“You were wrong,” Eldritch said. “I did not find God in the Prox system. But I found something better.” With a
stick he poked at the gluck; it reluctantly withdrew its cilia, and contracted
into itself until at last it was no longer clinging to Leo; it dropped to the
ground and traveled away, as Eldritch continued to prod it. “God,” Eldritch
said, “promises eternal life. I can do better; I can deliver it.”
Philip K. Dick has been amply
celebrated as the best sci-fi writer of all times. And, although I twist my
eyebrow and say "Ok, but Frank Herbert (...)", one must say that K.
Dick was a master at his craft. After all, he did write the book that inspired Blade
Runner, the best movie in History (sorry guys, The Empire Strikes
Back is only second best), as well as many books that inspired other
successful films, but for now let us
focus in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.
"For everyone lost
in the endlessly multiplicating realities of the modern world, remember: Philip
K. Dick got there first." This is the quote by Terry Gilliam displayed in
the cover of the edition I own (SF Masterworks). It would be hard to find
a more appropriate one.
The story runs in a
near future when Earth is colonizing Mars, and using "Evolution
Therapy" to make human brains more advanced (obviously, only available to
whom can afford it). Life for the colonists on Mars isn't easy, so most of them
find escapism in a drug called Can-D. But this is no ordinary drug. Can-D
allows access to controlled environments predefined by layouts (a sort of maquette), which can be shared by several
users (much like nowadays online multiplayer games). Everything seems to be
running smoothly, until the day a man named Palmer Eldritch crashes his ship on
Pluto, after returning from a voyage to the Proxima Centauri system. Something
"out there" may have changed Eldritch, which rapidly starts to
threaten the monopoly of Can-D by sampling a new drug called Chew-Z.
Where exactly ends the
"real" story, and starts the alternate reality (realities)?
Good luck finding out!
The Three
Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch isn't an easily
accessible book to readers not used to hardcore science-fiction. Most will get
lost in the alternating dimensions of the narrative. And that just feels
marvelous. This is not a book about spaceships and laser guns. It is a book
about different struggles, desperation, philosophy, maybe religion, and losing
control.
Barney Mayerson is the "favored
victim" (but not the single one) of K. Dick's ever changing realities. He
works as a sort of market analyst, benefiting from his precog abilities to
assess the futures success of new products. Although
Mayerson has no difficulty in acquiring lovers, he can't stop obsessing with
his ex-wife. The capacity that K. Dick demonstrates in dealing with mundane
human aspects, in a sci-fi novel revolving around countless states of reality,
is astonishing.
Then, you have Palmer Eldritch, the character
that triggers the "translation" that keeps readers twisting the
eyebrows. K. Dick is a trickster; no one is really sure of what is reading.
"Is this the real reality, or is this...? Waaaait... something
doesn't feel right about this..."
It isn't easy to talk
about Palmer Eldritch without making some spoilers, but also because you end
the book without really knowing who (what?) Eldritch is. And I have to
say that is one of the alluring aspects of the story: you're never quite sure
about anything in it. And, as expected, you don't really know how it ends. It
is good, old, philosophical science fiction, allowing open speculation about
almost everything. You never get actually lost in the story (K. Dick was a
master weaver), but it requires your full attention and focus. Otherwise,
you'll be lost in the... "translation".
It
is rather thought-provoking to compare the idea behind the book, published in
1965, with the addiction that today’s communities have with massive multiplayer
online roleplaying games. The allure of immersing oneself in an entire fictional
world, assuming a different persona
(or several), as a way to deny real life itself… Be careful, much like the
ending of Christopher Nolan’s Inception,
you may end up without knowing whether you are dreaming or awaken.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick, USA, 1965
