Mary and the Giant

On the back cover it says "Mary Anne Reynolds is one of the most convincing and sympathetic characters Dick ever created." That sentence fills me with dread, because Mary Anne is one of the worst characters I've ever come across in a book. She has all the symptoms of a psychopath. She's selfish, manipulative and really rude to everyone she doesn't need at the moment. And she uses people to get what she wants, all the time. So if this person is "the most convincing and sypathetic" then I don't think I want to know the other ones.

Interesting viewpoint on the issues of race and gender in the 1950s. Very interesting to read non-sci-fi fiction by PKD. Anticlimatic conclusion, but I guess that was the point. Definitely shows the limited options and other hurdles in women's lives during that time.

Mary and the Giant was written by Philip K. Dick when he was in his 20s, but he could never find a publisher for it. It was published by his estate after his death. It is one of his many attempts to write “mainstream fiction,” rather than the science fiction that he was known for producing.

Mary and the Giant provides a good example of writing that proves Dick could write “normal” books, and write them well. The protagonist is a young woman, which is a change from his usual male characters. My only complaint about the story is that Dick seemed to share the view of the time period that all young women are neurotic until they have a baby and settle down.

It's understandable why Dick couldn't get this published. Still, it serves as an interesting companion piece to his later work. From a biographical perspective, it's invaluable. As a piece of fiction, however, it suffers many flaws.

Uma obra que se apresenta como uma ruptura do que era o género que este autor nos apresentou na sua carreira, mas que na sua essência traz uma ênfase dramática sobre o crescimento da personagem principal, Mary, com 20 anos, que nos transmite uma angst tão intensa e poderosa quanto os filmes dramáticos da década de 50, brilhantemente retratada neste livro.
Mary tem um pai que foi um pouco longe de mais com ela, é poderosa, decidida e não decidida e vive dramaticamente cada dia sem saber o que quer, mas como conhecimento de Joseph Schilling como de loja de música e um negro, a vida dela desenrola-se e a transforma-se até ela se conseguir libertar dela própria e das paranóias e medos que a atormentam diariamente.
Não Sf mas um show more drama de época soberbo. show less

Mary Anne Reynolds es una joven vulnerable que está decidida a abrirse paso en la vida a su manera, pero Pacific Park, a principios de los años cincuenta, con su rígida actitud moralista respecto a las costumbres sexuales y sus prejuicios raciales, no ofrece muchas oportunidades ni tampoco le permite mucha libertad de movimiento.