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The Crack in Space
In the year 2080 every crisis of a couple of centuries had come to maturity. It was an election year. Jim Briskin, candidate for President, was trying to solve the unsolvable & appease the unappeasable. There were tens of millions of people in deep-freeze waiting for better times. The pressure was on to wake them up or throw them away. The jiffi-scuttlers which bypassed space to speed travel were breaking down & someone had to find out why fast. The racial problem had reached the point where a colored man now seemed likely to be the next chief executive.
Add to that a breakthrough into another sort of space & contact with a long-forgotten ancestral race & you have a complex, taut, & tremendously exciting science-fiction novel as only Phiip K. Dick can write.
Add to that a breakthrough into another sort of space & contact with a long-forgotten ancestral race & you have a complex, taut, & tremendously exciting science-fiction novel as only Phiip K. Dick can write.
190 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1966
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2721 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Dick
1,442 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 333 reviews
March 11, 2020
ENGLISH (The Crack in Space) / ITALIANO
"The young couple, black-haired, dark-skinned, probably Mexican or Puerto Rican, stood nervously at Herb Lackmore's counter and the boy, the husband, said in a low voice, «Sir, we want to be put to sleep. We want to become bibs»"The earth is overpopulated. Very high levels of unemployment (but not for white people). It's better to hibernate while waiting for better times. And here comes a crack in space, which seems to drive directly to a new planet, similar to the Earth, entirely to colonize. Maybe it's time for the poorest and oppressed people to have a chance. It's time to awake.
The standard visionary Philip K. Dick.
Vote: 7
"I due giovani, una coppia, capelli e pelle scuri, probabilmente messicani o portoricani, stazionavano nervosamente davanti al bancone di Herb Lackmore, e il ragazzo, il marito, disse in un sussurro, «Signore, vogliamo essere messi a dormire, vogliamo diventare inerti»"Terra sovrappopolata. Livelli di disoccupazione esorbitanti (non per i bianchi, però). Meglio ibernarsi in attesa di tempi migliori. Ed ecco che una breccia nello spazio sembra portare direttamente ad una nuovo pianeta, del tutto simile alla Terra, completamente da colonizzare. Forse è giunto il tempo in cui anche la popolazione più povera e oppressa ha a disposizione la sua possibilità. E' ora di ridestarsi.
Il solito visionario ed attuale Philip K. Dick.
Voto: 7
January 4, 2020
This is my fifth Philip K. Dick experience, and it is also my first bad experience with him. Bad, I guess, may be a strong word. Disappointing is more accurate. I will say this is a book with a lot of great ideas... I just wish Dick would have taken the time to actually examine them properly rather than jumping around all over the place. I mean he always has a love of borderline incoherent plots that spin around in all directions, but this one is completely unsatisfying.
The plot this time follows the first black man running for president of the United States in 2080 (a little bit off on your guess there Dick, but I forgive you), it also deals with Earth being overpopulated, a satellite brothel, a doctor and his wife's divorce, a hidden mistress, a gateway to an alternate Earth and a private detective investigating all these things (but he's only a side character). In other words, there's enough plot points to fill out several novels and Dick tries to juggle them all in only 188 pages.
It is a mess. Not a fun mess like some of his other books... just a mess.
Good points: Dick actually managed to tackle some interesting subject matter here. Its a dark mirror if ever there was one, and it may actually make you question what year it was written at a few points. For example, there's an organization hellbent on keeping our presidential candidate out with the slogan "Keep the White House white." Caucasian characters voice fears that people of other races may... *GASP* take their jobs.
It's clumsy and with a touch of naive racism by today's standards, but Dick should be applauded for what he was trying to do. He was examining race in a thoughtful way before most science fiction authors would have dared to.
Sadly, despite this unfortunately timeless commentary, the book just doesn't work. There's too much going on and none of it executed well enough. The best moments are when he plays some of this off comedically (like when another race is found on the other Earth and a political advisor worries that they could influence the election as potential voters), but it's too rushed and nowhere near as well executed as any of his other books I read.
Sadly I cannot recommend this one to anyone but competitions of Dick's works. 2/5 stars.
The plot this time follows the first black man running for president of the United States in 2080 (a little bit off on your guess there Dick, but I forgive you), it also deals with Earth being overpopulated, a satellite brothel, a doctor and his wife's divorce, a hidden mistress, a gateway to an alternate Earth and a private detective investigating all these things (but he's only a side character). In other words, there's enough plot points to fill out several novels and Dick tries to juggle them all in only 188 pages.
It is a mess. Not a fun mess like some of his other books... just a mess.
Good points: Dick actually managed to tackle some interesting subject matter here. Its a dark mirror if ever there was one, and it may actually make you question what year it was written at a few points. For example, there's an organization hellbent on keeping our presidential candidate out with the slogan "Keep the White House white." Caucasian characters voice fears that people of other races may... *GASP* take their jobs.
It's clumsy and with a touch of naive racism by today's standards, but Dick should be applauded for what he was trying to do. He was examining race in a thoughtful way before most science fiction authors would have dared to.
Sadly, despite this unfortunately timeless commentary, the book just doesn't work. There's too much going on and none of it executed well enough. The best moments are when he plays some of this off comedically (like when another race is found on the other Earth and a political advisor worries that they could influence the election as potential voters), but it's too rushed and nowhere near as well executed as any of his other books I read.
Sadly I cannot recommend this one to anyone but competitions of Dick's works. 2/5 stars.
September 1, 2017
The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick deals with social and political issues, especially racial issues.
I wrote a review of Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein where the grandmaster explored elements of racism. True, both writers go about the business clumsily and with not a small bit of racism themselves, but I would remind a gentle twenty-first century reader that these writers put their thoughts down in the 1960s and the effort was courageous in and of itself. This also examines sexual, moral and ethical issues as they affect overpopulation, prostitution, marriage and political organizations.
The first part sets up a future world plagued by overpopulation and political apathy, the second part, where Dick’s genius really comes out, is where a portal to an alternate world is discovered. An obvious relief for the overcrowding problems, the portal is unfortunately, already inhabited. References to North American colonization by Europeans, and an exploration of the morality of such an emigration ensues, but only the way PKD could write it, with a hefty portion of hilarious political cynicism.
Dick also uses the planned emigration as a twisted metaphor for racial prejudice. I read a Heinlein short story where each person had a chance to have their own alternate universe home, all connected together by portals back to a common earth. Also, the Hugo award wining Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer explores this same phenomena and may well have been inspired by this 1966 PKD novel.
The ending was a little skewed, and the novel as a whole was inconsistent, but all in all this is a good PKD adventure: PKD readers will enjoy the orbiting brothel owned by a one headed Siamese twin with two bodies.
I wrote a review of Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein where the grandmaster explored elements of racism. True, both writers go about the business clumsily and with not a small bit of racism themselves, but I would remind a gentle twenty-first century reader that these writers put their thoughts down in the 1960s and the effort was courageous in and of itself. This also examines sexual, moral and ethical issues as they affect overpopulation, prostitution, marriage and political organizations.
The first part sets up a future world plagued by overpopulation and political apathy, the second part, where Dick’s genius really comes out, is where a portal to an alternate world is discovered. An obvious relief for the overcrowding problems, the portal is unfortunately, already inhabited. References to North American colonization by Europeans, and an exploration of the morality of such an emigration ensues, but only the way PKD could write it, with a hefty portion of hilarious political cynicism.
Dick also uses the planned emigration as a twisted metaphor for racial prejudice. I read a Heinlein short story where each person had a chance to have their own alternate universe home, all connected together by portals back to a common earth. Also, the Hugo award wining Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer explores this same phenomena and may well have been inspired by this 1966 PKD novel.
The ending was a little skewed, and the novel as a whole was inconsistent, but all in all this is a good PKD adventure: PKD readers will enjoy the orbiting brothel owned by a one headed Siamese twin with two bodies.
April 3, 2025
For me, the beginning of every PKD book is like looking for a bearing in navigation. Sounds tedious but it's actually interesting. He just sort of drops you in place and time. The story has already begun, or seems to have anyway. You just need to figure out where you are. And that also fits to the plot of this novel and it's character's understanding at one point. The”Crack I Space”, as the title references, is an opening within the currently messed up world (so often the case in sci-fi) leading either to another world or possible a shift in time. The grass is green there, and it's decidedly anything but in the current world. Like the reader in the beginning of this book, they will need to figure it out.
With each book, I've learned that Philip K. Dick has this unique, distinct humor. Zany and satirical, often making fun of our world through oddball characters, or the situation we ourselves will most likely put ourselves into. I didn't quite notice this within the first two books of his I read, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” and “The Man in the High Castle”. I'm betting the humor either escaped me, or else those books truly touched his serious side. Probably both. Within the last two books, the humor has been insanely apparent.
I've also learned that he rarely wrote one beyond 300 pages. The Crack in Space was under 200, but at about 170 pages it felt as if it continue into any direction and for a long span at that, but I he cut it off and wrapped it up. He'd said all he wanted to say.
With each book, I've learned that Philip K. Dick has this unique, distinct humor. Zany and satirical, often making fun of our world through oddball characters, or the situation we ourselves will most likely put ourselves into. I didn't quite notice this within the first two books of his I read, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” and “The Man in the High Castle”. I'm betting the humor either escaped me, or else those books truly touched his serious side. Probably both. Within the last two books, the humor has been insanely apparent.
I've also learned that he rarely wrote one beyond 300 pages. The Crack in Space was under 200, but at about 170 pages it felt as if it continue into any direction and for a long span at that, but I he cut it off and wrapped it up. He'd said all he wanted to say.
July 30, 2024
My 11th PKD novel - and this one BLEW ME AWAY! (~ something of a turnaround after being less-than-enthused about 'Martian Time-Slip'.)
PKD gets everything right here - esp. in terms of how (as usual) he weaves together what can seem to be disparate elements but which are co-dependent for a single (if complex) purpose. This particular mix goes remarkably well.
It moves quickly, as if it comes with a built-in accelerator. Dick has come to this storyline with noticeable confidence. But that self-assurance could have been easier for him this time out because the majority of the novel's scenes read as being pointedly action-oriented. Dick doesn't dilly-dally. It's like he got it into his head to 'Make things happen on the page and then keep turning up the heat.' - that's how it all plays out. The plot's action elements can be a bit mysterious but they're sturdy, and they join like the parts of a chain-link fence.
The writing is lean, clear and economic. These pages pretty much turn themselves.
And I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet.
Written in 1963 (published 3 years later), 'TCIS' gives 'prescient' new meaning, considering where the country has been politically for the past decade-plus. The story has a black man running for President (for starters) - and it veers off metaphorically from there, bringing us both cretinous and uncivilized entities which (to my mind, anyway) act as stand-ins for a certain ex-POTUS and his insane, red-capped base.
Maybe that's me seeing what I want to see. Or maybe PKD saw the future through a glass darkly.
The novel's main conflict combines over-population (aided by cryogenics) with a shape-shifting parallel universe (oh, and, for added fun, there's a 'Playboy'-esque brothel satellite to contend with in the stratosphere... because of *course* there is) - and it all comes down to, well... who will not only save Earth but keep it under control and protected. ~ 'cause it really is just Earth this time. No one wants to deal with Mars. At all.
The last two chapters reach a fever pitch that practically had me giddy! And I sure hope the boiling point-laughs were intentional.
PKD gets everything right here - esp. in terms of how (as usual) he weaves together what can seem to be disparate elements but which are co-dependent for a single (if complex) purpose. This particular mix goes remarkably well.
It moves quickly, as if it comes with a built-in accelerator. Dick has come to this storyline with noticeable confidence. But that self-assurance could have been easier for him this time out because the majority of the novel's scenes read as being pointedly action-oriented. Dick doesn't dilly-dally. It's like he got it into his head to 'Make things happen on the page and then keep turning up the heat.' - that's how it all plays out. The plot's action elements can be a bit mysterious but they're sturdy, and they join like the parts of a chain-link fence.
The writing is lean, clear and economic. These pages pretty much turn themselves.
And I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet.
Written in 1963 (published 3 years later), 'TCIS' gives 'prescient' new meaning, considering where the country has been politically for the past decade-plus. The story has a black man running for President (for starters) - and it veers off metaphorically from there, bringing us both cretinous and uncivilized entities which (to my mind, anyway) act as stand-ins for a certain ex-POTUS and his insane, red-capped base.
Maybe that's me seeing what I want to see. Or maybe PKD saw the future through a glass darkly.
The novel's main conflict combines over-population (aided by cryogenics) with a shape-shifting parallel universe (oh, and, for added fun, there's a 'Playboy'-esque brothel satellite to contend with in the stratosphere... because of *course* there is) - and it all comes down to, well... who will not only save Earth but keep it under control and protected. ~ 'cause it really is just Earth this time. No one wants to deal with Mars. At all.
The last two chapters reach a fever pitch that practically had me giddy! And I sure hope the boiling point-laughs were intentional.
October 7, 2021
Published in 1966, Dick's tale of a dystopian future where race and population politics reign supreme in America. Over a 100 million people are in suspended animation; birth rates are extremely low, abortion is commonplace and most people live beyond 120 years! In this world a technological mishap sees man face another humanoid race entirely and the book captures the effect this has on this future society and on the presidential battle between a white incumbent and his Black challenger. Another good read from Philip, to the K, to the Dick. 6 out of 12.
January 10, 2025
Dick covers many themes in this mid-period romp that he rarely wrote on elsewhere, particularly racism, overpopulation and colonialism, as well as touching on a number of thorny moral and ethical issues like abortion and prostitution. All this comes through a political lens, as the ramifications on an upcoming presidential election play out and the election of the first African American hangs in the balance.
His far-fetched imaginings are amusing as always (a flying machine crafted entirely out of wood; a brothel located on an orbiting satellite), but there is also some depth. Particularly interesting was his challenging, via the discovery of an alternate universe Earth, of peoples' innate assumption that the evolution and predominance of homo sapiens was inevitable. At first, this seeming virgin copy of Earth with its primitive inhabitants appears to be the solution to all of humanity's problems. We expect some wrinkles of course, but not quite the pandora's box that emerges. The superiority of mankind, such as it is, is borne out not via intelligence or technological achievement, but through his treacherous nature.
Throughout, I found myself quite satisfied as orthogonal story threads serendipitously intersected, like a finely choreographed Seinfeld episode. That is trademark Dick, and is especially well crafted here.
His far-fetched imaginings are amusing as always (a flying machine crafted entirely out of wood; a brothel located on an orbiting satellite), but there is also some depth. Particularly interesting was his challenging, via the discovery of an alternate universe Earth, of peoples' innate assumption that the evolution and predominance of homo sapiens was inevitable. At first, this seeming virgin copy of Earth with its primitive inhabitants appears to be the solution to all of humanity's problems. We expect some wrinkles of course, but not quite the pandora's box that emerges. The superiority of mankind, such as it is, is borne out not via intelligence or technological achievement, but through his treacherous nature.
Throughout, I found myself quite satisfied as orthogonal story threads serendipitously intersected, like a finely choreographed Seinfeld episode. That is trademark Dick, and is especially well crafted here.
August 18, 2011
Although he displayed remarkable prescience in many of his books, cult author Philip K. Dick was a good 72 years off the mark in his 18th sci-fi novel, "The Crack in Space." Originally released as a 40-cent Ace paperback in 1966 (F-377, for all you collectors out there), the novel takes place against the backdrop of the 2080 U.S. presidential election, in which a black man, Jim Briskin, of the Republican-Liberal party, is poised to become the country's first black president. (Dick must have liked the name "Jim Briskin"; in his then-unpublished, non-sci-fi, mainstream novel from the mid-'50s, "The Broken Bubble," Jim Briskin is the name of a DJ in San Francisco!) Unlike Barack Obama, whose campaigning centered around the issues of war, economic crisis and health care, Briskin's talking points are a staggering overpopulation problem, the issue of what to do with the "bibs" (100 million frozen citizens awaiting their thaw in a better day), and the shutting down of the Golden Door Moments of Bliss satellite, an orbiting brothel housing no less than 5,000 women. When a door to a parallel Earth is discovered in the wall of a defective Jiffi-scuttler (a tubular device for instantaneous transportation from place to place), Briskin feels confident that he finally has a solution as to where to dump all those bibs. But problems loom, when an exploration team discovers that this parallel Earth is not vacant, but rather peopled by...well, perhaps I'd better not say.
Filled with a typically large Dickian cast of characters (38 named characters are featured...15 of them in just the first 10 pages!), "The Crack in Space" is a very swift-moving vision of the future. With the use of jetcabs, men and women in this book flit from city to city like you might commute to work; indeed, one potential assassin flies from Reno to Chicago while Briskin is delivering a speech! As in many other Dick novels, divorce is featured (Dick himself was married five times) and some truly outre characters are presented. Most memorable here is George Walt, the owner of the Golden Door satellite: a one-headed, two-bodied mutant who constantly bickers with himself. Dick presents a future here in which abortions are legal and paid for by the government (and this was written a good seven years before Roe v. Wade was settled); the only coffee that is consumed (except by the lowest classes) is the "nontoxic," synthetic kind; and political parties, under the ruling of the Tompkins Act, are allowed to jam the transmissions of the opposing party. It is a typically nutty Dick world, for the most part, in which Briskin's campaign manager voices some very PC words on Dick's behalf. Thinking about the people found on the parallel Earth, Sal Heim ponders "the difference between say myself and the average Negro is so damn slight, by every truly meaningful criterion, that for all intents and purposes it doesn't exist." Again, a pretty right-on sentiment for 1966, and one which makes the book praiseworthy in its own right.
"The Crack in Space" is hardly a perfect work. Fast paced and entertaining as it is, and filled with colorful characters, bursts of humor and remarkable situations, there are some problems that crop up. Several main characters (such as Myra Sands, a renowned abortionist) just kinda disappear, and the exploration of the alternate Earth (for this reader, the most fascinating and exciting segment of the book) is a bit too brief. Still, these are mere quibbles. Though this book has been pooh-poohed by some (the British critic David Pringle, in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," inexplicably calls it "a clotted Dick narrative"), I really did enjoy it very much. Let's just hope that President Obama has an easier time with his wars, economic woes and health care reforms than Jim Briskin will have with his problem of the bibs!
Filled with a typically large Dickian cast of characters (38 named characters are featured...15 of them in just the first 10 pages!), "The Crack in Space" is a very swift-moving vision of the future. With the use of jetcabs, men and women in this book flit from city to city like you might commute to work; indeed, one potential assassin flies from Reno to Chicago while Briskin is delivering a speech! As in many other Dick novels, divorce is featured (Dick himself was married five times) and some truly outre characters are presented. Most memorable here is George Walt, the owner of the Golden Door satellite: a one-headed, two-bodied mutant who constantly bickers with himself. Dick presents a future here in which abortions are legal and paid for by the government (and this was written a good seven years before Roe v. Wade was settled); the only coffee that is consumed (except by the lowest classes) is the "nontoxic," synthetic kind; and political parties, under the ruling of the Tompkins Act, are allowed to jam the transmissions of the opposing party. It is a typically nutty Dick world, for the most part, in which Briskin's campaign manager voices some very PC words on Dick's behalf. Thinking about the people found on the parallel Earth, Sal Heim ponders "the difference between say myself and the average Negro is so damn slight, by every truly meaningful criterion, that for all intents and purposes it doesn't exist." Again, a pretty right-on sentiment for 1966, and one which makes the book praiseworthy in its own right.
"The Crack in Space" is hardly a perfect work. Fast paced and entertaining as it is, and filled with colorful characters, bursts of humor and remarkable situations, there are some problems that crop up. Several main characters (such as Myra Sands, a renowned abortionist) just kinda disappear, and the exploration of the alternate Earth (for this reader, the most fascinating and exciting segment of the book) is a bit too brief. Still, these are mere quibbles. Though this book has been pooh-poohed by some (the British critic David Pringle, in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," inexplicably calls it "a clotted Dick narrative"), I really did enjoy it very much. Let's just hope that President Obama has an easier time with his wars, economic woes and health care reforms than Jim Briskin will have with his problem of the bibs!
April 12, 2012
In a future, overpopulated world, a technician discovers a portal to an alternative earth. Jim Briskin (campaigning to be the first black president) sees settling this alternative world as solution to the problem of the seventy-or-so million cryogenically suspended people warehoused throughout the country. Called ‘bibs’, they have chosen to sleep until the world’s population problem can be resolved.
The dominant hominid on this alt-earth it turns out is “Peking Man”—it appears as though evolution in this world diverges sharply with the known earth. Regardless, plans to colonize are set in motion, only Briskin and the rest of the world find they are up against more than they bargained for.
Dick’s work, I find, is at once completely immersive, haphazard, and packed with ideas to the point of diffusion. The narrative unfolds through a jumpy third-person POV and touches immediately on themes of overpopulation, race relations, and organ harvesting all stewed together with the mundanities of politics, divorce, and (of all things) vehicle repair. And always under all of this the question: How well do reality and our assumptions about reality match up?
These elements come together a bit uneasily and often not at all. Dr. Lurton Sands’s harvesting of organs from helpless and unsuspecting ‘bibs’ for example, is only nominally dealt with. Ditto with the true scope of the endemic problems that must certainly be troubling society given that people are choosing to be frozen rather than live in the world as it currently is in the novel. You get the sense that employment is an issue. What about food? Living space? How’s the real estate market in the 21st century?
Of the elements presented, it is race relations that are most acutely portrayed. Humans apprehend the most minor physical differences and react to them. However, when the Peke’s invade, they see only Homo sapiens. Even George Walt, the most different of them all, turns out to be only (and disappointingly) human. In Dick’s world, humans are united under an umbrella of optimism, curiosity, irrational fear, and hubris and thus, in a sense, racial tension is part and parcel to being a card carrying member of the brotherhood of man.
The book is packed with ideas and Dick manages to move the story along without dwelling on a ton of explication. The narrative is brisk and assured. The downside to all the ideas and lack of explication is the novel feels jumbled and unfocused. Too much dialog, too many characters and a lack of clear characterization. The under-explanation makes the novel a bit undernourished, though its imaginative bones give it just enough form to make it readable. I might have liked Dick to take more time, let the novel breathe a little. He might also have been better off introducing a fraction of the characters that he did or maintaining a single point of view.
Still, I feel that Dick succeeded in holding a mirror to our oft-disappointing humanity: our irrational prejudices, our stunning hubris. It seemed very plausible for even a well-intentioned person like Jim Briskin to rationalize colonizing a planet belonging to the under-evolved Pekes (even moving them around their own planet) in order to serve the interests of humanity.
The dominant hominid on this alt-earth it turns out is “Peking Man”—it appears as though evolution in this world diverges sharply with the known earth. Regardless, plans to colonize are set in motion, only Briskin and the rest of the world find they are up against more than they bargained for.
Dick’s work, I find, is at once completely immersive, haphazard, and packed with ideas to the point of diffusion. The narrative unfolds through a jumpy third-person POV and touches immediately on themes of overpopulation, race relations, and organ harvesting all stewed together with the mundanities of politics, divorce, and (of all things) vehicle repair. And always under all of this the question: How well do reality and our assumptions about reality match up?
These elements come together a bit uneasily and often not at all. Dr. Lurton Sands’s harvesting of organs from helpless and unsuspecting ‘bibs’ for example, is only nominally dealt with. Ditto with the true scope of the endemic problems that must certainly be troubling society given that people are choosing to be frozen rather than live in the world as it currently is in the novel. You get the sense that employment is an issue. What about food? Living space? How’s the real estate market in the 21st century?
Of the elements presented, it is race relations that are most acutely portrayed. Humans apprehend the most minor physical differences and react to them. However, when the Peke’s invade, they see only Homo sapiens. Even George Walt, the most different of them all, turns out to be only (and disappointingly) human. In Dick’s world, humans are united under an umbrella of optimism, curiosity, irrational fear, and hubris and thus, in a sense, racial tension is part and parcel to being a card carrying member of the brotherhood of man.
The book is packed with ideas and Dick manages to move the story along without dwelling on a ton of explication. The narrative is brisk and assured. The downside to all the ideas and lack of explication is the novel feels jumbled and unfocused. Too much dialog, too many characters and a lack of clear characterization. The under-explanation makes the novel a bit undernourished, though its imaginative bones give it just enough form to make it readable. I might have liked Dick to take more time, let the novel breathe a little. He might also have been better off introducing a fraction of the characters that he did or maintaining a single point of view.
Still, I feel that Dick succeeded in holding a mirror to our oft-disappointing humanity: our irrational prejudices, our stunning hubris. It seemed very plausible for even a well-intentioned person like Jim Briskin to rationalize colonizing a planet belonging to the under-evolved Pekes (even moving them around their own planet) in order to serve the interests of humanity.
December 2, 2010
The more PKD I read, and the more I learn about him and about literature theory, the more impressed I am with what he was able to accomplish, albeit mostly posthumously.
Some observations:
PKD was a genius, that has been stated over and over. Philosophical, imaginative, social commentary about a future that varies book to book. Common threads, sure, but all intrinsically different by a massive degree.
That being said, when you really step back and take a look, his writing is SHIT.
Technical shit. Red herrings, plot holes, story lines that start and then stop suddenly, sometimes never to be revisited, the kind of stuff that really doesn't fly today with modern ideas of structure and mechanics. But he does it! And it works! So what if a character makes a hypothesis and then on the next page it's the fact of the novel and you can actually see Dick work things out as he writes.
I had several of those moments while reading this one, probably the first time I've had that break with the text. But that's what I think I liked the most about this, because to a degree you really can see the man behind the curtain, you can see Dick think out "what does this mean" to Jim Briskin and how does it influence the story. Not that I didn't like the story proper, I did, but it was those moments that made me think, "This is bloody awful," that made me appreciate it all the more. And I also think I give him a certain leeway, because he is Philip K. Dick and he was a genius and he was paranoid and I have been hard pressed to find anyone that can write a story with even a fraction of the magnitude of his imagination or write one like it myself, that almost entitles him to have those plot holes and red herrings that give just that much more character to his books. If any other author were to do that, I'd quickly jump on it and tear it to pieces in true critic form: "What about this? It seemed important, but it wasn't developed" blah blah blah.
Not with Dick. With Dick it's more like, "Well, now that we have a crack to a parallel-Earth that we could populate with our frozen Cols, who cares what happens to Lurton Sands?" (The fact that Lurton Sands actually makes a reappearance was impressive to me; normally that doesn't happen. Take, for example, how Myra Sands drops away completely.)
Just a final thought, as it suddenly strikes me: similarities between Jim Briskin, as first colored presidential candidate, and Barrack Obama, as first colored US president.
Some observations:
PKD was a genius, that has been stated over and over. Philosophical, imaginative, social commentary about a future that varies book to book. Common threads, sure, but all intrinsically different by a massive degree.
That being said, when you really step back and take a look, his writing is SHIT.
Technical shit. Red herrings, plot holes, story lines that start and then stop suddenly, sometimes never to be revisited, the kind of stuff that really doesn't fly today with modern ideas of structure and mechanics. But he does it! And it works! So what if a character makes a hypothesis and then on the next page it's the fact of the novel and you can actually see Dick work things out as he writes.
I had several of those moments while reading this one, probably the first time I've had that break with the text. But that's what I think I liked the most about this, because to a degree you really can see the man behind the curtain, you can see Dick think out "what does this mean" to Jim Briskin and how does it influence the story. Not that I didn't like the story proper, I did, but it was those moments that made me think, "This is bloody awful," that made me appreciate it all the more. And I also think I give him a certain leeway, because he is Philip K. Dick and he was a genius and he was paranoid and I have been hard pressed to find anyone that can write a story with even a fraction of the magnitude of his imagination or write one like it myself, that almost entitles him to have those plot holes and red herrings that give just that much more character to his books. If any other author were to do that, I'd quickly jump on it and tear it to pieces in true critic form: "What about this? It seemed important, but it wasn't developed" blah blah blah.
Not with Dick. With Dick it's more like, "Well, now that we have a crack to a parallel-Earth that we could populate with our frozen Cols, who cares what happens to Lurton Sands?" (The fact that Lurton Sands actually makes a reappearance was impressive to me; normally that doesn't happen. Take, for example, how Myra Sands drops away completely.)
Just a final thought, as it suddenly strikes me: similarities between Jim Briskin, as first colored presidential candidate, and Barrack Obama, as first colored US president.
June 20, 2008
I won't even bother to describe the plot. Suffice it to say that the elements include the first black President of the United States and pre-industrial ape men from another dimension. The plot is wildly inventive, but the typical Philip K. Dick flaws are all on full display. Too much dialogue? Check. Too many characters resulting in dissipation of focus? Check. Omniscient narrator with no clear point of view? Check. Still, if you're a fan -- which I am -- it's not completely bad. There are better Dick books, sure, but if this is the only one you bring on the airplane, you won't be disappointed.
January 28, 2024
This is my second reading of this fine book. It is a mid-period PKD novel (expanded from the novella Cantata 140 published in the July 1964 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction - which I do have a copy of).
It is a humorous novel packed with many unique ideas and interesting themes and characters including over-population, politics and racism.
This was written around the time Heinlein published “Farnham’s Freehold” which also dealt with issues of race in America. The civil rights movement was at its peak at that time and I suppose it was inevitable to include this in current works. That is a good thing really, but the subject is often handled clumsily. I still credit it the effort on the touch subject during that period. Easy to look at this from a 2023 perspective .
Initially, I felt this might be a minor work from PDK but by the second half, it goes in the most unexpected directions and becomes, in my opinion, one of his finest efforts. Unlike Ubik, High Castle, Martian Time-Slip, Electric Sheep and many others, this one is an unsung gem.
Another good one by this unique Master of the genre.
It is a humorous novel packed with many unique ideas and interesting themes and characters including over-population, politics and racism.
This was written around the time Heinlein published “Farnham’s Freehold” which also dealt with issues of race in America. The civil rights movement was at its peak at that time and I suppose it was inevitable to include this in current works. That is a good thing really, but the subject is often handled clumsily. I still credit it the effort on the touch subject during that period. Easy to look at this from a 2023 perspective .
Initially, I felt this might be a minor work from PDK but by the second half, it goes in the most unexpected directions and becomes, in my opinion, one of his finest efforts. Unlike Ubik, High Castle, Martian Time-Slip, Electric Sheep and many others, this one is an unsung gem.
Another good one by this unique Master of the genre.
March 9, 2015
Regular readers of Philip K Dick would not expect him to write a novel exploring social issues, but in this case that is what he seems to think he is doing. The result is a muddle of ideas that try to stay topical while medium level PKD weirdness circles around them.
The setting is the late 21st century, and overpopulation, combined with a shortage of jobs, has become the major problem facing the human race. The solution has been to warehouse those who request it in suspended animation with the promise of awakening them when social conditions change. This is also a racial issue. "Cols" are now the majority population, and also the least employable. "Caucs" maintain the systems of government while millions of Cols become "bibs," -- the name given to those warehoused sleepers. (I never quite figured out the "bib" allusion. Also in the book are "Jerries," the older generation that can still remember the way things used to be.)
It is a presidential election year, and the Republican Liberal Party candidate for the first time is a Col. Jim Briskin wants to be president and in his brilliant speeches is willing to say what he thinks the people, and the Col majority, want to here. He promises to close the warehouses and find a way to resolve the bib situation. He proposes pursuing some outdated technology called planet wetting to create habitable colonies. He will also close down Thisbe Olt's pleasure satellite The Golden Door, an orbiting brothel with thousands of working women and a enormous clientele. Thisbe's operation has been legalized as a means of keeping the population down. (Question mark. Exclamation point. WTF) None of Briskin's ideas are really feasible.
Then there are the Jerry Scuttlers, devices that are intended to transport their owners anywhere they want to go. Unfortunately they have design flaws. One owner complains that his always delivers him to Portland, Oregon. A repairman, however, discovers that the machine has a rent in its fabric that delivers one to a verdant, apparently virgin land that could solve the immigration problem.
So PKD has his usual half dozen plots in play, but much centers on that flawed Jerry Scuttler and the fact that Briskin may be able to come through with his promise of closing the bib warehouses, But when the new land is discovered to be a version of Terra itself that has followed a different evolutionary path than our own planet, new racial problems arise with how to treat the inhabitants there. They are not homo sapiens but intellectually capable offspring of hominid strains removed from our history.
The Crack in Space has subplots that go nowhere and either resolve themselves almost as soon as they are introduced or need quick sentence summaries toward the end of the novel. Nothing about it addresses in any coherent way the social issues it raises. It is at its best when played as farce, with characters traveling the planet in their Jet Hoppers and scrambling to put together a winning presidential campaign, But it remains a muddle and, unusual for a PKD novel, manages to become somewhat dull. This despite that fact that one character is the unicephalic twin George Walt -- one head, two bodies, two personalities. He is the proprietor of the Golden Door and is briefly worshipped as a god by the inhabitants of the parallel universe opened by the defected Jerry Scuttler.
The setting is the late 21st century, and overpopulation, combined with a shortage of jobs, has become the major problem facing the human race. The solution has been to warehouse those who request it in suspended animation with the promise of awakening them when social conditions change. This is also a racial issue. "Cols" are now the majority population, and also the least employable. "Caucs" maintain the systems of government while millions of Cols become "bibs," -- the name given to those warehoused sleepers. (I never quite figured out the "bib" allusion. Also in the book are "Jerries," the older generation that can still remember the way things used to be.)
It is a presidential election year, and the Republican Liberal Party candidate for the first time is a Col. Jim Briskin wants to be president and in his brilliant speeches is willing to say what he thinks the people, and the Col majority, want to here. He promises to close the warehouses and find a way to resolve the bib situation. He proposes pursuing some outdated technology called planet wetting to create habitable colonies. He will also close down Thisbe Olt's pleasure satellite The Golden Door, an orbiting brothel with thousands of working women and a enormous clientele. Thisbe's operation has been legalized as a means of keeping the population down. (Question mark. Exclamation point. WTF) None of Briskin's ideas are really feasible.
Then there are the Jerry Scuttlers, devices that are intended to transport their owners anywhere they want to go. Unfortunately they have design flaws. One owner complains that his always delivers him to Portland, Oregon. A repairman, however, discovers that the machine has a rent in its fabric that delivers one to a verdant, apparently virgin land that could solve the immigration problem.
So PKD has his usual half dozen plots in play, but much centers on that flawed Jerry Scuttler and the fact that Briskin may be able to come through with his promise of closing the bib warehouses, But when the new land is discovered to be a version of Terra itself that has followed a different evolutionary path than our own planet, new racial problems arise with how to treat the inhabitants there. They are not homo sapiens but intellectually capable offspring of hominid strains removed from our history.
The Crack in Space has subplots that go nowhere and either resolve themselves almost as soon as they are introduced or need quick sentence summaries toward the end of the novel. Nothing about it addresses in any coherent way the social issues it raises. It is at its best when played as farce, with characters traveling the planet in their Jet Hoppers and scrambling to put together a winning presidential campaign, But it remains a muddle and, unusual for a PKD novel, manages to become somewhat dull. This despite that fact that one character is the unicephalic twin George Walt -- one head, two bodies, two personalities. He is the proprietor of the Golden Door and is briefly worshipped as a god by the inhabitants of the parallel universe opened by the defected Jerry Scuttler.
August 24, 2010
The first several (like eight) PKD books I read, I thought he was the oddest most unpredictable author I'd ever encountered. Such inscrutable choices and themes. Now, for like the last three I've read, I'm over that. I guess I'm used to him. And I love his writing more than ever. Still bizarre, but I know what to expect now. I LOVED THIS.
March 24, 2017
I've read quite a few of Philip K. Dick's unique brand of science fiction over the years. A personal favourite of mine is The Man in the High Castle, which I've read 3 or 4 times. In 2017, I finished Time Out of Joint, which I enjoyed very much and now, most recently, The Crack in Space, which was quite excellent.
The Crack in Space was written in 1966. The basic premise is an over-populated world, where people have the option of becoming 'Bibs'; they are cryogenically frozen, hopefully being awoken when there is more room on Earth or other options such as the opportunity to move to another planet if that technology is available.
Jim Briskin is running for President and if he succeeds will become the first African American president of the US. A discovery is made where a crack in space presents the opportunity to relieve the overpopulation problem by letting Earth people emigrate to the planet that shows up in this crack. The question is, what's on the other side and if there is an existing population, will they allow this invasion?
I found the story fascinating, with many very nice touches throughout. I did like Dick's idea of introduction of Briskin as presidential candidate. He is intelligent, thoughtful and straight-forward. (I wonder if Barack Obama ever read this story? :0)) The story, itself, moves along at a perfect pace; the characters are interesting; note George Walt, the owner of the satellite whore house, amongst others. It was a thoughtful, clear and well-crafted story and I enjoyed all of it, from beginning to end. Well worth trying if you want to explore Philip Dick's view of the future. (4 stars)
The Crack in Space was written in 1966. The basic premise is an over-populated world, where people have the option of becoming 'Bibs'; they are cryogenically frozen, hopefully being awoken when there is more room on Earth or other options such as the opportunity to move to another planet if that technology is available.
Jim Briskin is running for President and if he succeeds will become the first African American president of the US. A discovery is made where a crack in space presents the opportunity to relieve the overpopulation problem by letting Earth people emigrate to the planet that shows up in this crack. The question is, what's on the other side and if there is an existing population, will they allow this invasion?
I found the story fascinating, with many very nice touches throughout. I did like Dick's idea of introduction of Briskin as presidential candidate. He is intelligent, thoughtful and straight-forward. (I wonder if Barack Obama ever read this story? :0)) The story, itself, moves along at a perfect pace; the characters are interesting; note George Walt, the owner of the satellite whore house, amongst others. It was a thoughtful, clear and well-crafted story and I enjoyed all of it, from beginning to end. Well worth trying if you want to explore Philip Dick's view of the future. (4 stars)
November 3, 2024
Very interesting book. So many topical things like immigration, elections, coloured president, technology etc. I just wish it was longer as there was simply not enough time to develop the ideas.
August 21, 2023
This story foreshadows President Barack Obama.
When will we have an Asian/Latino president?
🤔
February 1, 2025
5th book read in 2025
This was pretty much the best book to read as our new American President was sworn in and the next chapter in Trump World began.
The Crack in Space begins amid a presidential campaign with a Black candidate running for the Liberal Republican Party and a white former space explorer running for the Conservative Democrats. Funny. Head-spinning.
The planet is so overpopulated that millions of mostly Black people are being stored in a sort of cryo-sleep. Various solutions to that are on the table, mostly involving sending those sleepers to another planet. When a time travel device, the Jiffi-scuttler, develops a crack, a parallel but ancient world opens. Turns out the inhabitants are prehistoric “Peeks,” a sort of Peking man.
These days when I read the news, as I do just to stay abreast of the madness, I imagine that I am living in a P K Dick novel. The question is, how did he know?
This was pretty much the best book to read as our new American President was sworn in and the next chapter in Trump World began.
The Crack in Space begins amid a presidential campaign with a Black candidate running for the Liberal Republican Party and a white former space explorer running for the Conservative Democrats. Funny. Head-spinning.
The planet is so overpopulated that millions of mostly Black people are being stored in a sort of cryo-sleep. Various solutions to that are on the table, mostly involving sending those sleepers to another planet. When a time travel device, the Jiffi-scuttler, develops a crack, a parallel but ancient world opens. Turns out the inhabitants are prehistoric “Peeks,” a sort of Peking man.
These days when I read the news, as I do just to stay abreast of the madness, I imagine that I am living in a P K Dick novel. The question is, how did he know?
xx-dnf-skim-reference
May 31, 2018With ideas so obsolete and cliched, it reads like a parody of itself. At least in the beginning. I admit that I did not get very far....
Oh it feels so good to get rid of these books that I've hauled around several homes in CC... now that we're headed all the way to MO, I've no more excuses to try to read stuff I'm not really interested in.
Oh it feels so good to get rid of these books that I've hauled around several homes in CC... now that we're headed all the way to MO, I've no more excuses to try to read stuff I'm not really interested in.
November 23, 2018
Per quanto questa storia di Dick venga sminuita e definita non pienamente riuscita anche nella prefazione e nella postfazione, o forse anche grazie alla prefazione, ho trovato molto soddisfacente questo libro.
La visionarietà di Dick ci dona un mondo dove tra sovrappopolazione e crisi economiche si è dovuto trovare il modo di gestire le masse prive di lavoro e di prospettive, e questo modo è stato individuato nella criostasi. Le persone che si ritrovano senza soldi, senza possibilità lavorative, ridotti alla disperazione, fanno richiesta di venire congelati, nella speranza di venire risvegliati in un futuro in cui la situazione sia migliorata.
E le nascite vengono regolamentate rigidamente, per evitare di continuare a far aumentare senza freno la popolazione.
E poi abbiamo Jim Briskin, il candidato alla presidenza repubblicano. Un candidato di colore, colui che diventerà il primo presidente americano di colore (oltre che ex-clown televisivo, con tanto di parruccona rossa). Un uomo onesto, una brava persona, che proprio per questo appare quanto più lontana possibile dalla politica. Un incubo per i suoi collaboratori, visto che il suo rigido codice morale gli impedisce di scendere a compromessi su questioni come la ricerca di un modo per poter scongelare tutti i dormienti, o il suo desiderio di far chiudere il gigantesco bordello volante dei mutanti George Walt.
Abbiamo un varco nello spazio-tempo, che improvvisamente apre una nuova e inattesa frontiera per l'uomo Americano. Una Nuova America, una terra vergine da colonizzare e popolare, una splendida valvola di sfogo dove incanalare le masse.
Non fosse che è già abitata: si tratta di una terra parallela, un mondo ancora in gran parte incontaminato e arretrato tecnologicamente, dove la sfida per la supremazia non è stata vinta dall'homo sapiens ma dall'uomo di Pechino.
Evidentemente meno intelligente e abile del nostro antenato, ma capace di prevalere sugli altri grazie ad altre doti che scopriremo durante la lettura.
Di positivo abbiamo che ne futuro ipotizzato da Dick nessuno sembra avere il grilletto facile, l'idea del massacro per conquistare una nuova Terra non piace a nessuno, potenti compresi. Utopistico.
Di meno positivo abbiamo che alla fine non ci sono praticamente elementi di speranza, come riassume benissimo Hadley nel monologo che fa al suo capo al termine del libro.
Il che per me è un bene, la positività è riferita solo alla visione del futuro.
Visionarietà e tematica interessanti, insomma, anche se guastati da un po' troppi punti di vista -non sempre necessari- e da una non così piccola falla nella trama (alla fine non si capisce come riescano a tenere aperta la falla dall'altra parte, e soprattutto come il mutante sia riuscito a ingannare creature in grado di leggere nella mente. Questo mina tutta la parte finale del libro, purtroppo).
La visionarietà di Dick ci dona un mondo dove tra sovrappopolazione e crisi economiche si è dovuto trovare il modo di gestire le masse prive di lavoro e di prospettive, e questo modo è stato individuato nella criostasi. Le persone che si ritrovano senza soldi, senza possibilità lavorative, ridotti alla disperazione, fanno richiesta di venire congelati, nella speranza di venire risvegliati in un futuro in cui la situazione sia migliorata.
E le nascite vengono regolamentate rigidamente, per evitare di continuare a far aumentare senza freno la popolazione.
E poi abbiamo Jim Briskin, il candidato alla presidenza repubblicano. Un candidato di colore, colui che diventerà il primo presidente americano di colore (oltre che ex-clown televisivo, con tanto di parruccona rossa). Un uomo onesto, una brava persona, che proprio per questo appare quanto più lontana possibile dalla politica. Un incubo per i suoi collaboratori, visto che il suo rigido codice morale gli impedisce di scendere a compromessi su questioni come la ricerca di un modo per poter scongelare tutti i dormienti, o il suo desiderio di far chiudere il gigantesco bordello volante dei mutanti George Walt.
Abbiamo un varco nello spazio-tempo, che improvvisamente apre una nuova e inattesa frontiera per l'uomo Americano. Una Nuova America, una terra vergine da colonizzare e popolare, una splendida valvola di sfogo dove incanalare le masse.
Non fosse che è già abitata: si tratta di una terra parallela, un mondo ancora in gran parte incontaminato e arretrato tecnologicamente, dove la sfida per la supremazia non è stata vinta dall'homo sapiens ma dall'uomo di Pechino.
Evidentemente meno intelligente e abile del nostro antenato, ma capace di prevalere sugli altri grazie ad altre doti che scopriremo durante la lettura.
Di positivo abbiamo che ne futuro ipotizzato da Dick nessuno sembra avere il grilletto facile, l'idea del massacro per conquistare una nuova Terra non piace a nessuno, potenti compresi. Utopistico.
Di meno positivo abbiamo che alla fine non ci sono praticamente elementi di speranza, come riassume benissimo Hadley nel monologo che fa al suo capo al termine del libro.
Il che per me è un bene, la positività è riferita solo alla visione del futuro.
Visionarietà e tematica interessanti, insomma, anche se guastati da un po' troppi punti di vista -non sempre necessari- e da una non così piccola falla nella trama (alla fine non si capisce come riescano a tenere aperta la falla dall'altra parte, e soprattutto come il mutante sia riuscito a ingannare creature in grado di leggere nella mente. Questo mina tutta la parte finale del libro, purtroppo).
January 5, 2019
180 - The operate - They
Funny seeing Art & Rachel reappear, having just finished The Broken Bubble
Didn't make much sense. Presidential candidate is just walking around to bars while would be assassins & prostitutes are able to walk up & interrupt him, no security apparatus in sight until after being elected at the end. Sal's intuition about the Peke's doesn't make any sense, & how the whole George Walt & random Peke philosopher bit is ridiculous. Nevermind the whole premise that these random wormhole devices randomly have defective portals to other times or worlds, but they're treated as phenomena beyond research, ie TD is only waiting for them to randomly crop up. & what's with this random Tiko guy having spies in what seems to be every organization?
Funny seeing Art & Rachel reappear, having just finished The Broken Bubble
Didn't make much sense. Presidential candidate is just walking around to bars while would be assassins & prostitutes are able to walk up & interrupt him, no security apparatus in sight until after being elected at the end. Sal's intuition about the Peke's doesn't make any sense, & how the whole George Walt & random Peke philosopher bit is ridiculous. Nevermind the whole premise that these random wormhole devices randomly have defective portals to other times or worlds, but they're treated as phenomena beyond research, ie TD is only waiting for them to randomly crop up. & what's with this random Tiko guy having spies in what seems to be every organization?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2025
Cantata-140, or the Crack in Space as it is also known, is a real quickie PKD story from 1966. It's less than 200 pages and is a bit all over the place in terms of plotting, even more so than your typical PKD experience.
It involves a future where overpopulation has led to large numbers of people voluntarily going into suspended animation in hopes that sometime in the future the earth may be a better place. When a crack in space is discovered on a fluke that appears to lead to an alternative dimension earth, politicians seize on the opportunity to start moving people over to this supposedly uninhabited planet, which of course turns out to be not uninhabited at all.
This is really only a small part of the plot, which also features two competing presidential candidates, one of whom would be the first black president, a racist group that seeks to stop him, a brothel that operates from a satellite in space, etc. A lot of the decisions made in the book are discussed in terms of their political consequences for our character seeking the presidency.
It's all very jumbled and rushed, with a very first-draft feel about it. While it's got many of the PKD elements that we've come to know and love, the cake never has time to be fully baked in this one. This is certainly a minor entry in the PKD bibliography and there's pretty good reason that you have to be a real PKD sicko to have even heard of it.
It involves a future where overpopulation has led to large numbers of people voluntarily going into suspended animation in hopes that sometime in the future the earth may be a better place. When a crack in space is discovered on a fluke that appears to lead to an alternative dimension earth, politicians seize on the opportunity to start moving people over to this supposedly uninhabited planet, which of course turns out to be not uninhabited at all.
This is really only a small part of the plot, which also features two competing presidential candidates, one of whom would be the first black president, a racist group that seeks to stop him, a brothel that operates from a satellite in space, etc. A lot of the decisions made in the book are discussed in terms of their political consequences for our character seeking the presidency.
It's all very jumbled and rushed, with a very first-draft feel about it. While it's got many of the PKD elements that we've come to know and love, the cake never has time to be fully baked in this one. This is certainly a minor entry in the PKD bibliography and there's pretty good reason that you have to be a real PKD sicko to have even heard of it.
September 5, 2023
Accidentally Patriotic
The Crack in Space is an extremely dated novel. It’s such an artifact of its time that it ends up being an unintentional parody. Even if this were the first novel to propose parallel worlds, it’s executed terribly. Meanwhile, there are many flaws: storytelling failures and unconscious biases.
The writing style is scattershot and unfocused. We have the first African-American president’s campaign, a detective, a criminal doctor, his vengeful wife, a billionaire CEO, and even a repairman. Except for the presidential nominee, none of them have character arcs or even stories that begin and end. The author continuously tells instead of shows, but also uses the horrible trope of No Time to Explain to keep the reader in suspense. Characters that refuse to answer questions and say they’ll explain later are unrealistic and a waste of page count. It’s also strangely paced, with the first act taking up three-quarters of the book, leaving a very abrupt second and third act that never pays off.
But — and here’s where the gloves come off — this novel is a concise example of racism and sexism from that era. In attempting to showcase his liberal nature by proposing the first African-American president, the author inadvertently showcases the depth of his racism by setting the novel in the 2080s. Humanity has visited three star systems, but skin colour is the true final frontier. Women exist as either prostitutes, mistresses leading men astray, or wives bearing babies. Regardless, they have no agency in this novel.
And I would be doing everyone a disservice by ignoring the USA nationalism that is unconsciously baked into every layer of this farce: from the unassailable rights of property owners, the assumption of superiority of private enterprise, world events that only impact the 48 states, and the declaration that the pinnacle of human civilization is contained by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. It’s all the more laughable because it was entirely unintentional.
I doubt The Crack in Space was the first to consider parallel worlds, and even if it were, it’s not well-executed. The storytelling is horrid, the narrative is all over the place, and the plot ends abruptly and prematurely. That’s evaluating it as a product of its time, on its own merits. But after one adds the racism, sexism, and unintentional flag-waving, the only reason to read this book is to study its flaws.
Not Recommended.
The Crack in Space is an extremely dated novel. It’s such an artifact of its time that it ends up being an unintentional parody. Even if this were the first novel to propose parallel worlds, it’s executed terribly. Meanwhile, there are many flaws: storytelling failures and unconscious biases.
The writing style is scattershot and unfocused. We have the first African-American president’s campaign, a detective, a criminal doctor, his vengeful wife, a billionaire CEO, and even a repairman. Except for the presidential nominee, none of them have character arcs or even stories that begin and end. The author continuously tells instead of shows, but also uses the horrible trope of No Time to Explain to keep the reader in suspense. Characters that refuse to answer questions and say they’ll explain later are unrealistic and a waste of page count. It’s also strangely paced, with the first act taking up three-quarters of the book, leaving a very abrupt second and third act that never pays off.
But — and here’s where the gloves come off — this novel is a concise example of racism and sexism from that era. In attempting to showcase his liberal nature by proposing the first African-American president, the author inadvertently showcases the depth of his racism by setting the novel in the 2080s. Humanity has visited three star systems, but skin colour is the true final frontier. Women exist as either prostitutes, mistresses leading men astray, or wives bearing babies. Regardless, they have no agency in this novel.
And I would be doing everyone a disservice by ignoring the USA nationalism that is unconsciously baked into every layer of this farce: from the unassailable rights of property owners, the assumption of superiority of private enterprise, world events that only impact the 48 states, and the declaration that the pinnacle of human civilization is contained by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. It’s all the more laughable because it was entirely unintentional.
I doubt The Crack in Space was the first to consider parallel worlds, and even if it were, it’s not well-executed. The storytelling is horrid, the narrative is all over the place, and the plot ends abruptly and prematurely. That’s evaluating it as a product of its time, on its own merits. But after one adds the racism, sexism, and unintentional flag-waving, the only reason to read this book is to study its flaws.
Not Recommended.
September 1, 2022
His dry decency,\ satellite of the future.\ Invasion of man.
#HAIKUPRAJNA - The Crack in Space
Big fan of Philip K. Dick's body of work and all of their adaptations--have yet to be disappointed--and "The Crack in Space" is yet another fine story; this was, according to Wikipedia, first released as "Cantata 140" (a reference to Bach) and follows a trend in many authors' works of continuing or citing one's own short stories (this case being "Prominent Author") with a larger novel.
" ‘In view of your dedication to fraud,’ the Sinanthropus said, ‘I see no real point in my remaining here; the longer I go on, the more immersed I become. Personally, I regret this whole encounter; my people have suffered by it already.'"
This is a story about the first African American President of the United States in the year 2080 and an accidental passage into another dimension. All the 1%ers are hibernating indefinitely due to overpopulation, leaving America's minorities as the majority, which fuels a new colonization effort that defines the presidential race where the primary solution appears as a Counter-Earth that is populated with another race of advanced beings.
" ‘You think life is worth living, Dar?’ Hadley demanded suddenly. ‘Who knows. And if you have to ask, there’s something wrong with you.' "
For sure for the die hard fans rather than someone just getting into PKD, as his tropes are all there but they outshine the political topics that drive the rest of plot; mutants, laser beams, hovercraft, a satellite-brothel housing innumerable women and illegal substances that evoke modern day struggles with addiction; they are there, but there are better stories by him that have these, as well.
"... The food’s actually prepared by humans.’‘Humans? As compared to what?’‘Automatic food-processing systems,’ Tito murmured. ‘Or don’t you ever eat in autoprep restaurants?’ After all, the Sands were wealthy; possibly they normally enjoyed human-prepared food. ‘Personally, I can’t stand autopreps. The food’s always so predictable. Never burned, never…’ He broke off…"
Philip K. Dick shares prophetic visions from 1960s Berkley, with liberal sentiments and philosophical concepts that were counterculture during the political landscape of his time, which are now considered common human decency, all conveyed through the lens of science fiction.
...
Thank you for reading. These Goodreads poems will be collected in a future edition of the HaikuPrajna Collection. Add me as a friend, read my collection of reviews, join my mailing list or Substack and see more over here:
https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022...
Until next time, Allen W. McLean
#HAIKUPRAJNA - The Crack in Space
Big fan of Philip K. Dick's body of work and all of their adaptations--have yet to be disappointed--and "The Crack in Space" is yet another fine story; this was, according to Wikipedia, first released as "Cantata 140" (a reference to Bach) and follows a trend in many authors' works of continuing or citing one's own short stories (this case being "Prominent Author") with a larger novel.
" ‘In view of your dedication to fraud,’ the Sinanthropus said, ‘I see no real point in my remaining here; the longer I go on, the more immersed I become. Personally, I regret this whole encounter; my people have suffered by it already.'"
This is a story about the first African American President of the United States in the year 2080 and an accidental passage into another dimension. All the 1%ers are hibernating indefinitely due to overpopulation, leaving America's minorities as the majority, which fuels a new colonization effort that defines the presidential race where the primary solution appears as a Counter-Earth that is populated with another race of advanced beings.
" ‘You think life is worth living, Dar?’ Hadley demanded suddenly. ‘Who knows. And if you have to ask, there’s something wrong with you.' "
For sure for the die hard fans rather than someone just getting into PKD, as his tropes are all there but they outshine the political topics that drive the rest of plot; mutants, laser beams, hovercraft, a satellite-brothel housing innumerable women and illegal substances that evoke modern day struggles with addiction; they are there, but there are better stories by him that have these, as well.
"... The food’s actually prepared by humans.’‘Humans? As compared to what?’‘Automatic food-processing systems,’ Tito murmured. ‘Or don’t you ever eat in autoprep restaurants?’ After all, the Sands were wealthy; possibly they normally enjoyed human-prepared food. ‘Personally, I can’t stand autopreps. The food’s always so predictable. Never burned, never…’ He broke off…"
Philip K. Dick shares prophetic visions from 1960s Berkley, with liberal sentiments and philosophical concepts that were counterculture during the political landscape of his time, which are now considered common human decency, all conveyed through the lens of science fiction.
...
Thank you for reading. These Goodreads poems will be collected in a future edition of the HaikuPrajna Collection. Add me as a friend, read my collection of reviews, join my mailing list or Substack and see more over here:
https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022...
Until next time, Allen W. McLean
December 4, 2012
In an overpopulated world, millions of people have elected to become bibs (cryogenically frozen until the job market opens up), abortion centers are prospering, and prostitution has been made legal on orbiting satellites (to ease "frustrations", while preventing pregnancy). It's a huge problem faced by the presidential candidates, who must present solutions to this problem if they are to be elected.
Jim Briskin announces in a public speech a possible solution. A company has stumbled upon a portal to a parallel world, apparently uninhabited, to which people can emigrate. This announcement opens a whole can of worms and new problems, especially when they find out the alternate world was not as unpopulated as they all thought.
Mixed in with all the population stuff are constant commentaries about race relations, most notably because Briskin, a Col, could be the first black president of the United States. I couldn't help but read this and think about the fact that President Obama is currently in the white house. The race question gets confounded even further once the people on alt-earth are discovered.
It's a fairly short read, and it goes very quick. But a lot gets packed into it, and there's a lot of jumping from character to character. Dick doesn't seem to be as interested in achieving an emotional connection with the reader as an intellectual one. You're not meant to feel for the characters or get to know them, you're meant to get a taste for their point of view. Every one's got an opinion, and the author presents many of them, so many that it's not entirely clear where he stands on anything. This is a thinking book, certainly fun, but one that I would like to sit with a book group and chat about. A reader could come at it from many angles -- each would be correct.
Jim Briskin announces in a public speech a possible solution. A company has stumbled upon a portal to a parallel world, apparently uninhabited, to which people can emigrate. This announcement opens a whole can of worms and new problems, especially when they find out the alternate world was not as unpopulated as they all thought.
Mixed in with all the population stuff are constant commentaries about race relations, most notably because Briskin, a Col, could be the first black president of the United States. I couldn't help but read this and think about the fact that President Obama is currently in the white house. The race question gets confounded even further once the people on alt-earth are discovered.
It's a fairly short read, and it goes very quick. But a lot gets packed into it, and there's a lot of jumping from character to character. Dick doesn't seem to be as interested in achieving an emotional connection with the reader as an intellectual one. You're not meant to feel for the characters or get to know them, you're meant to get a taste for their point of view. Every one's got an opinion, and the author presents many of them, so many that it's not entirely clear where he stands on anything. This is a thinking book, certainly fun, but one that I would like to sit with a book group and chat about. A reader could come at it from many angles -- each would be correct.
June 28, 2014
Even when he is not at his very best, as with The Crack in Space, Philip K. Dick is eminently worth reading. Somehow, half a century ago, he anticipated several key facets of life in our time, starting with a black president and a racist society. Over 100 million Cols (Coloreds?) have volunteered to be frozen until the socioeconomic situation for them has improved -- so many, in fact, that the number of BiBs ("Bottled in Bond") is threatening the national budget.
As a result of an accident to a Jiffi-scuttler, a link as opened to an alternative earth inhabited solely by Peking Man. At first, before these natives are discovered, it is decided to move a large number of BiBs to this planet. And that's when the problems begin. It appears the "Pekes" have their own technology which is different and perhaps in some ways superior.
And, to make matters worse, the dual entity known as George Walt (two humans sharing a single head) -- formerly owners of the Golden Door Moments of Bliss satellite serving as a giant brothel in earth's orbit -- has snuck across and been worshiped by the Pekes as their wind god.
Somehow, it all works out in the end, but not without a glacial beginning. Sometimes, Philip K. Dick is so darned inventive that too much plot machinery is required to keep the story in motion. Still, like all PKD stories, it's worth a look.
As a result of an accident to a Jiffi-scuttler, a link as opened to an alternative earth inhabited solely by Peking Man. At first, before these natives are discovered, it is decided to move a large number of BiBs to this planet. And that's when the problems begin. It appears the "Pekes" have their own technology which is different and perhaps in some ways superior.
And, to make matters worse, the dual entity known as George Walt (two humans sharing a single head) -- formerly owners of the Golden Door Moments of Bliss satellite serving as a giant brothel in earth's orbit -- has snuck across and been worshiped by the Pekes as their wind god.
Somehow, it all works out in the end, but not without a glacial beginning. Sometimes, Philip K. Dick is so darned inventive that too much plot machinery is required to keep the story in motion. Still, like all PKD stories, it's worth a look.
March 26, 2020
This is a weird one. A novella expanded after publication, Phil basically hated this work, and indeed it's a bit of a mess...much of the premise makes no sense and the action is kind of all over the place. In a future overcrowded earth a portal to a parallel earth is opened up and 100 million "sleepers" in suspended animation begin to be shipped to the new virgin planet. Of course there's a nasty surprise waiting on the other side! For all its flaws in plot (men visit a brothel on a satellite to ensure their sexual desires don't result in earth pregnancies...like, was there no birth control in 1964??) it's also got a number of surprisingly prescient, trenchant plot points...a raging abortion debate, the promise of the US's first black president, and, most powerfully, a deep divide over race that reaches to all corners of society. With a little bit more time and work this could have been a very important novel for Phil, but in the end it succeeds purely as a post-50s SF potboiler. It definitely feels more like a pre-HIGH CASTLE work than a novel following up Phil's crowning achievement (THREE STIGMATA). That's Phil for you....lots of highs and lows. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in Phil's more political side (the abortion debate reaches a heartbreaking climax in Phil's future short story "The Pre Persons"...but that's, literally, another story).
December 9, 2020
PKD sevgim ne kadar yüksek olursa olsun bu kitabı özellikle de finali benim için vasat olarak kalacak.
Sürprizbozan vermeden kitap hakkında şunları söyleyebilirim. Kitap klasik PKD varoluş felsefesi içeriyor. İçerisinde ırkçılık eleştirisi, toplum değerlerinin yorumlanması var.
Fikir özellikle de portal/solucan deliği fikri hikayeye güzel oturmuş ancak biraz daha derinleştirilebilir ve daha yoğun bir bilimkurgu gelişimi görebilirdik.
Kitap sanki bana devam edecekmiş de bir anda yarıda kalmış yazar da hikayeyi apar topar bitirmiş hissi veriyor.
PKD okumalarınıza katabilirsiniz ancak ilk okuma kitabınız olmamalı, yazarın dehasını göremeyeceksiniz bu kitapla.
Çeviri konusunda genel olarak iyi ancak tek bir sorun canımı sıkmıştı, Jim Briskin isimli karakterin aslında ismi James ve bazı noktalarda Jamesi bazen Jimi kullanıyor. İlk farklı kullanımda dipnot düşülebilirdi. Kimin neden Jim’e kısaltığını anlamadım şahsen.
Sürprizbozan vermeden kitap hakkında şunları söyleyebilirim. Kitap klasik PKD varoluş felsefesi içeriyor. İçerisinde ırkçılık eleştirisi, toplum değerlerinin yorumlanması var.
Fikir özellikle de portal/solucan deliği fikri hikayeye güzel oturmuş ancak biraz daha derinleştirilebilir ve daha yoğun bir bilimkurgu gelişimi görebilirdik.
Kitap sanki bana devam edecekmiş de bir anda yarıda kalmış yazar da hikayeyi apar topar bitirmiş hissi veriyor.
PKD okumalarınıza katabilirsiniz ancak ilk okuma kitabınız olmamalı, yazarın dehasını göremeyeceksiniz bu kitapla.
Çeviri konusunda genel olarak iyi ancak tek bir sorun canımı sıkmıştı, Jim Briskin isimli karakterin aslında ismi James ve bazı noktalarda Jamesi bazen Jimi kullanıyor. İlk farklı kullanımda dipnot düşülebilirdi. Kimin neden Jim’e kısaltığını anlamadım şahsen.
May 3, 2012
I can see, sociologically, where Dick was headed with this one. As always, his novels are daring and ahead of their time. The Crack in Space was enjoyable, but it wasn't unforgettable enough to pick up again. Dialogue was a little heavy and vaguely droning sometimes. The storyline took a while to accomplish anything with. The amount of characters also never really paid off, they all felt similar except for Jim Briskin in style. It's classic paranoid Dick though, and the same personality is retained. I can safely say that while this was not a waste of time, it is not near one of his best works.
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