open

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Forums

You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )
Posting a reply to: Re: The Definitive 1950s Reading Challenge

Back
General Discussion -> Roll-Your-Own Reading Challenge
Guest name
Subject
Message

Emoticons
HTML: Yes
Anonymous: No
MBBS Code: Yes


 Disable HTML
Enable emoticons



You are replying to:
jwharris28
Posted 2015-05-28 7:54 AM (#10640 - in reply to #10637)
Subject: Re: The Definitive 1950s Reading Challenge		Quote Reply



Regular

Posts: 76
25

gallyangel - 2015-05-28 2:06 AM I had the same experience with PKD. When I first read him, didn't get it, didn't like it. No, thank you, I'll read something else. I think I was to young. I think there's an experience of the world factor which comes into play with his work and writing style. And I wasn't ready for it. I've read both Android and High Castle in the last 2-3 years, and I just marvel at them. For a very long time I didn't understand why he was important to SF. I do now.

That's two people who said they might have been too young to enjoy PKD. That's interesting. One criticism of science fiction from the outside world is it's too much for young adults. So maybe PDK is atypical because he's more mature. A lot of science fiction has young people as protagonists, and often PKD had men that were older, often divorced, sometimes with a kid. They were regular guys, struggling with their jobs, dealing with bosses and wives.  I can see where that wouldn't appeal to younger readers. PKD was known as a druggie writer, but often his science fictional drugs were just substitutes for mental illness. There's a lot of mental illness is his stories. I can see where that would be a turn off for young people too.

One reason I've read The Martian Time-Slip several times is because the characters are struggling with mundane real-life problems, even though the setting is Mars. Like Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick's Mars, is just 1950s America transported to another planet. Actually, Bradbury was more of the 1930s America. Dick always reflected the 1950s, and to an extent the 1960s, but mostly he was a 1950s person. His drug use was never psychedelic, but had the feel of troubled people of the 1950s. Y'all might not know this, but the 1950s were obsessed with psychiatry.

 So PKD's work is focused on 1950s mental problems, rather than 1950s dreams of conquering space. 



Edited by jwharris28 2015-05-28 7:55 AM

(Delete all cookies set by this site)