-Caveat Lector- Andre Welling wrote: > > From: Andre Welling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > An experiment (and spin-off of another project). > > -- > > Humpty Dmpty In Oakland is one of PKD's finest novels. It is > one of the finest American novels of the fifties too. It deals > with "what is real(ity)?" in the most cunning way. We will > never know *for sure* if Al Miller went psychotic in the course > of this novel (under our eyes! sheesh - where did he snap?) or > if he is indeed being crushed by that awful and uncanningly > powerful Org, the "Harman organization," which he came too > close. So close as to even working for "them." And he *is* > being crushed. > By Harman or rather by his attitude, faulty reasoning and > erratic behavior? Kafka *and* Shakespeare come to mind when I > think about the tone and machinery of this dark story. In the > end, Al Miller is a dead man walking (and knowing it), having > the stigmata 'all over him' but no UBIK at hand. > > Al Miller is Joe Chip's older brother and Chris Harman is the > Palmer Eldritch of Al's universe. > > " And they know I'm hooked, he thought. They know it's too late > for me to back out; I'll take the job, whatever it is. They're > masters of manipulation, of using psychology. > I'm their white rat, he thought. And I'm deep in the maze by > now. Far too deep to get out. And the cleverer I am, the smarter > I act, the deeper I go. It's fixed that way; that's part of the > system by which it works. " (124) > > " 'You look really tired,' Mary Allen said, with sympathy. > 'I think I never seen you so tired looking, Al.' > Tootie said: 'They still after you?' > 'No,' Al said. > 'They give up?' > 'No,' he said. 'They got me.' > Tootie's eyes widened and then narrowed. 'Then you not here. > You dead.' > [....] > 'I see it, what Tootie said, and I saw it when you came in. All > over him,' she said to her husband. 'In him and around him.' > 'See what?' Al said. > 'That you going to die soon,' Mary Ellen said. > 'Oh,' Al said. > 'It don't even bother you,' Mary Ellen said softly. > 'No,' he agreed. " (194/5) > > Chris Harman, Al's menace and short-time employer is owner and > manager of a record company, Teach Records (named after the > pirate Edward Teach aka Blackbeard..). The Teach Catalog features > "mostly trash...Rock-and-roll, Negro jazz combinations, what > they call race. Country, that is Okie, steel guitar" but there > a other labels (or even non-labeled, "dirty" editions) the Harman > organization runs under Teach cover; there is Spree Records & > Glee Records on one hand and the oh-so-serious Antiqua label > featuring "early-Renaissance masses and choral works" on the > other. And - as a project in the making - Harman-E, a label > featuring an entirely new sound which will "sweep the nation": > Electronic Barbershop, "with plenty of presence": "Modern > science will supply what barbershop has always lacked, a modern > quality to which modern people, like teenagers, could relate." > > And Al? Al is great. He says 'I'm familar' when he hasn't got a > clue and 'I see' when he does not see a thing. But see what, know > what? Props and cover stories? He's not quite interested. Al is > on a quest. Al is losing it rapidly. Poor Al. Crazy Al. I would > give him my vote among the top three when listing the ten most > remarkable PKD characters.. > > ~ Andre > > -- > "But there was also the problem that, when he had taken a Dexy, > he tended to talk too fast and too much. So to balance the little > flat green candy-heart shaped pill, he now swallowed down a round > red shiny-coated pill, a Sparine, which looked like nothing so > much as a ladybug with its feet drawn in. [...] For good measure > he also took two Anacin tablets." --- HDiO, page 112 > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! > Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in > forms and passwords with just one click! Comes with $50 in free coupons! > http://www.onelist.com/ad/gator1 > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
