04-26-2022, 12:50 PM
I had never read this one, and I found the Library of America edition in the used bookstore. (It combines this novel with The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Ubik and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - so a good deal, and I had plenty of trade credit.)
I guess you all know the story: an alternative history where Japan and Germany won WWII. More historical now since it takes place in the 1950s. Germany controls what was the eastern US, Japan the West, and there's a bit of the US left in the middle. An author - the "Man" in the title - has written a book where the Allies won the war. Most of the book takes place in San Francisco, and the I Ching gets a lot of mentions; characters consult it and some of the hexagram texts are included.
The writing is uneven; sometimes he omits "the" or "a" from sentences so they don't read well. He does it a lot in the first couple of pages, then only occasionally, but it's annoying every time. Maybe he was really amped up at those times and never went back to edit. At first I wasn't sure where it was going, but the threads around different characters sort of come together. Unfortunately it sort of peters out. There's a big reveal of sorts at the end (I won't spoil it), but it felt somewhat unconvincing.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you want to read all his work. I had wanted to re-read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (that was my favorite) and Ubik but now I'm wondering if I'll be disappointed if I do. On the other hand, some of his short stories are great, and I highly recommend those. (Incidentally, I'd say the same thing of Van Vogt's stories and novels.)
It also reminded me that I used to enjoy the I Ching, although I never learned to do it with the sticks. I'm sure there are newer (maybe more faithful?) translations now, but the old Wilhelm-Baynes text has a lot of power to it.
I guess you all know the story: an alternative history where Japan and Germany won WWII. More historical now since it takes place in the 1950s. Germany controls what was the eastern US, Japan the West, and there's a bit of the US left in the middle. An author - the "Man" in the title - has written a book where the Allies won the war. Most of the book takes place in San Francisco, and the I Ching gets a lot of mentions; characters consult it and some of the hexagram texts are included.
The writing is uneven; sometimes he omits "the" or "a" from sentences so they don't read well. He does it a lot in the first couple of pages, then only occasionally, but it's annoying every time. Maybe he was really amped up at those times and never went back to edit. At first I wasn't sure where it was going, but the threads around different characters sort of come together. Unfortunately it sort of peters out. There's a big reveal of sorts at the end (I won't spoil it), but it felt somewhat unconvincing.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you want to read all his work. I had wanted to re-read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (that was my favorite) and Ubik but now I'm wondering if I'll be disappointed if I do. On the other hand, some of his short stories are great, and I highly recommend those. (Incidentally, I'd say the same thing of Van Vogt's stories and novels.)
It also reminded me that I used to enjoy the I Ching, although I never learned to do it with the sticks. I'm sure there are newer (maybe more faithful?) translations now, but the old Wilhelm-Baynes text has a lot of power to it.
the hands that guide me are invisible