The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Posted by drteine on March 19, 2009
My reading list is composed of military books, magazines, a thesis on artillery use, and whatever science fiction books I check out from the library. The books I check out are off a Wikipedia list – namely the list of all Hugo & Nebula awardees and nominees. I have quite a long list to finish. I’ve read many of the award winners, but I’ve got a long way to go.
Lately I’ve been reading the classics (1975 or earlier on publish date) and I just finished my 2nd book by Philip K. Dick. The first one I read was the alternate history “The Man in High Castle”, but I’ve seen Dick’s works on the big screen more than I’ve read his works. So now with book number two I have mixed feelings about the fiction. It’s good writing, but the theme of drug use is strong in his books, which I don’t care for. That being said, the concepts he puts in are really good. In the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, it was very slow reading until you understand the scope of what is going on, and, what Palmer Eldritch has become. The control, the menace, and the complete opaqueness of what is reality and what is dream really come through in the last third of the book and I can see why this book was nominated. It is truly alien in concept at times, and also part of a future unlike any that most of us could imagine. And then there is the stigmata themselves which really cement the reading experience. So I’m glad I read it, but I have read better, including the book which won the Nebula award in 1965 which is still one of my all time favorite Science Fiction books.
Dune.
How do you even compete with that? Still, he’s a good writer and I’ll check out some of his other nominated books after I visit some other authors on the list. I’m strongly thinking of picking up the books by George R. R. Martin (Fantasy yes, but he’s been nominated in a few spots) next.
