2009-09 Three Stigmata - Final thoughts?

[Ron]

Any final thoughts on "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch"? Thumbs up or down? Is it still relevant? Is reality in the mind of the beholder? Was Pat really all that perky? If two clairvoyants are in a relationship, is there any excuse for forgetting an anniversary? If evolution is accelerated, does it need better brakes? Am I really here, or just in your mind?

[Nick]

Good questions Ron. Better questions than any answer I could give. Except -- naturally it's relevant. A dehumanizing industrialized society whose individuals remain docile because of an administered "happy pill" that erases the bleakness of their otherwise dreary lives -- it's a pretty frightening story to me, because of how close to the truth it comes, even though the message is hidden in this far out futuristic conglomerate of a story. That was what PKD did so well in his writing -- tell these far out tales that rang with a local truth.

[Ron]

Good answer Nick. Indeed it is frightening; and your description makes me want to say, with Homer, "But I LOVE television!"