| | A Writer's Reflections:Philip K. Dick,
1928 - 1982
on the cover of a 1987 edition of his 1959 novel Time Out of Joint: 
Cover art by Barclay Shaw reprinted
from an earlier (1984) edition
Philip K. Dick as a
window wraith (see below) The above illustration was suggested by yesterday's quoted New Yorker characterization by Adam Gopnik of Philip K. Dick-- "...
the kind of guy who can't drink one cup of coffee without drinking six,
and then stays up all night to tell you what Schopenhauer really said
and how it affects your understanding of Hitchcock and what that had to
do with Christopher Marlowe." -- as well as by the illustrations of Gopnik's characterization in Kernel of Eternity, and by the following passage from Gopnik's 2005 novel The King in the Window: "What's a window wraith?"
"It's
someone who once lived in the ordinary world who lives now in a window,
and makes reflections of the people who pass by and look in."
"You mean you are a ghost?!" Oliver asked, suddenly feeling a little terrified.
"Just the opposite, actually. You see, ghosts come from another world and haunt you, but window wraiths are the world. We're the memory of the world. We're here for good. You're the ones who come and go like ghosts. You haunt us."
Related material: As noted, Kernel of Eternity, and also John Tierney's piece on simulated reality in last night's online New York Times.
Whether our everyday reality is merely a simulation has long been a
theme (as in Dick's novel above) of speculative fiction. Interest in
this theme is widespread, perhaps partly because we do exist as
simulations-- in the minds of other people. These simulations may be
accurate or may be-- as is perhaps Gopnik's characterization of
Philip K. Dick-- inaccurate. The accuracy of the simulations is seldom
of interest to the simulator, but often of considerable interest to the
simulatee.
The cover of the Aug. 20 New Yorker in which the Adam Gopnik essay appears may also be of interest, in view of the material on diagonals in the Log24 entries of Aug. 1 linked to in yesterday's entry:
"Summer Reading,"
by Joost Swarte
|
| | Posted 8/14/2007 12:00 PM - 0 comments
Give eProps or Post a Comment |
