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Ник и Глиммунг
Недалекое будущее. Земля перенаселена. Правительство ввело жесткие законы против домашних животных. Теперь собаки и кошки запрещены. Семья Ника Грэма не хочет потерять своего черного кота Горация. Они вынуждены эмигрировать во Внешние Миры - на отдаленную Планету Плаумена, которая населена уабами, верджами, спиддлами, нанками, тробами и принтерами. А еще там обитает Глиммунг – зло из глубин выгоревшей мертвой звезды. Глиммунг, который плетет паутину судьбы и из-за которого происходит старение мира.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
8 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Dick
2,006 books22.5k followersPhilip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.
Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.
One of Dick’s most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.
In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.
Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.
Dick’s legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.
Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
March 13, 2017
A cute and strange story set on "Plowman's Planet" (Sirius Five), in the same continuity as his adult SF novel, "Galactic Pot-Healer", intended for a young reader but a fine tale for grown-ups just the same. I wish I had read it (or it had been read to me) when I was about seven or eight so I could know for sure what I would have thought of it during that period of my life. There is nothing as scary or creepy as this in "The Wizard of Oz" or "Alice in Wonderland". It's really out there.
August 5, 2020
This is, unfortunately, my first Philip K. Dick read (I know, shame on me etc), so maybe if I had any familiarity with some of the references to his other works I maybe would have liked it more. Maybe. I'm sad to say that I can't consider PKD's only foray into children's litteratur a success. It's not particularly well written and feels much more dated than it should. I was surprised to see that it came out in the 80s, it feels like it was written in the 50s. I suppose there was supposed to be a bit of a throw back to old pulp sci-fi, either as parody or homage, although it says a lot that I can't quite tell which one.
I've been reading this out loud to my infant son, just for the practice of reading aloud. I'm not sorry to have read this book, but I won't be hanging on to it to re-read to him again when he's old enough to understand.
I've been reading this out loud to my infant son, just for the practice of reading aloud. I'm not sorry to have read this book, but I won't be hanging on to it to re-read to him again when he's old enough to understand.
January 9, 2022
No importa cuál haya sido tu experiencia previa con este género: la ficción científica siempre es capaz de sacarte una sonrisa —y hay muy poca literatura, hoy por hoy, que sea capaz de hacerlo—.
Así como Luciano de Samósata imaginó en el s. II un viaje a la luna en barco, o Verne vislumbró los hologramas en El castillo de los Cárpatos, Philip K. Dick vaticinó, a mediados del s. XX, algunas cosas que ya están con nosotros: ¿una tierra superpoblada donde haya voces de inconformidad hacia las mascotas? ¿Clases virtuales por videollamada? ¿Reconocimiento del valor económico que tendrá el agua potable? Todas son cosas que ahora suenan terriblemente familiares y nos hablan más del tiempo en que fueron descritas que del futuro en sí.
Sí, esta novela para el público juvenil no es lo más logrado de Philip K. Dick, pero es ligera, humorística y tiene algunas criaturas entrañables. Sobre todo, deja en el aire una pregunta sobre la que el autor no deja dudas en su respuesta: ¿Qué estaríamos obligados a hacer por un animal de compañía?
Y en ese sentido, al dar una respuesta tan contundente y por lo bajo, este librito es genial y muy, muy entretenido.
Así como Luciano de Samósata imaginó en el s. II un viaje a la luna en barco, o Verne vislumbró los hologramas en El castillo de los Cárpatos, Philip K. Dick vaticinó, a mediados del s. XX, algunas cosas que ya están con nosotros: ¿una tierra superpoblada donde haya voces de inconformidad hacia las mascotas? ¿Clases virtuales por videollamada? ¿Reconocimiento del valor económico que tendrá el agua potable? Todas son cosas que ahora suenan terriblemente familiares y nos hablan más del tiempo en que fueron descritas que del futuro en sí.
Sí, esta novela para el público juvenil no es lo más logrado de Philip K. Dick, pero es ligera, humorística y tiene algunas criaturas entrañables. Sobre todo, deja en el aire una pregunta sobre la que el autor no deja dudas en su respuesta: ¿Qué estaríamos obligados a hacer por un animal de compañía?
Y en ese sentido, al dar una respuesta tan contundente y por lo bajo, este librito es genial y muy, muy entretenido.
May 11, 2013
My Philip K. Dick Project #40
Entry #40 - Nick and the Glimmung (written Nov. ‘67 - Feb. ‘68, published posthumously June 1988)
Nick and the Glimmung is a charming little anomaly from the world of Philip K. Dick. It’s a children’s book, complete with cute little illustrations! (However, Dick would never have seen these illustrations, as the book was not published or illustrated until several years after his death).
The book begins with a Dick cliché, as young Nick and his family live on an extremely overcrowded Earth in the future. To conserve resources, Draconian measures must be taken. All pets are banned, and students are taught through giant screens by teachers teaching multiple classes simultaneously. Nick secretly owns a little black and white cat named Horace, and after Horace finds his way outside, the Anti-Pet-Men, are out to take him away. Nick’s gallant father refuses to capitulate to the Anti-Pet-Men as a matter of principle, and with their freedom at stake, decides that the family has no choice but to emigrate to another planet.
They choose Plowman’s Planet, a wild frontier, a planet of orange forests, strange creatures, and an ancient war between good and evil. I really enjoyed the funky, yet somehow laid-back atmosphere of Plowman’s Planet. Then again, I’ve always loved stories of children traveling to strange worlds, and mastering them (perhaps my favorite example being Madeleine L’engles’ A Wrinkle in Time).
Right after they arrive on Plowman’s Planet, the first thing they meet is a wub. Dick is at his most playful ever here, wubs having been mentioned off and on, through many of his novels, although always seeming to be different things. There’s also spiddles, six-legged little bush dwellers who have a cute way of speaking (Desperation City!), werjes, ghoulish dragon-like creatures, father-things (from one of Dick’s creepiest old shorts, it was certainly a surprise to see them here), plants that grow into copies of people, like pod-people, basically, and others. Printers, which seem to be one of Dick’s favorite of his own creations, are also mentioned.
And then there’s Glimmung himself, a largely formless, ancient, malevolent evil, engaged in a millennia-old struggle with the printers. Glimmung is inhabiting a Werj, but Nick can somehow see him. Glimmung is after a book, a book that knows both the past and the future, a book that changes. When the book falls into Nick’s hands, it’s up to him to stop Glimmung and save Plowman’s Planet.
It’s a short, entertaining little book that you could easily read in an afternoon. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s some lost classic of children’s literature, but it’s not bad at all. I could see having really enjoyed this had I read it a younger age. Rading it now for the first time, I enjoy it the most for showing us a different, softer side of Philip Dick. His love of cats, for example, pervades this book through Dick’s portrayal of the persnickety Horace. And there still remains Dick’s trademark mixture of humor, and horror, albeit in a softer way. And the mystery of it all, the Printers, the ancient war, the Father-things, and most of all Glimmung himself, who even when he appears, is shimmering, somewhat formed, but somehow not. Dick describes this evocatively.
Unfortunately, Nick and the Glimmung is not too common, so it can be a bit pricey. If you’re looking to read Dick’s classics, it might be skippable. But if you want to see one more of his many sides, I recommend it highly. Also, I think it would be a great read for a child, perhaps one that you want to introduce PKD to. It’s a shame that Dick never tried to write anymore like this one. It’s a very nice, refreshing counterpart to many of his darker, heavier stories.
Stray thoughts:
Also, the illustrations by Paul Demeyer are very cute, and match the tone of this book perfectly. I’ve heard a later edition has different illustrations, it might be worth checking out.
My edition: Pan Books, Piper Edition, 1990 softcover
Up next: Galactic Pot-Healer!
Entry #40 - Nick and the Glimmung (written Nov. ‘67 - Feb. ‘68, published posthumously June 1988)
Nick and the Glimmung is a charming little anomaly from the world of Philip K. Dick. It’s a children’s book, complete with cute little illustrations! (However, Dick would never have seen these illustrations, as the book was not published or illustrated until several years after his death).
The book begins with a Dick cliché, as young Nick and his family live on an extremely overcrowded Earth in the future. To conserve resources, Draconian measures must be taken. All pets are banned, and students are taught through giant screens by teachers teaching multiple classes simultaneously. Nick secretly owns a little black and white cat named Horace, and after Horace finds his way outside, the Anti-Pet-Men, are out to take him away. Nick’s gallant father refuses to capitulate to the Anti-Pet-Men as a matter of principle, and with their freedom at stake, decides that the family has no choice but to emigrate to another planet.
They choose Plowman’s Planet, a wild frontier, a planet of orange forests, strange creatures, and an ancient war between good and evil. I really enjoyed the funky, yet somehow laid-back atmosphere of Plowman’s Planet. Then again, I’ve always loved stories of children traveling to strange worlds, and mastering them (perhaps my favorite example being Madeleine L’engles’ A Wrinkle in Time).
Right after they arrive on Plowman’s Planet, the first thing they meet is a wub. Dick is at his most playful ever here, wubs having been mentioned off and on, through many of his novels, although always seeming to be different things. There’s also spiddles, six-legged little bush dwellers who have a cute way of speaking (Desperation City!), werjes, ghoulish dragon-like creatures, father-things (from one of Dick’s creepiest old shorts, it was certainly a surprise to see them here), plants that grow into copies of people, like pod-people, basically, and others. Printers, which seem to be one of Dick’s favorite of his own creations, are also mentioned.
And then there’s Glimmung himself, a largely formless, ancient, malevolent evil, engaged in a millennia-old struggle with the printers. Glimmung is inhabiting a Werj, but Nick can somehow see him. Glimmung is after a book, a book that knows both the past and the future, a book that changes. When the book falls into Nick’s hands, it’s up to him to stop Glimmung and save Plowman’s Planet.
It’s a short, entertaining little book that you could easily read in an afternoon. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s some lost classic of children’s literature, but it’s not bad at all. I could see having really enjoyed this had I read it a younger age. Rading it now for the first time, I enjoy it the most for showing us a different, softer side of Philip Dick. His love of cats, for example, pervades this book through Dick’s portrayal of the persnickety Horace. And there still remains Dick’s trademark mixture of humor, and horror, albeit in a softer way. And the mystery of it all, the Printers, the ancient war, the Father-things, and most of all Glimmung himself, who even when he appears, is shimmering, somewhat formed, but somehow not. Dick describes this evocatively.
Unfortunately, Nick and the Glimmung is not too common, so it can be a bit pricey. If you’re looking to read Dick’s classics, it might be skippable. But if you want to see one more of his many sides, I recommend it highly. Also, I think it would be a great read for a child, perhaps one that you want to introduce PKD to. It’s a shame that Dick never tried to write anymore like this one. It’s a very nice, refreshing counterpart to many of his darker, heavier stories.
Stray thoughts:
Also, the illustrations by Paul Demeyer are very cute, and match the tone of this book perfectly. I’ve heard a later edition has different illustrations, it might be worth checking out.
My edition: Pan Books, Piper Edition, 1990 softcover
Up next: Galactic Pot-Healer!
November 8, 2018
A kids Dick book! What could be more fun! He should have done more. Kids would love to make Dick jokes from his name, which, of course, us adults would never do!
Not nearly as thought-provoking as his books for adults, this is still fun. Reminds me of Coraline or the film MirrorMask or the kids books of James Thurber. I would have loved this as a kid.
The basic story is of a family that has to leave an overcrowded Earth or else give up their pet cat, Horace. (Another reviewer says that Horace may be the most realistic character PKD ever created, and that might very well be true!) The planet they pick is the same one as in Galactic Pot-Healer. (Odd book title, as common for PKD, but not a bad book.)
This being PKD, it also has flaws. The aliens on "Plowman's Planet" have some stupid names -- "werj", "trobes", "wubs", "spiddles", "nunks", "father-things" -- and they can all speak, even if otherwise resembling bats or mice. There is a book that con tell the entire history of the planet, even into the future, and changes each time you read it, yet it has only 45 pages. There are ideas that are started but never lead anywhere, such as the "father-thing" alien that makes a perfect copy of the hero, Nick, which then plays no further role in the story. Kids in school are being taught a less on "How does one fight his way aboard a bus?", which is funny, but not realistic.
Anyway, still totally fun, especially for kids.
PS: One of the ideas in this book was developed separately as the short story The Father-Thing.
Not nearly as thought-provoking as his books for adults, this is still fun. Reminds me of Coraline or the film MirrorMask or the kids books of James Thurber. I would have loved this as a kid.
The basic story is of a family that has to leave an overcrowded Earth or else give up their pet cat, Horace. (Another reviewer says that Horace may be the most realistic character PKD ever created, and that might very well be true!) The planet they pick is the same one as in Galactic Pot-Healer. (Odd book title, as common for PKD, but not a bad book.)
This being PKD, it also has flaws. The aliens on "Plowman's Planet" have some stupid names -- "werj", "trobes", "wubs", "spiddles", "nunks", "father-things" -- and they can all speak, even if otherwise resembling bats or mice. There is a book that con tell the entire history of the planet, even into the future, and changes each time you read it, yet it has only 45 pages. There are ideas that are started but never lead anywhere, such as the "father-thing" alien that makes a perfect copy of the hero, Nick, which then plays no further role in the story. Kids in school are being taught a less on "How does one fight his way aboard a bus?", which is funny, but not realistic.
Anyway, still totally fun, especially for kids.
PS: One of the ideas in this book was developed separately as the short story The Father-Thing.
May 26, 2023
Yo también haría lo que fuera por mis gatos. Ciudad empática
Read
November 5, 201819 these bands - hands
67 Glimmung bad - had
Neat to get more of a view of one of Dick's worlds. Usually the plot implodes into some character's psyche too much to experience the exterior setting
But it wasn't like most Dick plots where the antagonist is unclear, take for example Glimmung's appearence in Galactic Pot Healer where Glimmung is an antagonist only insofar as his motives are truly alien. This mostly comes out in the final pages when the Nick-thing gives Nick back his cat & walks off into the sunset
The chapter featuring the anti-pet man was most amusing
67 Glimmung bad - had
Neat to get more of a view of one of Dick's worlds. Usually the plot implodes into some character's psyche too much to experience the exterior setting
But it wasn't like most Dick plots where the antagonist is unclear, take for example Glimmung's appearence in Galactic Pot Healer where Glimmung is an antagonist only insofar as his motives are truly alien. This mostly comes out in the final pages when the Nick-thing gives Nick back his cat & walks off into the sunset
The chapter featuring the anti-pet man was most amusing
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2021
Philip K. Dick wrote a grade school book. That's nuts.
Nick and the Glimmung is a short, entertaining little book that you could easily read in an afternoon. I wouldn’t say it’s some lost classic of children’s literature, but it’s not bad. I could see having really enjoyed this had I read it at a younger age. Reading it now for the first time, I enjoy it the most for showing us a different, softer side of Philip Dick.
The writing is simple and charming, but there is still a serious undercurrent of adult themes for kids to ponder. Plus there are some big vocabulary-building words to learn. It's not perfect, The plot is pretty contrived and the characters are pretty flat, but it makes up for that by being whimsical and exciting.
It was interesting to see PKD write for a younger audience while still holding true to his style and themes.
Nick and the Glimmung is a short, entertaining little book that you could easily read in an afternoon. I wouldn’t say it’s some lost classic of children’s literature, but it’s not bad. I could see having really enjoyed this had I read it at a younger age. Reading it now for the first time, I enjoy it the most for showing us a different, softer side of Philip Dick.
The writing is simple and charming, but there is still a serious undercurrent of adult themes for kids to ponder. Plus there are some big vocabulary-building words to learn. It's not perfect, The plot is pretty contrived and the characters are pretty flat, but it makes up for that by being whimsical and exciting.
It was interesting to see PKD write for a younger audience while still holding true to his style and themes.
May 30, 2010
P.K.D. for Y.A.s! Young adults that is! How weird is that? That itself sounds like a P.K.D. premise, and what made this book even more of a delight was that it served as (juvenile) elaboration of "Galactic Pot Healer" offering more clear details about the beings of, and doings on, Plowman's Planet. And in another way it was a (juvenile) reiteration of "Galactic Pot Healer" though Dick's intended "message" if there is one, still seems vague and curious. Maybe I need to ponder it more, and/or reread these books...
And it was of course very interesting to see Dick write for a younger audience, (very well, I think) while still holding true to his style and themes.
And it was of course very interesting to see Dick write for a younger audience, (very well, I think) while still holding true to his style and themes.
April 28, 2017
Philip K. Dick was, in perhaps the most literal sense ever, a lunatic. I mean no disrespect, but he spent a long stretch of time believing that voices from outer space were communicating with (or perhaps through) him, and amazingly chose to cope with this delusion (which maybe he came to recognize as such) by writing. Writing a lot. Writing so much that much of his work comes to us posthumously. And it's good, too--his writing is so good that it's been adapted for movies over and over and over again, and it's eminently readable and thought-provoking in a drugged-out sort of urgent-but-spacey "what is reality, really?" way. It's not a parody or an oversimplification of that "moon child" style which so much pop culture loves to latch onto, but rather a very stark and challenging sort of meta-cognitive exploration of truth and objectivity.
And this guy went and wrote a YA book, a sci-fi story for children.
Buckle up, buckaroo. It's a wild ride.
4 stars out of 5. It's so hard to separate the work from the author in a case like PKD's: underappreciated (and underpaid) in his lifetime, it's easy to put on those rose-tinted glasses and overvalue his work now, in retrospect. But I believe if you were to pick this title up "blind", without foreknowledge of its author, then the story would stand capably on its own merits. Especially for a pre-teen audience with a budding interest in space and sci-fi. What's it like? It's kind of like a fable made up of the best parts of A Wrinkle in Time blended with the Jim Hensen movie Labyrinth. The writing is simple and charming, befitting a younger audience, but there is still a serious undercurrent of important adult themes for adolescents to ponder plus some big vocabulary-building words to learn. It's not perfect; the plot is pretty contrived and the characters are pretty flat. But it makes up for that by being whimsical and exciting. Really, it's everything a young adult book is supposed to be.
(Read in 2017, the fourteenth book in my Alphabetical Reading Challenge)
SIDE NOTE: the version I read, the 2015 edition published in Great Britain by Gollancz, is sadly riddled with typos.
And this guy went and wrote a YA book, a sci-fi story for children.
Buckle up, buckaroo. It's a wild ride.
4 stars out of 5. It's so hard to separate the work from the author in a case like PKD's: underappreciated (and underpaid) in his lifetime, it's easy to put on those rose-tinted glasses and overvalue his work now, in retrospect. But I believe if you were to pick this title up "blind", without foreknowledge of its author, then the story would stand capably on its own merits. Especially for a pre-teen audience with a budding interest in space and sci-fi. What's it like? It's kind of like a fable made up of the best parts of A Wrinkle in Time blended with the Jim Hensen movie Labyrinth. The writing is simple and charming, befitting a younger audience, but there is still a serious undercurrent of important adult themes for adolescents to ponder plus some big vocabulary-building words to learn. It's not perfect; the plot is pretty contrived and the characters are pretty flat. But it makes up for that by being whimsical and exciting. Really, it's everything a young adult book is supposed to be.
(Read in 2017, the fourteenth book in my Alphabetical Reading Challenge)
SIDE NOTE: the version I read, the 2015 edition published in Great Britain by Gollancz, is sadly riddled with typos.
January 16, 2025
"This was once a happy place before Glimmung came. He came here slowly by small stealthy steps, one after another. There was no particular exact time when he entered our world. We became aware of him gradually."
In the early years of the twenty-first century, it is illegal for anyone to own pets. When the anti-pet man comes to take Nick's cat Horace away, Nick's father uproots the family with the declaration they are all emigrating to Plowman's Planet to start a new life…
When they arrive at their homestead, however, it is far from the bastion of peace and plenty they were expecting. Plowman's Planet is filled with strange, sometime dangerous semi-sentient species embroiled in a global conflagration: wubs, werjes, klakes, trobes, printers, spiddles, and father-things.
Worst of all is Glimmung, a parasite that has possessed a werj and is angling for complete planetary conquest.
Nick comes into possession of a strange book written by Glimmung— “the book that changes every time it’s read” — that may be the key to victory. To use it, he must first survive the dangers of this hostile world, including a father-thing that has assumed his likeness and wants to replace him… permanently!
Philip K. Dick wrote this fun, fast-paced children's novel in 1966 but was not able to get it published during his lifetime. He reused some of the aliens from his short stories, including the funny wubs and the nefarious father-things. He liked the milieu so much that he set his 1969 adult novel The Galactic Pot-Healer on the same planet.
I listened to the audiobook which features lively narration from Nick Podehl.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
In the early years of the twenty-first century, it is illegal for anyone to own pets. When the anti-pet man comes to take Nick's cat Horace away, Nick's father uproots the family with the declaration they are all emigrating to Plowman's Planet to start a new life…
When they arrive at their homestead, however, it is far from the bastion of peace and plenty they were expecting. Plowman's Planet is filled with strange, sometime dangerous semi-sentient species embroiled in a global conflagration: wubs, werjes, klakes, trobes, printers, spiddles, and father-things.
Worst of all is Glimmung, a parasite that has possessed a werj and is angling for complete planetary conquest.
Nick comes into possession of a strange book written by Glimmung— “the book that changes every time it’s read” — that may be the key to victory. To use it, he must first survive the dangers of this hostile world, including a father-thing that has assumed his likeness and wants to replace him… permanently!
Philip K. Dick wrote this fun, fast-paced children's novel in 1966 but was not able to get it published during his lifetime. He reused some of the aliens from his short stories, including the funny wubs and the nefarious father-things. He liked the milieu so much that he set his 1969 adult novel The Galactic Pot-Healer on the same planet.
I listened to the audiobook which features lively narration from Nick Podehl.
Highly recommended.
4 stars
March 9, 2023
PKD YA fiction, composed early in his career but only published posthumously. This was one of the few PKD works we had not read.
What starts out with some odd and childish non sequiturs eventually evolves into a cosmic plot featuring many classic early PKD ET-types that can be found in his short stories, such as the wub and the father-thing. Not terrible, but leaves much to be desired, even for YA fiction. Probably only worth reading for the PKD specialist/scholar.. He has maany many more amazing and accessible books, and one would be doing one'self a huge disservice by reading this anywhere near the start of a foray into PKD's oeuvre.
What starts out with some odd and childish non sequiturs eventually evolves into a cosmic plot featuring many classic early PKD ET-types that can be found in his short stories, such as the wub and the father-thing. Not terrible, but leaves much to be desired, even for YA fiction. Probably only worth reading for the PKD specialist/scholar.. He has maany many more amazing and accessible books, and one would be doing one'self a huge disservice by reading this anywhere near the start of a foray into PKD's oeuvre.
August 31, 2020
He dudado entre 2'5 y 3. Es una novela corta middle grade entretenida. Me ha gustado y tiene momentos divertidos, además de un mundo con criaturas interesantes. Aun así, no me ha encantado; algunas cosas me han dejado un poco indiferente y he echado en falta una pizca más de profundización en varios aspectos sobre los que se pasa de puntillas.
March 22, 2025
This was an entertaining kids book with many of the hallmarks of Dick’s adult works. And, as with much of his other works, many interesting things get surfaced but nothing gets discussed in depth.
July 14, 2024
In his 1969 novel "Galactic Pot-Healer," cult author Philip K. Dick introduced his readers to a character named Glimmung: a semidivine being who calls ceramic repairman Joe Fernwright, among others, to Plowman's Planet (aka Sirius 5) to help raise a sunken cathedral from the oceanic depths. Confusingly described by Dick as weighing 40,000 tons and, later, 80,000 tons, Glimmung was yet a truly fascinating creation. But as it turns out, this was not the first time that Dick had written about a character with that handle. Hence, in his posthumous 1988 novel "Nick and the Glimmung," we find another alien entity who goes by that name, and one who is a much more intimidating proposition, to boot.
While "Galactic Pot-Healer" was published shortly after Phil had written it, from 1967 - '68, "Nick and the Glimmung" had a much more difficult time seeing the light of day. As revealed in Lawrence Sutin's 1989 biography "Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick," after writing the book in 1966, Dick's only novel created for children would be rejected by no fewer than 20 publishers. Six years after Phil's passing in 1982, however, the book was finally released by the British publisher Gollancz; a hardcover edition with illustrations by Paul Demeyer. Another British publisher, Piper, would release a paperback edition in 1990--the one that I was fortunate enough to acquire--that retained the 43 charming illustrations that Demeyer had provided for the original. The book would then go OOPs (out of prints) for almost 20 years, until Subterranean Press, a Michigan-based imprint, came out with its own version in 2009, with cover artwork and four full-color pieces of interior artwork by Phil Parks. This last edition, sadly enough, has been the book's only American incarnation. "Nick and the Glimmung" is an outlier in Dick's extensive oeuvre: not only his sole novel for children--say, perfect for ages 10 to 14--but also one of the author's few science fiction works that was not published during his lifetime. It is little discussed today. And yet, it is a book that deserves to be remembered. I first read it when the Piper edition was released in 1990, and was charmed by it; a recent perusal has served to remind me of why. Dick wrote this short novel in the same year that he wrote two of his greatest adult works--"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968) and "Ubik" (1969)--and he was clearly in the full flush of his creative powers at the time.
"Nick and the Glimmung" is at first set on the Earth of a far-future age. Overpopulation is the keynote problem facing the people of the planet, who are forced to live in crowded apartment buildings and contend with very serious food shortages. Because of this scarcity in consumer goods, pets have been outlawed; after all, who needs mere cats and dogs eating up Earth's valuable commodities, right? Against this dystopian backdrop we meet young Nick Graham, who owns an illegal cat named Horace (an homage to Horace Gold, the famed editor of "Galaxy Science Fiction" magazine, Sutin reveals). Big trouble comes when Horace escapes from the Grahams' small apartment, is seen outdoors and reported, leading to the arrival of one of the dreaded anti-pet men, who has come to confiscate the animal. But rather than give up their beloved Horace, Nick's parents, Pete and Helen, decide on a drastic alternative: becoming colonists on Plowman's Planet, where there is ample space for living and pets are allowed to roam freely. And so, in just a few days, Nick's dad quits his hated job and the entire family embarks on their new life.
The space voyage to Plowman's Planet takes all of 10 days, and once arrived, the Grahams find the world to be in an unexpected turmoil. As a matter of fact, a war is currently in progress there, with four of the planet's species contending on each side. On one side, thus, is the Glimmung, a life-destroying entity that had arrived millennia earlier, and that has allied itself with the werjes, the trobes and the father-things. Opposing those agents of evil are the human settlers from Earth, the nunks, the spiddles and the printers. (More on these disparate creatures in just a moment.) Upon exiting from their spaceship, the Grahams are given a lift to their new farmland by a dim-witted creature known as a wub. But they are soon set upon by the werjes (as depicted by Demeyer, these look like minipterodactyls, though they do speak perfect English). One of the werjes hands Nick a book that purports to give a detailed history of the war so far, but upon later examination, it turns out that the illiterate werj has accidentally given Nick another book altogether. As a matter of fact, it is Glimmung's personal diary of sorts, with notes on each side's various strengths and weaknesses. Oddly, it is a book that can also predict the future, and moreover, one that changes every time it is read! And, of course, it is a book that Glimmung will do anything to get back! Nick's adventures with the various species that inhabit Plowman's Planet, and his ultimate confrontation with the murderous Glimmung itself, are at the heart of this most enthralling book that Dick wrote for the younger set.
As I inferred above, the Glimmung that faces off against Nick Graham is a far different entity than the one who had summoned Joe Fernwright. Here, the entity, as opposed to being semidivine, is a force of antilife; a cloaked figure wearing a horned helmet who is capable of soaring through the air. And the Glimmung is hardly the only alien who differs from how Dick once presented it. In one of his earliest short stories, "Beyond Lies the Wub," from the July 1952 issue of "Planet Stories," the wub was a 400-pound, highly intelligent, talking pig creature from Mars; here, the wub is a roly-poly doofus who can communicate only with the simplest of written cards. In Dick's short story "The Father-thing," from the December 1954 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction," the titular enemies were podlike creatures who were replacing a young boy's family members; a story that appeared in the same month as Jack Finney's "The Body Snatchers." In Dick's children's novel, the father-things are similar, but their ultimate controller--a foot-long millipedelike alien--is never mentioned. Too, the father-things in "Nick and the Glimmung" do not eat their originals; that might have been just a bit too much for the kiddy set, right?
PKD's only novel for children really is ideal fare for the kiddies, yet with a strong appeal for adults, as well, who should find it both charming and fascinating. Naturally, Dick's pet concerns--divorce, the slippery nature of so-called reality, cigars, classical music, religion, mental illness--are not broached in this children's novel, but Dick yet demonstrates what an imaginative writer he could be. The desperately overpopulated Earth is efficiently sketched in, as is Nick's schoolroom, whose teacher is remotely educating nine other classes, by video screen, at the same time. Plowman's Planet is an interesting one, with its silicon-based, orange grass and trees, as well as a remarkable roster of memorable indigenous species. Thus, those werjes, who can be easily repelled by something foul smelling, such as blue cheese; the trobes, which are short and skinny beings with an aversion to bright light; those awful father-things, one of which turns itself into a dangerous Nick-thing (!); the printers, a dying, bloblike species that can duplicate any object placed near it; the nunks, diminutive things with supposedly aggressive dispositions; and the hilarious spiddles, with a fondness for adding the word "city" to almost everything they say ("Poverty city!" "Bad luck city!' "Exhaustion city!" "Victory city!"). "Nick and the Glimmung" is a perfect book for parents to give to their kids as an introduction to science fiction; something on a par with, say, Victor Appleton II's Tom Swift, Jr. books, or Robert Silverberg's "Revolt on Alpha C" (1955), although not nearly as sophisticated as Robert A. Heinlein's "juveniles." The book will also probably introduce those kids to a few challenging words, such as "ignominious," "functionary," "dulcet" and "disparity," as well as some typically bizarre Dick surprises, such as Glimmung's constantly changing book. (Oddly enough, a book that can foretell the future was also featured in "Galactic Pot-Healer," although in a completely different context.)
Surprisingly, though written for younger readers, "Nick and the Glimmung" yet contains several beautifully written bits that adults will appreciate. Thus, when Nick's dad speaks of Horace finally being able to roam freely outside, he says "Think of the joy he'll feel...when he shouts to the sky the greatness of his bold spirit." Later, we are told that "Glimmung spread over all the planet, like a lake of hateful night." Of the blasted hills where Glimmung first arrived on Plowman's Planet, a spiddle says "Fatigue...is everywhere, here. As if gravity forages from these hills, searching for living things to infest with its weight." And during Nick and the Glimmung's climactic confrontation, the evil one is said to have "eyes like deranged stars." Some poetic imagery for the youngsters there, wouldn't you say? And of course, Dick supplies his readers with any number of well-drawn sequences, including that look at Nick's futuristic classroom; the arrival of the dreaded anti-pet man; the touchdown on Plowman's Planet; the initial meetings with the wub and the werjes; the discovery of the Nick-thing; the odyssey that Nick and some chattering spiddles undertake to locate a printer; that battle with the Glimmung; and the rescue of Horace from the Nick-thing. Shockingly, Dick's story even features some murderous violence, as when one of the colonists is killed by Glimmung's spear to the back; the selfsame spear that almost does in Nick toward the book's end. Child readers should be enthralled!
All told, it is a pity that this book isn't more well known. It could easily have served as the opening salvo of a series of children's books featuring Nick’s adventures on Sirius 5. After all, by this novel's conclusion, the Glimmung remains very much alive, albeit wounded, and the Nick-thing is still roaming the planet freely. But alas, unlike Appleton and Heinlein, for Dick, his foray into the realm of kiddy lit was a case of "one and done." This is a book about which I only have one, extremely minor complaint. When Dick says of Horace, who is retreating slowly from the anti-pet man, "[He] moved further back into the kitchen," shouldn't that word instead be "farther"? But that is it; my only quibble here. The bottom line is that "Nick and the Glimmung" is a book of both considerable charm (there's that unavoidable word again!) and surprising imagination, and perfect fare for both children and their adults. Likeable city!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Philip K. Dick....)
While "Galactic Pot-Healer" was published shortly after Phil had written it, from 1967 - '68, "Nick and the Glimmung" had a much more difficult time seeing the light of day. As revealed in Lawrence Sutin's 1989 biography "Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick," after writing the book in 1966, Dick's only novel created for children would be rejected by no fewer than 20 publishers. Six years after Phil's passing in 1982, however, the book was finally released by the British publisher Gollancz; a hardcover edition with illustrations by Paul Demeyer. Another British publisher, Piper, would release a paperback edition in 1990--the one that I was fortunate enough to acquire--that retained the 43 charming illustrations that Demeyer had provided for the original. The book would then go OOPs (out of prints) for almost 20 years, until Subterranean Press, a Michigan-based imprint, came out with its own version in 2009, with cover artwork and four full-color pieces of interior artwork by Phil Parks. This last edition, sadly enough, has been the book's only American incarnation. "Nick and the Glimmung" is an outlier in Dick's extensive oeuvre: not only his sole novel for children--say, perfect for ages 10 to 14--but also one of the author's few science fiction works that was not published during his lifetime. It is little discussed today. And yet, it is a book that deserves to be remembered. I first read it when the Piper edition was released in 1990, and was charmed by it; a recent perusal has served to remind me of why. Dick wrote this short novel in the same year that he wrote two of his greatest adult works--"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968) and "Ubik" (1969)--and he was clearly in the full flush of his creative powers at the time.
"Nick and the Glimmung" is at first set on the Earth of a far-future age. Overpopulation is the keynote problem facing the people of the planet, who are forced to live in crowded apartment buildings and contend with very serious food shortages. Because of this scarcity in consumer goods, pets have been outlawed; after all, who needs mere cats and dogs eating up Earth's valuable commodities, right? Against this dystopian backdrop we meet young Nick Graham, who owns an illegal cat named Horace (an homage to Horace Gold, the famed editor of "Galaxy Science Fiction" magazine, Sutin reveals). Big trouble comes when Horace escapes from the Grahams' small apartment, is seen outdoors and reported, leading to the arrival of one of the dreaded anti-pet men, who has come to confiscate the animal. But rather than give up their beloved Horace, Nick's parents, Pete and Helen, decide on a drastic alternative: becoming colonists on Plowman's Planet, where there is ample space for living and pets are allowed to roam freely. And so, in just a few days, Nick's dad quits his hated job and the entire family embarks on their new life.
The space voyage to Plowman's Planet takes all of 10 days, and once arrived, the Grahams find the world to be in an unexpected turmoil. As a matter of fact, a war is currently in progress there, with four of the planet's species contending on each side. On one side, thus, is the Glimmung, a life-destroying entity that had arrived millennia earlier, and that has allied itself with the werjes, the trobes and the father-things. Opposing those agents of evil are the human settlers from Earth, the nunks, the spiddles and the printers. (More on these disparate creatures in just a moment.) Upon exiting from their spaceship, the Grahams are given a lift to their new farmland by a dim-witted creature known as a wub. But they are soon set upon by the werjes (as depicted by Demeyer, these look like minipterodactyls, though they do speak perfect English). One of the werjes hands Nick a book that purports to give a detailed history of the war so far, but upon later examination, it turns out that the illiterate werj has accidentally given Nick another book altogether. As a matter of fact, it is Glimmung's personal diary of sorts, with notes on each side's various strengths and weaknesses. Oddly, it is a book that can also predict the future, and moreover, one that changes every time it is read! And, of course, it is a book that Glimmung will do anything to get back! Nick's adventures with the various species that inhabit Plowman's Planet, and his ultimate confrontation with the murderous Glimmung itself, are at the heart of this most enthralling book that Dick wrote for the younger set.
As I inferred above, the Glimmung that faces off against Nick Graham is a far different entity than the one who had summoned Joe Fernwright. Here, the entity, as opposed to being semidivine, is a force of antilife; a cloaked figure wearing a horned helmet who is capable of soaring through the air. And the Glimmung is hardly the only alien who differs from how Dick once presented it. In one of his earliest short stories, "Beyond Lies the Wub," from the July 1952 issue of "Planet Stories," the wub was a 400-pound, highly intelligent, talking pig creature from Mars; here, the wub is a roly-poly doofus who can communicate only with the simplest of written cards. In Dick's short story "The Father-thing," from the December 1954 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction," the titular enemies were podlike creatures who were replacing a young boy's family members; a story that appeared in the same month as Jack Finney's "The Body Snatchers." In Dick's children's novel, the father-things are similar, but their ultimate controller--a foot-long millipedelike alien--is never mentioned. Too, the father-things in "Nick and the Glimmung" do not eat their originals; that might have been just a bit too much for the kiddy set, right?
PKD's only novel for children really is ideal fare for the kiddies, yet with a strong appeal for adults, as well, who should find it both charming and fascinating. Naturally, Dick's pet concerns--divorce, the slippery nature of so-called reality, cigars, classical music, religion, mental illness--are not broached in this children's novel, but Dick yet demonstrates what an imaginative writer he could be. The desperately overpopulated Earth is efficiently sketched in, as is Nick's schoolroom, whose teacher is remotely educating nine other classes, by video screen, at the same time. Plowman's Planet is an interesting one, with its silicon-based, orange grass and trees, as well as a remarkable roster of memorable indigenous species. Thus, those werjes, who can be easily repelled by something foul smelling, such as blue cheese; the trobes, which are short and skinny beings with an aversion to bright light; those awful father-things, one of which turns itself into a dangerous Nick-thing (!); the printers, a dying, bloblike species that can duplicate any object placed near it; the nunks, diminutive things with supposedly aggressive dispositions; and the hilarious spiddles, with a fondness for adding the word "city" to almost everything they say ("Poverty city!" "Bad luck city!' "Exhaustion city!" "Victory city!"). "Nick and the Glimmung" is a perfect book for parents to give to their kids as an introduction to science fiction; something on a par with, say, Victor Appleton II's Tom Swift, Jr. books, or Robert Silverberg's "Revolt on Alpha C" (1955), although not nearly as sophisticated as Robert A. Heinlein's "juveniles." The book will also probably introduce those kids to a few challenging words, such as "ignominious," "functionary," "dulcet" and "disparity," as well as some typically bizarre Dick surprises, such as Glimmung's constantly changing book. (Oddly enough, a book that can foretell the future was also featured in "Galactic Pot-Healer," although in a completely different context.)
Surprisingly, though written for younger readers, "Nick and the Glimmung" yet contains several beautifully written bits that adults will appreciate. Thus, when Nick's dad speaks of Horace finally being able to roam freely outside, he says "Think of the joy he'll feel...when he shouts to the sky the greatness of his bold spirit." Later, we are told that "Glimmung spread over all the planet, like a lake of hateful night." Of the blasted hills where Glimmung first arrived on Plowman's Planet, a spiddle says "Fatigue...is everywhere, here. As if gravity forages from these hills, searching for living things to infest with its weight." And during Nick and the Glimmung's climactic confrontation, the evil one is said to have "eyes like deranged stars." Some poetic imagery for the youngsters there, wouldn't you say? And of course, Dick supplies his readers with any number of well-drawn sequences, including that look at Nick's futuristic classroom; the arrival of the dreaded anti-pet man; the touchdown on Plowman's Planet; the initial meetings with the wub and the werjes; the discovery of the Nick-thing; the odyssey that Nick and some chattering spiddles undertake to locate a printer; that battle with the Glimmung; and the rescue of Horace from the Nick-thing. Shockingly, Dick's story even features some murderous violence, as when one of the colonists is killed by Glimmung's spear to the back; the selfsame spear that almost does in Nick toward the book's end. Child readers should be enthralled!
All told, it is a pity that this book isn't more well known. It could easily have served as the opening salvo of a series of children's books featuring Nick’s adventures on Sirius 5. After all, by this novel's conclusion, the Glimmung remains very much alive, albeit wounded, and the Nick-thing is still roaming the planet freely. But alas, unlike Appleton and Heinlein, for Dick, his foray into the realm of kiddy lit was a case of "one and done." This is a book about which I only have one, extremely minor complaint. When Dick says of Horace, who is retreating slowly from the anti-pet man, "[He] moved further back into the kitchen," shouldn't that word instead be "farther"? But that is it; my only quibble here. The bottom line is that "Nick and the Glimmung" is a book of both considerable charm (there's that unavoidable word again!) and surprising imagination, and perfect fare for both children and their adults. Likeable city!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Philip K. Dick....)
May 28, 2019
I had higher hopes, but it just wasn't for me.
January 7, 2018
Un asalto de poco más de una hora me ha llevado esta novela infantil, la única del autor dirigida a ese segmento de público. Y quiero mirarla con esos ojos, y ver la bellísima edición de Minotauro, y la conmovedora historia animalista por la que una familia terrestre sacrifica su vida para poder convivir con un gato, porque si no...
Desde luego, no es mi obra preferida de Dick. De hecho, me desconcierta que la escribiera justo antes que Ubik porque son la noche y el día en sus formas, tratamientos y temáticas. Me siento como cuando vi Star Wars: the Last Jedi y habían transformado la franquicia en un homenaje a Jim Henson: muchos muñecos adorables (¡perfectos en otro contexto!), pero nada de la chicha esperada. Aquí me ha pasado lo mismo: las inteligencias alienígenas/divinas se han encarnado en seres que merecen mucha caricia y poco odio, el antagonista es de cartón-piedra, varias tramas se quedan colgando... Hay un poco de Dick en la obra y mucho Barco de Vapor, y no termino de decidir si es bueno o malo, y solo puedo pensar en regalar unas copias a las hijas e hijos pequeños de mis allegados para iniciarles en el género (porque como iniciación bien vale).
Para completistas y gente acostumbrada a que Dick les deje con la boca abierta por un motivo u otro.
Desde luego, no es mi obra preferida de Dick. De hecho, me desconcierta que la escribiera justo antes que Ubik porque son la noche y el día en sus formas, tratamientos y temáticas. Me siento como cuando vi Star Wars: the Last Jedi y habían transformado la franquicia en un homenaje a Jim Henson: muchos muñecos adorables (¡perfectos en otro contexto!), pero nada de la chicha esperada. Aquí me ha pasado lo mismo: las inteligencias alienígenas/divinas se han encarnado en seres que merecen mucha caricia y poco odio, el antagonista es de cartón-piedra, varias tramas se quedan colgando... Hay un poco de Dick en la obra y mucho Barco de Vapor, y no termino de decidir si es bueno o malo, y solo puedo pensar en regalar unas copias a las hijas e hijos pequeños de mis allegados para iniciarles en el género (porque como iniciación bien vale).
Para completistas y gente acostumbrada a que Dick les deje con la boca abierta por un motivo u otro.
August 27, 2019
One of the reasons to love PKD is for kid’s books like this. It was a very fun, quick read with perfect plotting and resolution. It had a quest, a bad guy, interesting supporting characters, good vs. evil, dopplegangers, strange planets and 1950s mothers who make casserole. I want seconds!
Subterranean Press, 1st ed (2009)
Subterranean Press, 1st ed (2009)
September 21, 2011
Phil Dick does a children's book?
I'm afraid so. It's one of the most twisted, weird kid's books ever. It makes Roald Dahl look positively prosaic.
I'm afraid so. It's one of the most twisted, weird kid's books ever. It makes Roald Dahl look positively prosaic.
March 27, 2011
Of all the books I've read by Philip K. Dick,(30+),no other had grabbed my imagination and made me run rampant as much as "Nick and the Glimmung", --so much so that I contacted the author's estate, and lawyers, to request permission to adapt it to a children's musical. Unfortunately, it had already been optioned.
Below, I have included two reviews written by others. Unfortunately, I haven't the source identified to give credit where credit is do, (long story ... but, basically, the links got deleted).
Nick and the Glimmung
by Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick began publishing fiction in the 50s and continued until he died in 1982. But his first and only YA novel is being published this year for the first time in the US by Subterranean Press.
PKD is a favorite of movie directors these days, but "Nick and the Glimmung" is unlikely to ever become a blockbuster sci-fi flick. This isn’t because it lacks spectacle or adventure, but because its vision is far too bleak for Hollywood sci-fi, especially Hollywood sci-fi that features a young protagonist, and his cat.
The future earth which Nick Graham inhabits is dystopic, to say the least. The planet is so overpopulated by humans that they all must live in massive apartment buildings that also extend high into the sky and deep into the earth. Employment is scarce. Many of the "jobs" that people are expected to be grateful for are mere busy work. Nick’s father, Peter Graham, for instance, must check forms to insure that the man sitting next to him has signed the form. Not once has a form gone unsigned. Feeling that he contributes cilantro to society, Nick’s father has grown deeply restless and depressed.
On this future Earth, pets of any kind are interesting on the grounds that they use resources much needed by humans. Nick has an interesting cat named Horace. When Horace is discovered and reported to the authorities, the Graham family chooses to emigrate from Earth and settle with Horace on a new and distant world, Plowman’s Planet. The family is full of hope as they set off, but their new planet is at least as bleak as the old, though far more strange and dangerous. Besides humans, Plowman’s Planet is populated by a range of beings, including "wubs" who speak only through pre-printed cards, "father-things" which produce a kind of clone of those they grow near, chatty "spiddles," wise and productive "printers," devious "werjes," and an evil entity known as the Glimmung.
Nearly all the humans on both Earth and Plowman’s Planet seem fully resigned to a desperate fate--on Earth to their crammed and bureaucratic society, and on Plowman’s Planet to a futile attempt at settlement that has degraded to base survival. When the Grahams arrive on Plowman’s Planet they get immediately lost. After they find their home they are faced with an almost total shortage of water and the self-protective behavior of those around them. They cannot go out at night because of nightmares lurking in the darkness. Their neighbors reveal that no one has been successful farming anything at all.
Finally, even Nick’s hopeful father is affected. When Horace runs away, and when the family first obtains and then loses a book that could help defeat the Glimmung, Nick’s father can do cilantro more than shrug. But there is hope in youth. Nick alone draws on stores of courage and perseverance, setting off to recover Horace and to aid in the planet’s struggle against darkness. Whether Nick succeeds is ambiguous (another reason Hollywood would flee from this story), but out of all this bleakness, Nick’s adventure ultimately invites a belief that the future might be brighter.
Much of PKD’s work might be described as experimental, relying on alienating shifts in point-of-view. Reality blurs for his characters through a haze of drug use, or the confusion of precognition and time travel. Still "Nick and the Glimmung" may be his most experimental book. Its style recalls absurdist and expressionist writers like Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka. Here frites adopts a formal language that is often both distancing and comic as in the anti-pet man’s dialogue when Horace tries to escape:
From his belt the anti-pet man brought out a metal tube which he pointed towards the kitchen. "I will put him to sleep," he said, "and that will end his interesting activity, his interesting walking backwards into the kitchen."
There is also a deep meta-fictional element that tempts comparisons to Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges. Central to Nick’s adventure is a book which comes into his possession. The book both records and predicts everything that occurs on the planet. When the Graham family look themselves up the book, they discover a synopsis of the story in which they are involved:
"They cannot find their farm. The map has been eaten. The creature which smells of fish misleads them until it is too late. They are undone by their love."
More than any of his other novels, PKD’s subject here is not really the future or technology or alien worlds but the human soul in all its facets from its hungry greed to its fearful resignation to its hopeful perseverance to its restorative love. "Nick and the Glimmung" is a fable that will leave readers puzzled and disturbed but also with a renewed belief in the power and resilience of humanity and especially of humanity’s youth.
Nick and the Glimmung, by Philip K. Dick
Posted by Stephanie
One of these days, I really need to read a ‘real’ book by PKD. I’ve read his screen treatment of one of his novels (reviewed here) and then this book, and the works of some of his friends, and of course I’ve seen "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report", but I’ve never actually read any of his standard novels. Considering that he was a powerhouse of hard and futuristic (and just plain weird) sf for two decades, and even after his death he’s still got a huge influence on the spec-fic field (see: The Android’s Dream, by John Scalzi, the cover at least), I really should do better. Subterranean Press is publishing an edition of this novel, to be released in December of this year, (2008).
Anyway, in this book, his only “YA” (middle readers, really) novel, we have a future world with colonies on other planets and such an overloaded earth that pets are interesting (they eat too much food) and no one works more than 22 hours a week (and that’s an extreme case). Nick Graham’s father is lucky enough to work fifteen hours a week, and they own a cat, Horace. Unfortunately, one morning the cat gets out and someone sees him, and the anti-pet man comes after them. Instead of giving up the cat, Nick’s father (who is unhappy on earth anyway) decides to move the entire family (including the cat) off-world, to Plowman’s Planet. Plowman’s Planet comes with several of its own interesting life forms, like werjes, wubs, spiddles, and the Glimmung — some of whom are at war. How will Nick’s family (and Horace) deal with this?
I loved this book. When I finished it (after only an hour or so, since it’s about 125 pages long), I was inexplicably happy. It’s inexplicable because I get the idea that not very many of PKD’s books make people happy. Ubik (the screenplay) didn’t, in particular, although I did like it as well. Part of the reason I loved the book was certainly that Horace looks similar to the cat that owns me, but that was a small part. I thought Nick and his father were particularly sympathetic characters; the rest of the humans in the book, including the newspaper reporter and the scheming water man, were also well-described in just a few words.
Another element that made this book remarkable was the different species on Plowman’s Planet. The species we interact with the most is probably the spiddles; their idiosyncratic way of speaking is quite amusing, and I wish we had them on earth. The werjes are awfully disturbing, as is the father-thing (a kind of plant that turns into a doppelganger of a human being and then eats the human, taking his/her place) and, of course, the Glimmung. I’m not entirely sure what the Glimmung is, other than a creature that moved to Plowman’s Planet to take it over, but it was a bit frightening.
I suspect this isn’t really representative of PKD’s work, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes children’s SF. It’s surprisingly not dated, for all that it was written in 1966 (other than a brief reference to pets becoming interesting in 1992); certainly less dated than Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Colors of Space. I’d love to hear this book read out loud; I think younger readers would enjoy hearing it, too. Since it’s coming out in December, I’d think that it would make a fantastic Christmas present for PKD fans as well as those who just like delightful children’s spec fic. 4.5/5 turnips.
Below, I have included two reviews written by others. Unfortunately, I haven't the source identified to give credit where credit is do, (long story ... but, basically, the links got deleted).
Nick and the Glimmung
by Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick began publishing fiction in the 50s and continued until he died in 1982. But his first and only YA novel is being published this year for the first time in the US by Subterranean Press.
PKD is a favorite of movie directors these days, but "Nick and the Glimmung" is unlikely to ever become a blockbuster sci-fi flick. This isn’t because it lacks spectacle or adventure, but because its vision is far too bleak for Hollywood sci-fi, especially Hollywood sci-fi that features a young protagonist, and his cat.
The future earth which Nick Graham inhabits is dystopic, to say the least. The planet is so overpopulated by humans that they all must live in massive apartment buildings that also extend high into the sky and deep into the earth. Employment is scarce. Many of the "jobs" that people are expected to be grateful for are mere busy work. Nick’s father, Peter Graham, for instance, must check forms to insure that the man sitting next to him has signed the form. Not once has a form gone unsigned. Feeling that he contributes cilantro to society, Nick’s father has grown deeply restless and depressed.
On this future Earth, pets of any kind are interesting on the grounds that they use resources much needed by humans. Nick has an interesting cat named Horace. When Horace is discovered and reported to the authorities, the Graham family chooses to emigrate from Earth and settle with Horace on a new and distant world, Plowman’s Planet. The family is full of hope as they set off, but their new planet is at least as bleak as the old, though far more strange and dangerous. Besides humans, Plowman’s Planet is populated by a range of beings, including "wubs" who speak only through pre-printed cards, "father-things" which produce a kind of clone of those they grow near, chatty "spiddles," wise and productive "printers," devious "werjes," and an evil entity known as the Glimmung.
Nearly all the humans on both Earth and Plowman’s Planet seem fully resigned to a desperate fate--on Earth to their crammed and bureaucratic society, and on Plowman’s Planet to a futile attempt at settlement that has degraded to base survival. When the Grahams arrive on Plowman’s Planet they get immediately lost. After they find their home they are faced with an almost total shortage of water and the self-protective behavior of those around them. They cannot go out at night because of nightmares lurking in the darkness. Their neighbors reveal that no one has been successful farming anything at all.
Finally, even Nick’s hopeful father is affected. When Horace runs away, and when the family first obtains and then loses a book that could help defeat the Glimmung, Nick’s father can do cilantro more than shrug. But there is hope in youth. Nick alone draws on stores of courage and perseverance, setting off to recover Horace and to aid in the planet’s struggle against darkness. Whether Nick succeeds is ambiguous (another reason Hollywood would flee from this story), but out of all this bleakness, Nick’s adventure ultimately invites a belief that the future might be brighter.
Much of PKD’s work might be described as experimental, relying on alienating shifts in point-of-view. Reality blurs for his characters through a haze of drug use, or the confusion of precognition and time travel. Still "Nick and the Glimmung" may be his most experimental book. Its style recalls absurdist and expressionist writers like Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka. Here frites adopts a formal language that is often both distancing and comic as in the anti-pet man’s dialogue when Horace tries to escape:
From his belt the anti-pet man brought out a metal tube which he pointed towards the kitchen. "I will put him to sleep," he said, "and that will end his interesting activity, his interesting walking backwards into the kitchen."
There is also a deep meta-fictional element that tempts comparisons to Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges. Central to Nick’s adventure is a book which comes into his possession. The book both records and predicts everything that occurs on the planet. When the Graham family look themselves up the book, they discover a synopsis of the story in which they are involved:
"They cannot find their farm. The map has been eaten. The creature which smells of fish misleads them until it is too late. They are undone by their love."
More than any of his other novels, PKD’s subject here is not really the future or technology or alien worlds but the human soul in all its facets from its hungry greed to its fearful resignation to its hopeful perseverance to its restorative love. "Nick and the Glimmung" is a fable that will leave readers puzzled and disturbed but also with a renewed belief in the power and resilience of humanity and especially of humanity’s youth.
Nick and the Glimmung, by Philip K. Dick
Posted by Stephanie
One of these days, I really need to read a ‘real’ book by PKD. I’ve read his screen treatment of one of his novels (reviewed here) and then this book, and the works of some of his friends, and of course I’ve seen "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report", but I’ve never actually read any of his standard novels. Considering that he was a powerhouse of hard and futuristic (and just plain weird) sf for two decades, and even after his death he’s still got a huge influence on the spec-fic field (see: The Android’s Dream, by John Scalzi, the cover at least), I really should do better. Subterranean Press is publishing an edition of this novel, to be released in December of this year, (2008).
Anyway, in this book, his only “YA” (middle readers, really) novel, we have a future world with colonies on other planets and such an overloaded earth that pets are interesting (they eat too much food) and no one works more than 22 hours a week (and that’s an extreme case). Nick Graham’s father is lucky enough to work fifteen hours a week, and they own a cat, Horace. Unfortunately, one morning the cat gets out and someone sees him, and the anti-pet man comes after them. Instead of giving up the cat, Nick’s father (who is unhappy on earth anyway) decides to move the entire family (including the cat) off-world, to Plowman’s Planet. Plowman’s Planet comes with several of its own interesting life forms, like werjes, wubs, spiddles, and the Glimmung — some of whom are at war. How will Nick’s family (and Horace) deal with this?
I loved this book. When I finished it (after only an hour or so, since it’s about 125 pages long), I was inexplicably happy. It’s inexplicable because I get the idea that not very many of PKD’s books make people happy. Ubik (the screenplay) didn’t, in particular, although I did like it as well. Part of the reason I loved the book was certainly that Horace looks similar to the cat that owns me, but that was a small part. I thought Nick and his father were particularly sympathetic characters; the rest of the humans in the book, including the newspaper reporter and the scheming water man, were also well-described in just a few words.
Another element that made this book remarkable was the different species on Plowman’s Planet. The species we interact with the most is probably the spiddles; their idiosyncratic way of speaking is quite amusing, and I wish we had them on earth. The werjes are awfully disturbing, as is the father-thing (a kind of plant that turns into a doppelganger of a human being and then eats the human, taking his/her place) and, of course, the Glimmung. I’m not entirely sure what the Glimmung is, other than a creature that moved to Plowman’s Planet to take it over, but it was a bit frightening.
I suspect this isn’t really representative of PKD’s work, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes children’s SF. It’s surprisingly not dated, for all that it was written in 1966 (other than a brief reference to pets becoming interesting in 1992); certainly less dated than Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Colors of Space. I’d love to hear this book read out loud; I think younger readers would enjoy hearing it, too. Since it’s coming out in December, I’d think that it would make a fantastic Christmas present for PKD fans as well as those who just like delightful children’s spec fic. 4.5/5 turnips.
September 13, 2024
Nicky y el Glimmung de Philip K. Dick es una novela juvenil que narra las aventuras de Nicky, un niño que, junto a su gato Horace, se ve obligado a mudarse a un planeta lejano tras ser perseguido por las autoridades de la Tierra por intentar esconder a su mascota. En este nuevo mundo, se encuentra con el Glimmung, una misteriosa criatura con la capacidad de construir y destruir mundos, y una serie de habitantes únicos y mágicos. El libro, aunque tiene el sello de ciencia ficción del autor, es más ligero y accesible, enfocado en un público joven, con temas de aventura, amistad y lealtad en el centro de la trama.
Entre las razones para leerlo, destaco su tono más optimista en comparación con otras obras de Dick, lo que lo hace agradable y entretenido. El cariño de Dick por los animales se nota especialmente en la relación entre Nicky y su gato, lo que le otorga un toque encantador. Además, el universo que crea está lleno de personajes con profundidad emocional, incluso en los seres antagonistas, lo que le da un aire de autenticidad. Sin embargo, las razones para no leerlo incluyen una narrativa que en ocasiones se siente apresurada o con rupturas inesperadas hacia el final, lo que en mi caso, rompe la fantasía en la que estaba inmerso.
En conclusión, es una excelente opción si buscas una obra juvenil con el estilo único de Dick pero más enfocada en la fantasía y la aventura que en el pesimismo o las reflexiones filosóficas de sus libros más adultos. Sin embargo, puede no ser la mejor opción para quienes esperan una complejidad mayor o tramas más oscuras, como las presentes en otras obras del autor. Sin duda, para los más jóvenes o aquellos que disfruten de una historia con un toque de magia y ternura, este libro es una excelente lectura. En conclusión, disfruto más de lecturas densas y con un toque de pesimismo, pero sin duda recomendaría este libro a cualquiera que prefiera textos más optimistas. Es una lectura ideal para aquellos que buscan una historia entretenida y llena de esperanza.
"Durante un tiempo, sobre todo durante su primer año de vida. Horace había estado haciendo una Pregunta. Solía sentarse delante de una persona para luego levantar sus ojos verdes, sobresalientes y redondos, semejantes a unos botones de cristal cosidos a su piel, y la boquita un poco abierto, como si estuviera preocupado. Así, con la mirada levantada y la frente fruncida levemente, el gato musitaba un único maullido de barítono y luego esperaba una respuesta, una respuesta para una Pregunta que nadie era capaz de adivinar".
Entre las razones para leerlo, destaco su tono más optimista en comparación con otras obras de Dick, lo que lo hace agradable y entretenido. El cariño de Dick por los animales se nota especialmente en la relación entre Nicky y su gato, lo que le otorga un toque encantador. Además, el universo que crea está lleno de personajes con profundidad emocional, incluso en los seres antagonistas, lo que le da un aire de autenticidad. Sin embargo, las razones para no leerlo incluyen una narrativa que en ocasiones se siente apresurada o con rupturas inesperadas hacia el final, lo que en mi caso, rompe la fantasía en la que estaba inmerso.
En conclusión, es una excelente opción si buscas una obra juvenil con el estilo único de Dick pero más enfocada en la fantasía y la aventura que en el pesimismo o las reflexiones filosóficas de sus libros más adultos. Sin embargo, puede no ser la mejor opción para quienes esperan una complejidad mayor o tramas más oscuras, como las presentes en otras obras del autor. Sin duda, para los más jóvenes o aquellos que disfruten de una historia con un toque de magia y ternura, este libro es una excelente lectura. En conclusión, disfruto más de lecturas densas y con un toque de pesimismo, pero sin duda recomendaría este libro a cualquiera que prefiera textos más optimistas. Es una lectura ideal para aquellos que buscan una historia entretenida y llena de esperanza.
"Durante un tiempo, sobre todo durante su primer año de vida. Horace había estado haciendo una Pregunta. Solía sentarse delante de una persona para luego levantar sus ojos verdes, sobresalientes y redondos, semejantes a unos botones de cristal cosidos a su piel, y la boquita un poco abierto, como si estuviera preocupado. Así, con la mirada levantada y la frente fruncida levemente, el gato musitaba un único maullido de barítono y luego esperaba una respuesta, una respuesta para una Pregunta que nadie era capaz de adivinar".
December 3, 2023
Es la primera vez que leo algo de este autor, y aunque es una historia corta, me ha dejado un tanto disgustada.
La historia va de una época en la que los humanos ya no pueden tener mascotas, debido a la escasez de recursos que hay en la tierra, por lo que una familia al quedar expuesta por la aparición de su gato Horace al público, tiene que ver la manera de irse de la tierra, antes de que el agente antimascotas capture a su gato.
Por lo que deciden irse al planeta Labrador que es muy peligroso y en dónde al llegar a este se encuentran en medio de una batalla entre el glimmung y los impresores.
Por lo que sin desearlo se vuelven parte de esta guerra, al serle entregado un libro por equivocacion al hijo de esta familia, Nick, dicho libro es la clave para destruir a Glimmung ya que va actualizando el pasado, presente y futuro de cada individuo.
La premisa me pareció interesante, y debo decir que conocer sobre el nuevo mundo y sus habitantes tan peculiares me pareció interesante, sin embargo conforme pasaba la historia me quedaba con algunas de la historia, que me hubiera gustado que se aclararan, como fue el caso de porque habiendo tantos planetas menos peligrosos optaron por este, que paso al final con la criatura Nick, si se supone que es tan peligrosa, como para solo irse así como así, como pudo Horace sobrevivir solo si es muy difícil hacerlo y más para una mascota, siendo que casi al inicio de la historia fue capturado. No sé, no logro convencerme del todo aunque fue rápida de leer.
Le doy 2.5 estrellas
La historia va de una época en la que los humanos ya no pueden tener mascotas, debido a la escasez de recursos que hay en la tierra, por lo que una familia al quedar expuesta por la aparición de su gato Horace al público, tiene que ver la manera de irse de la tierra, antes de que el agente antimascotas capture a su gato.
Por lo que deciden irse al planeta Labrador que es muy peligroso y en dónde al llegar a este se encuentran en medio de una batalla entre el glimmung y los impresores.
Por lo que sin desearlo se vuelven parte de esta guerra, al serle entregado un libro por equivocacion al hijo de esta familia, Nick, dicho libro es la clave para destruir a Glimmung ya que va actualizando el pasado, presente y futuro de cada individuo.
La premisa me pareció interesante, y debo decir que conocer sobre el nuevo mundo y sus habitantes tan peculiares me pareció interesante, sin embargo conforme pasaba la historia me quedaba con algunas de la historia, que me hubiera gustado que se aclararan, como fue el caso de porque habiendo tantos planetas menos peligrosos optaron por este, que paso al final con la criatura Nick, si se supone que es tan peligrosa, como para solo irse así como así, como pudo Horace sobrevivir solo si es muy difícil hacerlo y más para una mascota, siendo que casi al inicio de la historia fue capturado. No sé, no logro convencerme del todo aunque fue rápida de leer.
Le doy 2.5 estrellas
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2025
Surprisingly absorbing children's fiction from grandmaster of social s-f from the pulp era.
Nick is a kid with a cat. Earth is a planet that banned cats. So the family has to move to Ploughman's Planet, where aliens like wubs, werjes, father-things, and printers, among other species, all waging war against the notorious Glimmung, who rules the planet through fear.
You might recognize some of these creatures from Dick's stories and other novels where they were mentioned in passing. "Beyond Lies the Wub," or Galactic Pot-Healer would be good examples indicating that Dick conceived a universe all his own, before he went off the deep end (as the general consensus goes (see VALIS trilogy.)) Nonetheless, Dick's storytelling is smooth and his humor is prevalent. He tosses out entertaining twists like yesterday's broccoli. Nick is a determined protagonist, and his parents are irresponsible and way too indulgent to his whims. Not once do they put a foot down or raise their vocal cadence in his direction. He loves his cat and wants to keep him, so they uproot their lives and travel light years to ensure that Horace can be provided an ample home. That home turns out to present fresh dangers of a wacky, alien variety.
Dick's lighthearted works are not nonsensical like some children's fiction or pulp s-f, they are charged with deep themes and resounding emotive power. You will remember this readable journey and it sits easily alongside Dick's unparalleled masterpieces, like a nice dessert. I appreciate Subterranean Press for resuscitating it from out-of-printed-ness.
Nick is a kid with a cat. Earth is a planet that banned cats. So the family has to move to Ploughman's Planet, where aliens like wubs, werjes, father-things, and printers, among other species, all waging war against the notorious Glimmung, who rules the planet through fear.
You might recognize some of these creatures from Dick's stories and other novels where they were mentioned in passing. "Beyond Lies the Wub," or Galactic Pot-Healer would be good examples indicating that Dick conceived a universe all his own, before he went off the deep end (as the general consensus goes (see VALIS trilogy.)) Nonetheless, Dick's storytelling is smooth and his humor is prevalent. He tosses out entertaining twists like yesterday's broccoli. Nick is a determined protagonist, and his parents are irresponsible and way too indulgent to his whims. Not once do they put a foot down or raise their vocal cadence in his direction. He loves his cat and wants to keep him, so they uproot their lives and travel light years to ensure that Horace can be provided an ample home. That home turns out to present fresh dangers of a wacky, alien variety.
Dick's lighthearted works are not nonsensical like some children's fiction or pulp s-f, they are charged with deep themes and resounding emotive power. You will remember this readable journey and it sits easily alongside Dick's unparalleled masterpieces, like a nice dessert. I appreciate Subterranean Press for resuscitating it from out-of-printed-ness.
June 22, 2020
Primissimo approccio a Dick, direi andato molto più che a buon fine.
Una dolcissima e appassionante "favola della buonanotte", rivolta a un pubblico di più piccini ma che ha saputo ugualmente catturarmi.
Stile di scrittura molto semplice e pulito, racconto breve ma molto ben riuscito.
Molto interessante il contesto distopico in cui è ambientata la prima parte del libro, ovviamente non approfondito in modo completo, visto il target a cui è rivolto (particolarmente riuscita la parte della scuola, incredibilmente realistica).
Il tema principale è sicuramente l'amore per gli animali (in particolare i gatti) e la natura: si vede che è un tema caro all'autore, la dolcezza con cui viene raccontato il legame tra Nick e il suo gatto Horace fa sciogliere il cuore.
Ho trovato alcune scelte prese dai personaggi (soprattutto dagli adulti) un po' forzate e a tratti insensate, ma nel complesso l'ho trovata davvero una lettura d'intrattenimento valida e davvero molto piacevole.
Non vedo l'ora di recuperare altre opere di Dick, di sicuro più "mature" di questa!
Libro consigliato a chi ha bisogno di viaggiare un po' con l'immaginazione, e per chi farebbe letteralmente di tutto per il proprio amico peloso!
Una dolcissima e appassionante "favola della buonanotte", rivolta a un pubblico di più piccini ma che ha saputo ugualmente catturarmi.
Stile di scrittura molto semplice e pulito, racconto breve ma molto ben riuscito.
Molto interessante il contesto distopico in cui è ambientata la prima parte del libro, ovviamente non approfondito in modo completo, visto il target a cui è rivolto (particolarmente riuscita la parte della scuola, incredibilmente realistica).
Il tema principale è sicuramente l'amore per gli animali (in particolare i gatti) e la natura: si vede che è un tema caro all'autore, la dolcezza con cui viene raccontato il legame tra Nick e il suo gatto Horace fa sciogliere il cuore.
Ho trovato alcune scelte prese dai personaggi (soprattutto dagli adulti) un po' forzate e a tratti insensate, ma nel complesso l'ho trovata davvero una lettura d'intrattenimento valida e davvero molto piacevole.
Non vedo l'ora di recuperare altre opere di Dick, di sicuro più "mature" di questa!
Libro consigliato a chi ha bisogno di viaggiare un po' con l'immaginazione, e per chi farebbe letteralmente di tutto per il proprio amico peloso!
April 24, 2022
Maybe the thirtieth or so book that I have read by PKD. Though it is written for children it has maintained that Dickian charm that his readers have come to adore. Phil was evidently a cat person who no less recognized that cats are liable to cause more troubles than their aloof natured love is worth. I found the extra-terrestrial throwbacks to many of his short stories to be charming and oddly natural. The wub, the father-thing and the printers being the ones which I was previously familiar with. It was funny and just a little ominous. The Glimmung, being the antagonist, with his not so nice otherness nature was an interesting devil. His part in the book was a nice little religious touch which PKD was known to weave seamlessly into the sci-fi playground of literature. I was glad that drugs were absent from the book. While I’m all for reading about his meth/psychedelic inspired fantastical ramblings in most cases, a children’s book isn’t the place for it. Perhaps someday I myself will have children and would happily read it to them! Too bad this was his only children’s book! He clearly had a knack for writing for kids, whose sense of reality, or rather unreality, is far more forgiving than that of the average adult! Fun, funny, happy to have given it a read! :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2019
3.5 estrellas.
Estamos ante la primera y única novela para niños que escribió Dick. Debo decir que, si bien tiene su marcado tono infantil, no se puede evitar sentir ese tufo Dickesco en el que hay paranoia y la realidad no es lo que parece.
Esta novela corta nos narra la historia de Nick, nuestro protagonista, el cual posee un gato y reside en un planeta tierra en el que las mascotas están completamente prohibidas. Su familia decide emigrar al planeta Labrador, en el que se harán una vida de cero y tendrán permitido tener a Horace sin temor de que sea confiscado por agentes del gobierno; pero al llegar quedarán envueltos en una guerra entre dos facciones, una de ellas comandada por el Glimmung, un aterrador y despiadado ser que buscará a toda costa erradicar la vida de dicho planeta.
Una lectura agradable, y si bien hay un detalle final en la trama que me chocó, el resultado final me parecio bastante entretenido.
Estamos ante la primera y única novela para niños que escribió Dick. Debo decir que, si bien tiene su marcado tono infantil, no se puede evitar sentir ese tufo Dickesco en el que hay paranoia y la realidad no es lo que parece.
Esta novela corta nos narra la historia de Nick, nuestro protagonista, el cual posee un gato y reside en un planeta tierra en el que las mascotas están completamente prohibidas. Su familia decide emigrar al planeta Labrador, en el que se harán una vida de cero y tendrán permitido tener a Horace sin temor de que sea confiscado por agentes del gobierno; pero al llegar quedarán envueltos en una guerra entre dos facciones, una de ellas comandada por el Glimmung, un aterrador y despiadado ser que buscará a toda costa erradicar la vida de dicho planeta.
Una lectura agradable, y si bien hay un detalle final en la trama que me chocó, el resultado final me parecio bastante entretenido.
January 18, 2018
Nick and the Glimmung was the first book to feature the Glimmung, a shapeshifting omniscient alien deity inhabiting Plowman's Planet. It's a lively children's book suitable for adults following Nick and his family as they move from an overcrowded Earth where pets are banned for the sake of their cat Horace. There are few moments where Philip brilliantly employs science-fiction "horror/spook" suitable at a child's level, such as the Father-Thing and when the Trobes carry away Horace. Why Philip didn't write more children's books I don't know but he should have. Nick and the Glimmung also introduces The Book which can rewrite the past/present/future, a narrative device which also turns up in Galactic Pot-Healer. It's a well-paced, fun, afternoon or two read.
December 5, 2022
PKD's ostensible book for kids reads like nothing any child would enjoy. A family emigrates with their cat to an alien planet and is immediately up to their brows in mobs of weird extraterrestrials without blinking an eye, treating each escalating encounter with breezy pluck and aplomb, just another unfortunate misunderstanding with a native wub, werj, or father-thing (which is as creepy as it sounds and would have inspired night terrors in my nascency). The absurdity should read with Dick's keen eye for such situations, but what made it to the page is great comic potential wasted by lazy writing. Though this adult still has the beating heart of a child, I found this nonsense unworthy of one's reading sensibility at any age.
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