The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
 | von Philip K. Dick
ISBN: 0679734449 |
Love, Death, and PKD
TTA has very little to do with either Valis or the Divine Invasion, despite it supposedly being the third in the Valis Trilogy. 'The Owl in Daylight,' the book PKD never wrote, was the third in that trilogy. TTA stands alone.I adore this book; it is simply one of my favourite PKD books. It is about love, empathy, and death. It is part biography of Bishop Pike, but more than that it is a profound study of life and death. The main character, Angel Archer, is one of PKD's best, and truly the best woman ever to inhabit a PKD novel. We have Ursula Le Guin to thank, and least in part, for that. This book is almost completely dialogue, both interior and exterior. The plot means little; it is a cover for the real issues at hand. This is not a biography. The biographical material provides the plot, but this is not where the heart of the novel lies. The best aspect of TTA is the characters: Archer Archer especially, but also Edgar Barefoot. Each character in this book is real, not in the sense that they exist in the real world, but in the sense that they are really real characters (I know this sounds awkward.) It is a book about sadness and pain, but in the end it is about love. Not love as in romantic love, but abstract love, love and understanding for all things. PKD was a truly good-hearted man, and this is the greatest testament to him.
Bizarre
Not for the easily offended Christian. It's an engaging read, though at times it bogs down in its psychological ramblings. Like VALIS & The Divine Invasion, this book examines what we consider to be reality. Radio Free Albumuth is a better examination of the same topic.
The best, and most accessible, of Philip Dick's works.
I had read the first two books in PKD's 'trilogy', and so when I picked ths one up I was expecting another confusing muddle of religion-meets-drugs. I couldn't have been more wrong. While religion and drugs (in this case, a psychedelic mushroom representing both) are a central theme, this book is much more down-to-earth and understandable by the average reader. Gone are the hallucinations, the schizophrenia, the strange futuristic alien settings. What's left is a few average (yet extroardinary) people, struggling to cope with difficult events in their own private ways. This book made me think more than any other book I've ever read, and PKD's message comes across far more clearly than in his other novels, simply because the things in this book could happen to any of us. My all-time favorite novel, and an excellent book no matter what genres you prefer.
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