The Cosmic Puppets in Philip K Dick

Jan 01, 2018 Joseph rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: writer-p-k-dick, novella, read-in-2018

Mankind in a small town caught in the middle of a battle of Cosmic proportions.

I agree with other reviewers that this book feels somewhat different than Dick's other works. It is an early one, originally published in 1957, a rework of an earlier story.

Its entertaining and has a bit of PKD's trademark weirdness. At times, though, it does feel dated and a bit pulpy. I'll give an example.

In one passage Dick describes a female goddess's form after a man helps to transform her as such:

[... hands on ...more

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Jul 20, 2019 Simon rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed, magical-realism, 1950s

Another early Philip K. Dick novel, before he really hit his streak of genius in the 1960s. The plot does not take place in one his trademark dystopian corporatized futures, but instead revolves around a vacationing young businessman and his wife who return to the small town where he grew up... only to find out that it's not the town he remembers. The street layouts are wrong, the look of the buildings are wrong, the names of the streets and the local newspaper are wrong. A look at the local arc Another early Philip K. Dick novel, before he really hit his streak of genius in the 1960s. The plot does not take place in one his trademark dystopian corporatized futures, but instead revolves around a vacationing young businessman and his wife who return to the small town where he grew up... only to find out that it's not the town he remembers. The street layouts are wrong, the look of the buildings are wrong, the names of the streets and the local newspaper are wrong. A look at the local archives also reveal that he supposedly died in childhood as well, in this parallel reality he's entered. Our hero then starts to investigate, and then finds out that the town is the site of a cosmic struggle between greater supernatural forces...

The basic concept for "The Cosmic Puppets" actually predicts the "Mandela Effect" which became all the rage in internet conspiracy circles a while back. (it's quite the rabbithole to go down, on par with Flat Earth theory, if you look at the Reddit forums and Youtube channels devoted to that stuff) More important is the fact that "The Cosmic Puppets" is also one of the earliest occurrences of clear Gnostic Christian themes in Dick's literary output where the physical world's surface appearance is an illusion imposed by a malevolent creator-god... which makes it somewhat odd that Dick here borrows the actual terminology used in the story from Zoroastrianism not Gnosticism.

For the most part, the writing is well above average for early Philip K. Dick novels. The story proceeds at a steadier pace with more thought put into the plot structure and he spends more effort on making the individual characters and their motivations memorable and clearly defined. I definitely enjoyed reading this more than say "Solar Lottery", that is for certain.

I still don't think it's quite on the level of Dick's 1960s books, because the conclusion feels very rushed and ties up the main conflict and all its subplots too quickly. It ends up feeling *too* satisfying and convenient for a story with such a convincing atmosphere of overwhelming cosmic paranoia. Nonetheless, if you want to read an early PKD novel you could definitely do worse than "The Cosmic Puppets". ...more

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May 10, 2012 Jack Stovold rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Philip K. Dick Project #4

Originally published as a novelette “Glass of Darkness”, this is basically Dick’s first science fiction or fantasy novel (although this one is pretty firmly in the fantasy camp). Although I enjoyed Voices from the Street, I was excited to get into more genre territory, and this didn’t disappoint. The tone of this novel shares much more in common with Dick’s short stories than Voices.

In fact, the economy of the writing and the quick pacing make this feel a lot like The Philip K. Dick Project #4

Originally published as a novelette “Glass of Darkness”, this is basically Dick’s first science fiction or fantasy novel (although this one is pretty firmly in the fantasy camp). Although I enjoyed Voices from the Street, I was excited to get into more genre territory, and this didn’t disappoint. The tone of this novel shares much more in common with Dick’s short stories than Voices.

In fact, the economy of the writing and the quick pacing make this feel a lot like a young adult novel. I wish I had come across this when I was a lot younger, because it would undoubtedly be one of those books I would have loved and read repeatedly whenever I needed a dose of some serious weirdness. As it stands now, I can definitely see picking this up on a lazy Sunday. (The book is short enough that it could probably be read in a few hours in one sitting).

The opening third of the book is excellent, as Dick keeps piling on the mysteries and strangeness in brisk little chapters that end on cliffhangers. As soon as The Wanderers appeared, I was hooked. And the layering of realities is very intriguing and phildickian. Dick’s gift for atmosphere is great here. The way he nonchalantly writes such surreal scenes really can grab you and put some great images in your mind.

Characterization is much thinner here than in Voices, but it doesn’t hurt the story much. We know almost nothing about Ted Barton himself, and the casualness with which his wife is expelled from the story is almost comical. But there’s something so likeable about the kind of decent, simple people Dick writes. We don’t always know them very well, but they seem nice enough. I particularly enjoyed Christopher, the town drunk.

Inevitably it is a little disappointing when all of the mysteries get solved and it turns out Millgate is part of an unending cosmic battle. The ending does satisfy, even if it does rely too much on mythological tropes.

All in all, I recommend this book highly. It’s gotten me even more excited about things to come. ...more

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