The Penultimate Truth

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening liberation
Review: I am frankly surprised that this book is so little understood. I will grant at the outset that the writing itself is not very distinguished for sophisticated literary palettes--but its greatness lies in the ideas that it casts into the tireless tropes of speculative fiction.

To begin with, he spins a cognitive framework of a world in perpetual war, waged by robots above the surface of the earth which has become too ravaged by radioactivity to support human life. Humans are reduced to living underground in "tanks", subterranean factories whose economy depends upon the constant repair of damaged robot warriors from the surface. The only source of information about this grim cognitive framework pipes in through the Television tube, where a Dear Great Leader sits behind the imposing desk of authority, surrounded by the symbols of state. He prattles about the sacrificies made by the millions surviving in the tanks, he talks about the struggles to build a free society on the surface, the despicable nature of the enemy, the threat to liberty, and so on and so forth. You get the picture. You have heard it yourself on the nightly news for years and years.

So the crisis comes when the chief mechanic for the tank grows desperately ill. Death is certain unless they can obtain an artificial organ transplant. How can they do that? They have no power, no initiatives available in this regard. If he dies, they will fall behind in their quota, their food rations will be cut, the lives of the entire tank are at stake. So in a desperate state they decide to send one of their own to the surface on a quest for an artificial organ. When he makes his way to the surface, he fears instant incineration from the death dealing warrior robots--instead, imagine his surprise as he discovers that the entire planet is a beautiful sunlit garden, inhabited not by fierce warrior robots and smoking ruins, but instead a privileged leisure class served by the robots in luxury, devoting their time to spinning little fearful fictions for the slaves laboring down below...

Recognise this world? You're living in it. For you are either a Yance man--one who writes speeches for the Dear Great Leader--that is to say a wise guy--or a subterranean slave--a know nothing. Which one are you?

Dick's story takes Plato's parable of the Cave and cloaks it in a futuristic scenario. He brings the mystical ideas of the neo-platonists to life. He creates a metaphor for the secret teachings of the Gnostic Christians. He hints that one of the liberating figures of the story, a native American time traveller, may be the second coming of Christ, and implys that Christ may have been a time traveller himself.

These are the grandest notions of bondage by ignorance vs liberation through knowledge, the salvation and healing available through simple practical truths. The story demonstrates clearly the workings of the "Authoritarian Mind", using fear, mystification, mythification,and reification to control the common man in his inherent ignorance-- and contrasts them with historical figures of liberation, who combated ignorance with knowledge and enlightenment. The title, and the story, begs the question, never answered...since it purports to reveal the Penultimate Truth, what is the revelation of the Ultimate Truth?

Rating:
Summary: better than it is often given credit for in critical review
Review: I do not understand why this novel fell from grace. In the body of Dick's novels it is more intense and varied than most. I remember immediately liking it when I first read it in the 1970s - in fact it probably went a long way to starting my life-long love of PKD's works. The idea of someone burying artefacts to make it look like Earth once had alien invaders - well, visitors anyway - is so intriguing. And with PKD's novels you never quite know if there won't actually be a twist in which alien invaders - visitors, I mean - turn up. But PKD has a different surprising twist in store for us! Perhsps this is what disappointed some reviewers - they felt a bit let down by there not actually being any invaders. But for me it is the levels of reality that are of interest - the reality of life in the tanks, the reality of life above - and how these realities are perceived by both populations. Joseph Adams is the archetypal PKD underman, but there is more variety in the other characters than often appears in PKD novels - especially David Lantano, but also Verne Lindblom.

For this novel I recommend ignoring the critics and their nitpicking about grammar which never offended me in the slightest. Go ahead and read - I think you will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic premise, intriguing moments...but incomprehensible
Review: Philip K. Dick (PKD) certainly wrote a lot of very original science fiction novels and short stories. Unfortunately much of works is decidedly uneven. 'The Pentultimate Truth' is not one of PKD's better works, but it does have its moments.

The story has a great premise. WW III has come, and the populace is driven underground to work as slave labour for the war effort. But after fifteen years the folks underground are being pushed to the limit and the truth comes out about what is happening on the surface ... and it isn't what they thought (of course). PKD does a fine job with the overall plotting and his observations of human greed for power and how the media can distort reality are brilliant. But sadly, PKD clutters up the story with too much techno verbage and confusing banter between the characters.

Bottom line: intriguing, diverting, but often times confusing. For PKD fans only.