VALIS, etc.

maa32 · 29 Oct 2002, 18:41 · from urth-v0210.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) VALIS, etc.
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 11:41:17 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0210-1983 at digest.urth.net>
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I was pleased and surprised to see Dick's Valis brought up in the past two=20
days - I just read those a few weeks ago and was intrigued by the "double=20
time" that Horselover experienced, based on the concept that time "stopped"=
 in=20
73 AD or so and "resumed" in the '70s, as well as the idea of salvation as =
a=20
physical hybridization between human beings and a plasmate.  I thought this=20
was a pretty good illustration of the salvation I've tried to construct for=20
the short sun books (with characters experiencing double time - Silkhorn go=
ing=20
far back into the past to meet Severian (instead of both existing at the sa=
me=20
time), and with salvation of humanity through a hybridization with vegetati=
ve=20
matter).
Additionally, the narrator of VALIS (Dick himself) suffers from a=20
dissassociative disorder with the main character, Horselover Phat (Dick=20
himself) and doesn't recognize that he is one person until most of the book=
 is=20
over.  This kind of resonates nicely with Horn's condition as narrator.

ALAS, all of these parallels were for naught - I asked Wolfe if he had read=20
VALIS and he said he was not familiar with it, nor with half of Dick's work=
. =20
I was bummed - I was sure I had seen some influence, and I was just wrong.
Marc Aramini

--=20

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