tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13336104.post115540687104858110..comments2024-01-07T13:24:03.640+00:00Comments on Nothing Tra La La?: More Dick than is good for you0tralalahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06818587472660040921noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13336104.post-1155900482504781762006-08-18T12:28:00.000+01:002006-08-18T12:28:00.000+01:00Martian Time Slip is an interesting one - at least...Martian Time Slip is an interesting one - at least as a period piece, transplanting contemporary society's ills into the not-very-far future of 1994. Central to it is a theory of autism which seems quite bizarre today, but may have been less so then (apparently autism was for some years thought to be a form of schizophrenia).<BR/><BR/>PaulPaul Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04870347889607069551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13336104.post-1155562759755123882006-08-14T14:39:00.000+01:002006-08-14T14:39:00.000+01:00Dick was hugely prolific, but only a small percent...<I>Dick was hugely prolific, but only a small percentage of his many publications are actually any sort of cop.</I><BR/><BR/>...although a surprisingly high percentage are about cops.<BR/><BR/>I don't entirely agree (but then, I wouldn't, being a huge Dick fan). It's perfectly true that a lot of his work consists of cheque-hunting potboilers, but there's usually a streak of sheer inspiration throughout that raises even those books above the formulaic.<BR/><BR/>Genuinely dull Dick books are very rare indeed. In addition to the ones your friend (quite rightly) recommended, I'd say <I>Eye in the Sky</I>, <I>A Maze of Death</I>, <I>We Can Bulid You</I>, <I>Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said</I> and <I>The Transmigration of Timothy Archer</I> are all well worth a read.<BR/><BR/>Of course, if he <I>had</I> been better-edited, and not obliged to churn out quite so much product by his lifestyle and environment, his genius would probably be far more widely recognised, so I'm not necessarily arguing with you there.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the kind comments about the piece.Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08870980082684845846noreply@blogger.com