The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick transports us to a life on Mars almost as terrible as remaining here. Read my review.

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The Barbie Doll of Sci-Fi

Who knows if Philip K. Dick ever heard of Barbie (the doll premiered at the 1959 American International Toy Fair in New York City), but Perky Pat and Walt certainly do bring the long-lived fashion toy and her consort Ken to mind. In PKD’s imaginative version of a toy, Perky Pat and her products become the focus of a drug-induced simulacrum affording dispirited colonists throughout the solar system relief from their dreary lives. Can-D is the drug smuggled onto the colonies by the company that markets Perky Pat Layouts and which holds a monopoly on this sort of escapism. That is until Palmer Eldritch appears and sells a rival and more deep acting drug, one that doesn’t require a layout, that is more free form, called Chew-Z. It’s through this vehicle that PKD has his protagonist, precog Barney Mayerson, explore the meaning of religious experience and the existence of a god, while he uses it to correct the mistakes he’s made in his life, primarily his cynical divorce from his wife Emily in pursuit of success in the Perky Pat Layout company.

All this unfolds in a typically dystopian Dick world. Earth has become almost too hot for human life. People cannot walk safely outside, and when they do they must wear special thermal gear. In this future, Antarctica has transformed into a temperate locale and vacation spot for the wealthy. People live in apartments ranked ordered to show status, numbered from one to the thousands starting in New York. Typical of Dick, some people, known as precogs, such as Barney, possess the ability to see into the future. Earth has colonized the entire solar system, conscripts people to populate them, because life in the colonies is hard, isolated, and grubby. One world government, the U.N., presides over all, but leaders are mercenary and it’s the rich who really wield the power with influence and money. As for religion, these tend to be more cultish, such as the Neo-Christianity of the Anne Hawthorne, who helps Barney while in the throes of Chew-Z. And Earth has made contact with civilizations beyond, here Proxima.

The storyline is fairly straightforward, but the conclusion, in PKD fashion, is ambiguous. Leo Bulero founded and runs Perky Pat Layouts. Barney serves as his chief precog, reviewing and picking out all of Pat’s accessories with an eye to maximizing popularity and profits. Bulero also operates an illegal drug business located on Venus, where it manufactures a chewable hallucinate called Can-D and smuggles it to the colonies. The drug, consumed by groups of people in the presence of a Perky Pat layout, allows them to escape to a world reminiscent of an older Earth. To enhance the experience, they buy all manner of items, from cars to tableware, to create realistic layouts, these the source, along with Can-D, of Bulero’s prosperity.

Palmer Eldritch throws Bulero’s and Mayerson’s world into disarray when his rocket crashes on Pluto, either fleeing or leaving the alien Prox system, where he has lived for a decade. Previous to the crash, he has laid the groundwork for distributing a new and more powerful drug, one that does not require a layout, call Chew-Z. Financially threatened, Bulero concocts a plan to neutralize Eldritch, but soon finds himself infused with Chew-Z and trapped in a hallucinatory world also occupied by Eldritch. He tries to enlist Barney’s help in freeing himself. Barney doesn’t, and decides to give all up in despair over his mistakes with Emily. Soon to be drafted for the colonies, he enlists and ends up on Mars. There he too becomes ensnared by Chew-Z and Eldritch. In the end, while exploring the meaning of religion and his mistakes, he seems to escape the hold of Chew-Z, but not entirely. Bulero, who it seems is destined to kill Eldritch, appears to have succeeded, though it may well be the truth he exists in a simulacrum world created by Eldritch to perpetuate his own life.

A Nebula nominated novel, it twists and turns so that in the end the reader, like the characters, find it challenging separating imagined from real. ( )

The Barbie Doll of Sci-Fi

Who knows if Philip K. Dick ever heard of Barbie (the doll premiered at the 1959 American International Toy Fair in New York City), but Perky Pat and Walt certainly do bring the long-lived fashion toy and her consort Ken to mind. In PKD’s imaginative version of a toy, Perky Pat and her products become the focus of a drug-induced simulacrum affording dispirited colonists throughout the solar system relief from their dreary lives. Can-D is the drug smuggled onto the colonies by the company that markets Perky Pat Layouts and which holds a monopoly on this sort of escapism. That is until Palmer Eldritch appears and sells a rival and more deep acting drug, one that doesn’t require a layout, that is more free form, called Chew-Z. It’s through this vehicle that PKD has his protagonist, precog Barney Mayerson, explore the meaning of religious experience and the existence of a god, while he uses it to correct the mistakes he’s made in his life, primarily his cynical divorce from his wife Emily in pursuit of success in the Perky Pat Layout company.

All this unfolds in a typically dystopian Dick world. Earth has become almost too hot for human life. People cannot walk safely outside, and when they do they must wear special thermal gear. In this future, Antarctica has transformed into a temperate locale and vacation spot for the wealthy. People live in apartments ranked ordered to show status, numbered from one to the thousands starting in New York. Typical of Dick, some people, known as precogs, such as Barney, possess the ability to see into the future. Earth has colonized the entire solar system, conscripts people to populate them, because life in the colonies is hard, isolated, and grubby. One world government, the U.N., presides over all, but leaders are mercenary and it’s the rich who really wield the power with influence and money. As for religion, these tend to be more cultish, such as the Neo-Christianity of the Anne Hawthorne, who helps Barney while in the throes of Chew-Z. And Earth has made contact with civilizations beyond, here Proxima.

The storyline is fairly straightforward, but the conclusion, in PKD fashion, is ambiguous. Leo Bulero founded and runs Perky Pat Layouts. Barney serves as his chief precog, reviewing and picking out all of Pat’s accessories with an eye to maximizing popularity and profits. Bulero also operates an illegal drug business located on Venus, where it manufactures a chewable hallucinate called Can-D and smuggles it to the colonies. The drug, consumed by groups of people in the presence of a Perky Pat layout, allows them to escape to a world reminiscent of an older Earth. To enhance the experience, they buy all manner of items, from cars to tableware, to create realistic layouts, these the source, along with Can-D, of Bulero’s prosperity.

Palmer Eldritch throws Bulero’s and Mayerson’s world into disarray when his rocket crashes on Pluto, either fleeing or leaving the alien Prox system, where he has lived for a decade. Previous to the crash, he has laid the groundwork for distributing a new and more powerful drug, one that does not require a layout, call Chew-Z. Financially threatened, Bulero concocts a plan to neutralize Eldritch, but soon finds himself infused with Chew-Z and trapped in a hallucinatory world also occupied by Eldritch. He tries to enlist Barney’s help in freeing himself. Barney doesn’t, and decides to give all up in despair over his mistakes with Emily. Soon to be drafted for the colonies, he enlists and ends up on Mars. There he too becomes ensnared by Chew-Z and Eldritch. In the end, while exploring the meaning of religion and his mistakes, he seems to escape the hold of Chew-Z, but not entirely. Bulero, who it seems is destined to kill Eldritch, appears to have succeeded, though it may well be the truth he exists in a simulacrum world created by Eldritch to perpetuate his own life.

A Nebula nominated novel, it twists and turns so that in the end the reader, like the characters, find it challenging separating imagined from real. ( )

It is the late 21st century. Everyone is subject to being drafted by the United Nations, the rulers of Earth. These draftees are not sent to fight in some foreign war. Instead, they are sent on a one-way trip to a human colony on Mars or Ganymede. These are not tall, square-jawed adventurers boldly spreading mankind throughout the solar system.

The only way to relieve the dead-end existence on Mars is with a hallucinogenic drug called Can-D. It transports the user into the idyllic world of a Barbie-like character called Perky Pat. A man named Palmer Eldritch has just returned from a decade-long trip to Proxima Centauri. He is carrying a much more addictive drug called Chew-Z. It promises to get the user closer to God, but in a world controlled by Eldritch.

For those who have never read Philip K. Dick, be prepared for a wild ride. It will take some effort on the part of the reader; parts of it might not be easy to understand. Stick with it; the story is very much worth it. For those who are familiar with Dick's writing, enjoy yourselves. ( )

Very bizarre ( )