Counter-Clock World

Counter-Clock World

by Philip K Dick

I have always like Philip K Dick's work, but for whatever reason I had not read much of him lately. Recently while on vacation I visited a bookstore that had many PKD novels that I had not read. I bought them, and packed them away to be read when I got home. Home again; I started with A Maze of Death. While interesting, Maze lacked the voice of PKD's best works; I admit to some apprehension over the remaining 8 books that I had purchased.

It was an apprehension short lived.

With its opening line, Counter-Clock World reunited me with the Dickian style I find so enjoyable. It is a pessimistic and claustrophobic style, often dark, but droll and light. Entropy tirelessly (and visibly) eats away at the scenery, civilization, and humanity of humankind. Interestingly enough, in this novel--due to the Hobart Phase--the dissolution of humankind and its accomplishments works in reverse: the dead rise from the grave, aging towards infancy and unbirth; likewise, invention and creation deconstruct towards nonexistence, ceasing to be at the moment of their conception. It is a reality to be accepted lightly and with good humor--a reality that often worked in opposition to the exertions of my own imagination. CCW, like so much of PKD's works, exists under its own rules of gravity: the heavier the subject, the lighter it becomes. While CCW does not make my list of Top 5 PKD Novels, I still rate it highly, finding it a thought provoking and entertaining book.