”. I could think of a few things that the story is, but hilarious is not a word that springs to mind). The Cosmic Puppets, while it is certainly an interesting mystery on some level, is beginning to feel like it’s just piling on mechanic after mechanic in this world. Perhaps that’s the point, that Ted is bewildered but keeps on striving. However, if that’s the case, then the continued focus on Peter, who seems to know everything but won’t let the reader in on anything, is aggravating.
Peter reaches out to Ted, asking him to drive him out to a ledge on the valley which overlooks Millgate.
Ted agrees, and things aren’t going so well for Ted. His wife is sick of being put up in a hotel and says that if Ted stays in Millgate any longer she’s going to leave and divorce him. While I feel like Teds putting her up in a hotel away from town probably wasn’t the best course of action, I do think Peg is being a bit unsympathetic here. Ted is clearly encountering some sort of bizarre experience with this town that is driving him to act in this way. All that said, it’s a complicated scenario and it seems like this is more meant to make Ted a bit more ‘down and out’ than present a point of dramatic tension for the plot to be working against.
Ted goes to the ledge of the valley with Peter, who points out that the town is in fact... I guess “constructed from” would be the right term… two gigantic figures. Almost like giant apparitions (similar to the Wanderers I guess) whose bodies are made out of the landscape itself. The giant which Ted is able to see has a body composed out of the other side of the valley, its legs are mountains, and its head is the sun itself. As Ted remarks on this to Peter, Peter indicates that if he could figure out the giant’s name, he could control it. I wonder if this is a rule which applies to all of the things that Peter (and I suppose Mary) have governance over.. Peter points out to Ted that the other figure is split off at the valley that they are standing on and then he begins to wake the figure. Ted seems to say that the sensation of being surrounded by this waking landscape giant is similar to the feeling of the Wanderers passing through him the night before. Bewildered, Ted leaves Peter behind, saying he’s going to try to leave the town.
I’m getting the feeling that perhaps the… cosmology? Of this book might be a bit too unwieldy for its own good. Part of the reason that Eye in the Sky worked so well was that it kept a relatively simple premise (eight people wake up in a world in which one of their group’s perception of reality acts as indisputable law) and played that out to its logical extremes several times over (also worth noting, the book’s advertising wrote that the story is “hilarious”. I could think of a few things that the story is, but hilarious is not a word that springs to mind). The Cosmic Puppets, while it is certainly an interesting mystery on some level, is beginning to feel like it’s just piling on mechanic after mechanic in this world. Perhaps that’s the point, that Ted is bewildered but keeps on striving. However, if that’s the case, then the continued focus on Peter, who seems to know everything but won’t let the reader in on anything, is aggravating.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 4
Okay, so this book is actually getting quite good. Just when I think I’ve got one mystery figured out, another just pops up.
Peter walks out to the barn in the backyard of his house, and he laments the “mistakes” that he made in the confrontation with Ted, noting that he let on too much information. He then looks over several jars that he’s keeping, feeding “them” expertly. After this, Peter walks out of the barn and is suddenly set upon by….something. A strange buzz that seems to really wound Peter. The narration is rather vague on what exactly just occurred, with phrasing like “Suppose a whole pack had found him, not just two!” or “But thank God they were on their own. Unorganized!” I have to say I’m not as much a fan of his kind of mystery development, where the narration purposefully obscures something that the character is clearly privy too. I suppose it’s similar to a film shot that leaves parts of a scene obscured in darkness, but it’s a bit awkward in text. The narration says it was bees afterward, but the amount of detail spent on this seems disproportionate if it’s really just a bee sting. Then again, a similar incident occurred in Eye in the Sky involving an out-of-the-blue earwig… maybe randomly appearing insects are some kind of staple in Dick’s writing that I wasn’t aware of?
Later, at dinner, Ted strikes up a conversation with Doctor Meade, the character from the first chapter. Doc apparently is the one who delivered Ted back when he was born, and is the doctor who pronounced Ted dead following the scarlet fever that apparently caused his death. Ted’s evasive about revealing too much of his conversation with Peter to the doctor, and understandably so, he doesn’t know who these people are or what their relation might be to this other-town. Later still, Ted is continuing his talk with Meade and a woman named Miss James on the porch of the boarding house. Ted begins to lose his cool in that manner that I’ve seen sometimes in older works. A character just sort of erupts at people for not comprehending the mystery that the protagonist finds themselves in, even though it is a pretty unreasonable assumption that anyone else would be able to possibly understand the strangeness of the mystery at hand.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN TWO GHOSTS JUST SHOW UP ON THE SCENE AND WALK RIGHT ON THROUGH TED, THE DOCTOR, MISS JAMES AND THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE. I honestly admit I had to reread this paragraph to make sure I hadn’t misread, but no the characters confirm it. Ted asks if Miss James or Meade just saw that and they respond, matter-of-factly, that of course they saw it, it’s just the two ‘Wanderers’ who make their way around this time of the evening. Ted asks a bit further and the characters are almost as taken aback by Ted’s confusion as Ted is by the TWO INTANGIBLE PEOPLE.
I really love how this book just kind of introduces this new element just out of the blue like that. I doubt these two are actual ghosts, but I’m interested in seeing how Dick goes into explaining these ‘Wanderers’. He tends to do rather well writing non-human characters, I’ve found. I’m excited, y’all!
Peter walks out to the barn in the backyard of his house, and he laments the “mistakes” that he made in the confrontation with Ted, noting that he let on too much information. He then looks over several jars that he’s keeping, feeding “them” expertly. After this, Peter walks out of the barn and is suddenly set upon by….something. A strange buzz that seems to really wound Peter. The narration is rather vague on what exactly just occurred, with phrasing like “Suppose a whole pack had found him, not just two!” or “But thank God they were on their own. Unorganized!” I have to say I’m not as much a fan of his kind of mystery development, where the narration purposefully obscures something that the character is clearly privy too. I suppose it’s similar to a film shot that leaves parts of a scene obscured in darkness, but it’s a bit awkward in text. The narration says it was bees afterward, but the amount of detail spent on this seems disproportionate if it’s really just a bee sting. Then again, a similar incident occurred in Eye in the Sky involving an out-of-the-blue earwig… maybe randomly appearing insects are some kind of staple in Dick’s writing that I wasn’t aware of?
Later, at dinner, Ted strikes up a conversation with Doctor Meade, the character from the first chapter. Doc apparently is the one who delivered Ted back when he was born, and is the doctor who pronounced Ted dead following the scarlet fever that apparently caused his death. Ted’s evasive about revealing too much of his conversation with Peter to the doctor, and understandably so, he doesn’t know who these people are or what their relation might be to this other-town. Later still, Ted is continuing his talk with Meade and a woman named Miss James on the porch of the boarding house. Ted begins to lose his cool in that manner that I’ve seen sometimes in older works. A character just sort of erupts at people for not comprehending the mystery that the protagonist finds themselves in, even though it is a pretty unreasonable assumption that anyone else would be able to possibly understand the strangeness of the mystery at hand.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN TWO GHOSTS JUST SHOW UP ON THE SCENE AND WALK RIGHT ON THROUGH TED, THE DOCTOR, MISS JAMES AND THE WALLS OF THE HOUSE. I honestly admit I had to reread this paragraph to make sure I hadn’t misread, but no the characters confirm it. Ted asks if Miss James or Meade just saw that and they respond, matter-of-factly, that of course they saw it, it’s just the two ‘Wanderers’ who make their way around this time of the evening. Ted asks a bit further and the characters are almost as taken aback by Ted’s confusion as Ted is by the TWO INTANGIBLE PEOPLE.
I really love how this book just kind of introduces this new element just out of the blue like that. I doubt these two are actual ghosts, but I’m interested in seeing how Dick goes into explaining these ‘Wanderers’. He tends to do rather well writing non-human characters, I’ve found. I’m excited, y’all!
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 3
Okay so the kids from chapter one are brought back into the story, and Peter, the focus character among them, knows more than he’s letting on.
We’re presented with an interesting scene in which two of the clay dolls that Peter is playing with come to life. Later he makes reference to creating golems, so I’m going to assume this is related.
Also, Ted’s returned to Millgate (after putting his wife up in a nearby town, it sounds like… probably won’t hear from her again…) and is now living in the boarding house which Peter’s mother runs.
Then Ted has a bizarre conversation with Peter, in which this kid shows he definitely knows more than he’s letting on. He confronts Ted with all sorts of strange statements and questions, like “how did you get past the barrier?” and Ted, quite craftily I’ll say, plays along, trying to give non-answers to the questions in hopes of drawing out more information from Peter. Eventually, Peter seems to realize that Ted doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and discontinues the conversation. As he runs out, he shouts back to Ted “I know who you are. I know who you really are!”
The mystery being built up seems interesting enough, although the characters are a bit flat. This is often the case, I’ve seen, with this 1950’s pulp sci-fi. Which has unfortunately had far-reaching impacts on the genre even to this day. Even genre novels with really rich characters (ASoIaF, Watchmen/Sandman) are sort of relegated to the side based on their association with older conceptions of these genres.
By this I don’t mean to suggest that I dislike these novels, certainly they’re interesting, but they are in many ways decidedly pulp, and it seems as though the standards for them are pretty low in terms of writing quality and character depth.
We’re presented with an interesting scene in which two of the clay dolls that Peter is playing with come to life. Later he makes reference to creating golems, so I’m going to assume this is related.
Also, Ted’s returned to Millgate (after putting his wife up in a nearby town, it sounds like… probably won’t hear from her again…) and is now living in the boarding house which Peter’s mother runs.
Then Ted has a bizarre conversation with Peter, in which this kid shows he definitely knows more than he’s letting on. He confronts Ted with all sorts of strange statements and questions, like “how did you get past the barrier?” and Ted, quite craftily I’ll say, plays along, trying to give non-answers to the questions in hopes of drawing out more information from Peter. Eventually, Peter seems to realize that Ted doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and discontinues the conversation. As he runs out, he shouts back to Ted “I know who you are. I know who you really are!”
The mystery being built up seems interesting enough, although the characters are a bit flat. This is often the case, I’ve seen, with this 1950’s pulp sci-fi. Which has unfortunately had far-reaching impacts on the genre even to this day. Even genre novels with really rich characters (ASoIaF, Watchmen/Sandman) are sort of relegated to the side based on their association with older conceptions of these genres.
By this I don’t mean to suggest that I dislike these novels, certainly they’re interesting, but they are in many ways decidedly pulp, and it seems as though the standards for them are pretty low in terms of writing quality and character depth.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 2
Chapter 2: (TW: For discussion of... gaslighting?)
Have to say, I’m interested in where this one is going.
Ted Barton frantically wanders about this town, trying to ask any of the people present if they remember any of the details of the town he remembers. The townsfolk are understandably bewildered by the frantic urgency of his questions, and every detail of the town he brings up is unknown to them, so for example when he’s looking for the grocery store on Poplar St., they aren’t aware of any Poplar St. at all. In fact, there are people in this town who claim to have been there longer than Ted has been alive. Confused by all of this, Ted checks the local newspaper’s records, finding that the records of his birth are still present… along with the records of his death. Ted suspects false memory implantation, and sets out from there.
I’m impressed with how quickly this story is delivering the stranger elements that Dick is known for. I know the book is not very large, but even so, it feels nice to get the central mystery out in the open so quickly.
That said, I find it a bit funny how quick Ted is willing to jump to ‘false memory implantation’ to explain the anomalies he’s discovered. I mean, that’s most likely the cause at this point, and it is a really uncanny situation to imagine finding oneself in. I guess a part of me would even go to “I’m in purgatory/the afterlife” before I went to “false memory implantation” is all. Then again, we don’t know much about Ted or what sort of embellishments Dick is putting onto this version of the 1950’s. Perhaps in this version, there’s the technology to work with false memories readily available.
short review I know, but the chapter is only about five pages, so there isn't much to work with.
Have to say, I’m interested in where this one is going.
Ted Barton frantically wanders about this town, trying to ask any of the people present if they remember any of the details of the town he remembers. The townsfolk are understandably bewildered by the frantic urgency of his questions, and every detail of the town he brings up is unknown to them, so for example when he’s looking for the grocery store on Poplar St., they aren’t aware of any Poplar St. at all. In fact, there are people in this town who claim to have been there longer than Ted has been alive. Confused by all of this, Ted checks the local newspaper’s records, finding that the records of his birth are still present… along with the records of his death. Ted suspects false memory implantation, and sets out from there.
I’m impressed with how quickly this story is delivering the stranger elements that Dick is known for. I know the book is not very large, but even so, it feels nice to get the central mystery out in the open so quickly.
That said, I find it a bit funny how quick Ted is willing to jump to ‘false memory implantation’ to explain the anomalies he’s discovered. I mean, that’s most likely the cause at this point, and it is a really uncanny situation to imagine finding oneself in. I guess a part of me would even go to “I’m in purgatory/the afterlife” before I went to “false memory implantation” is all. Then again, we don’t know much about Ted or what sort of embellishments Dick is putting onto this version of the 1950’s. Perhaps in this version, there’s the technology to work with false memories readily available.
short review I know, but the chapter is only about five pages, so there isn't much to work with.
Cosmic Puppets, Chapter 1
So not much to go on initially. This chapter opens up with a scene of children playing with clay. One of the children, Peter Trilling, is not so much interested in this activity and seems like he’s pretty regularly not let in on the reindeer games. A doctor named Meade arrives and picks up his child Mary. Suddenly, the chapter shifts to a couple, Peg and Ted Barton, who are on vacation from New York to Ted’s hometown of Millgate, Virginia. Peg is none too happy about this trip, seeming like she’d prefer to stay back in the city.
When the couple arrive in the town, Ted is suddenly struck by an overwhelming sensation that the town they are in is somehow not the Millgate he knows.
So a few notes of analysis on this chapter. First, I notice that this takes place in a “modern day” setting, which was not the case for the other early Dick books I’ve read so far save “Eye in the Sky”. I consider this an improvement over his usual space-opera/pulp scifi settings, as I’ve found Dick’s early futures to be cringe-worthy generally, (I swear, women in these early books sometimes seem as though they may as well have been disembodied sentient breasts for all the lack of attention Dick gives to any other part of their appearance). He seems to excel more in these Twilight Zone type scenarios where something is off-kilter about the normal world. So I’ll just say that the premise of a man returning to his hometown to suddenly be struck by the sensation that it isn’t his town at all hits all the right notes for me. I’m generally a fan of Twilight Zone/Kafkaesque predicaments in which a strange event is thrown into a normally functioning world and the characters just have to accept it. Very Lacanian.
The opening with the group of children playing with clay seems like it’ll be important thematically at the very least. Dick occasionally makes use of multiple viewpoint characters, but I don’t know that that will be the case here. If anything, I feel like the children may play a role similar to the rabbits in Inland Empire, functioning as a sort of silent/thematic greek chorus rather than one which directly parallels the plot. Granted, I’m optimistic that this won’t be the case, as the image of children playing with/shaping clay people seems really blatant and unsubtle in a book called “The Cosmic Puppets”. We will see.
When the couple arrive in the town, Ted is suddenly struck by an overwhelming sensation that the town they are in is somehow not the Millgate he knows.
So a few notes of analysis on this chapter. First, I notice that this takes place in a “modern day” setting, which was not the case for the other early Dick books I’ve read so far save “Eye in the Sky”. I consider this an improvement over his usual space-opera/pulp scifi settings, as I’ve found Dick’s early futures to be cringe-worthy generally, (I swear, women in these early books sometimes seem as though they may as well have been disembodied sentient breasts for all the lack of attention Dick gives to any other part of their appearance). He seems to excel more in these Twilight Zone type scenarios where something is off-kilter about the normal world. So I’ll just say that the premise of a man returning to his hometown to suddenly be struck by the sensation that it isn’t his town at all hits all the right notes for me. I’m generally a fan of Twilight Zone/Kafkaesque predicaments in which a strange event is thrown into a normally functioning world and the characters just have to accept it. Very Lacanian.
The opening with the group of children playing with clay seems like it’ll be important thematically at the very least. Dick occasionally makes use of multiple viewpoint characters, but I don’t know that that will be the case here. If anything, I feel like the children may play a role similar to the rabbits in Inland Empire, functioning as a sort of silent/thematic greek chorus rather than one which directly parallels the plot. Granted, I’m optimistic that this won’t be the case, as the image of children playing with/shaping clay people seems really blatant and unsubtle in a book called “The Cosmic Puppets”. We will see.
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