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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Hidden Gem., 4 Jan 2007
Philip K Dick craved status as one of literature's great novelists, he wrote numerous 'mainstream' novels which, in his early years, publishers wouldn't even touch. It was when he was writing SF that his extaordinary mind was set free.
He was fascinated by psychology and theology and has many strange beliefs and theories, and coupled with many inexplicable visions that plagued him throughout his life, his work was unlike anything else at the time.
Ostensibly, Dick's works are obviously SF, dealing with androids, aliens, robots, natural disasters, moons, planets etc. but they go so much deeper. The SF element takes a back seat to the story and serves merely as a backdrop for Dick's imagination to run free and a tool for him to manipulate his characters and beliefs (and some cases for his characters to manipulate himself!).
The Galactic Pot Healer is no different. (I got there eventually!)
On the surface it's the story of Joe Fernwright in a drab dystopian Earth scraping an existence from the fast-declining business brought in by his talent for fixing ceramics. He receives stange messages from a creature calling itelf 'Glimmung' summoning him to help raise the underwater ruins of a cathedral on an alien world. However, if you read between the lines and look a little deeper.....well, that would be telling wouldn't it!
It's slow, yet oddly captivating story and one of my favourites of Dick's works. It's not a very good place to start if you're new to him; you'd best go for 'Ubik' or 'Do Androids Dream....'. If you're familiar with his works then go for it; this as a fantastic story, it's short but sweet too at 180 ish pages. I loved it, it's up there with his big five in my opinion; 'Main in the High Castle', 'Ubik', 'A Scanner Darkly', 'Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' & 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'.
The last three words are absolutely punishing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
just plain wierd, 24 Jul 2007
it's probably an atheistical kind of thing, by which PKD was attempting to make belief appear foolish and grotesque, however this novel has extraordinary symbolism that makes it a stand out. the plot concerns a God-like creature that calls a 'pot-healer', or ceramic repair man, to serve in raising his cathedral from the sea, in exchange for happiness and fulfillment. he then travels across the universe and encounters lots of other creatures who have also been called and they form a society on the God-creature's home world. A reflection of his perception of faith? there is absolutely no way to tell.
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The next Dick book that should be a film, 27 Sep 2002
I lent this book out years ago, along with too many other Dick books, it's time to have it back again.The game that the hero plays is now a reality, I've kinda played it myself. I don't read sci-fi - Dick is not sci-fi. Any man who can create the word "kipple" which belongs in the OED knows life too well. Just because he was whacked out on speed does not diminish the way the trivial can be the most fundamental. He has got a handle on contemporary life, more praise to him that it was all so many years ago. 1987 was a long time ago but you will enjoy seeing what he saw. This was the second Dick book I ever read. Some of his books are much better than others, this is a good one. I still puzzle over the futility of mighty undertakings. Maybe this could be a film one day - they've all been good but "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is so much better than "Blade Runner. Drop your pre-conceptions, it's funny and thrilling and challenging. That's why I'm buying it again..
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