Julie-Ann
Hey, it looks like Philip K. Dick has a new book out!
…Yes, he passed away several years ago, but you know, V.C. Andrews passed on over a decade ago and has still been releasing about one book a year since.
The book was actually written by his ex-wife, Tessa Dick. Tessa took to putting the story together herself. She started with notebooks left behind by the author as well as her own knowledge of the story gathered from the couple’s three year marriage, and wrote the majority of The Owl in Daylight herself in as close a style to Dick’s as she could replicate.
It should be noted that there will be a movie coming out this year entitled The Owl in Daylight, but don’t think you’re going to be able to fool anyone into thinking you’re a big PKD Reader by just watching the movie like with Total Recall, Blade Runner, and Minority Report. The film with the same title is actually intended to be a biopic with Giammati playing Philp K. Dick.
Tessa actually worries that the film might reduce Philip K. Dick’s complex personality into something of a tragicomic anti-hero, whether this fear proves justified remains to be seen, of course. It’s probably fair to say that Hollywood hasn’t exactly been kind to Dick. As entertaining as the above mentioned films have been, they really do reduce the author’s sometimes convoluted but always fun high concepts into little more than a platform for endless shoot outs and chase scenes.
The plot of the actual novel revolves around a brilliant computer expert who builds an artificial intelligence console in order to run a vast amusement park, only to wind up being trapped inside his own invention, and I bet you all the change in my pocket that the inevitable movie adaptation will climax with the hero duking it out with some baddie atop a neon-lit Ferris Wheel!
Now, if the reviews for this book wind up being largely positive, my advice for Tessa Dick is to capitalize on her ability to mimic famous writers and see if she can get a good job ghostwriting for famous clients!
Reader Comments (1)
I AM a big Philip K. Dick fan and you are absolutely correct in saying that the movies do no justice what-so-ever to Dick's dark and often mischievous creative writing talents.
(Not saying that I didn't enjoy the movies, too: they are entertaining in their own right and Blade Runner (Harrison Ford) is among my all time favourite SF movies!)
But Dick's written word is to be studied and revered and I am interested in seeing what Tessa Dick has done with his work. Thanks for the tip and the review!
GT Bulmer
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