[OY4]⇒ Read Our Friends from Frolix 8 Philip K Dick 9780375719349 Books

Our Friends from Frolix 8 Philip K Dick 9780375719349 Books

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Our Friends from Frolix 8 Philip K Dick 9780375719349 Books

Maybe not one of PKD's best science fiction novels, but a thoroughly entertaining book I enjoyed very much. As in most of his work, it is the characters that are so real and make one want to read on and on. I have been disappointed by just one of his novels (one of his mainstream ones), and I've sampled all his novels in print save one. If you liked/loved Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, VALIS, or The Man in the High Castle, Etc., you should definitely read this one too... and the rest of his books. They are some of the most fun I've had (with my nose in a book, that is!)


Tags : Our Friends from Frolix 8 [Philip K. Dick] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. For all the strange worlds borne of his vast and vivid imagination, Philip K. Dick was largely concerned with humanity’s most achingly familiar heartaches and struggles. In <b>Our Friends From Frolix 8</b>,Philip K. Dick,Our Friends from Frolix 8,Vintage,0375719342,Science fiction.,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction General,Fiction-Science Fiction,GENERAL,General Adult,Science Fiction,Science Fiction & Fantasy,Science Fiction - General

Our Friends from Frolix 8 Philip K Dick 9780375719349 Books Reviews

Unlike Philip K. Dick's previous two novels, 1969's "Ubik" and 1970's "A Maze of Death," his 27th full-length sci-fi book, "Our Friends From Frolix 8," was not released in a hardcover first edition. Rather, it first saw the light of day, later in 1970, as a 60-cent Ace paperback (no. 64400, for all you collectors out there). And whereas those two previous novels had showcased the author giving his favorite theme--the chimeralike nature of reality--a pretty thorough workout, "Our Friends" impresses the reader as a more "normal" piece of science fiction...although glints of Dickian strangeness do, of course, crop up.

Of all the Dick novels that I have read, "Our Friends" seems most reminiscent of 1964's "The Simulacra." Both books feature the downfall of entrenched, duplicitous governments and sport an extremely large cast of characters (56 named characters in the earlier book, 48 in the latter). In "Our Friends," the Earth of the 22nd century is ruled by an oligarchy of two ruling groups the New Men, bubble-headed mutants with tremendous IQs, and the Unusuals, who command various telepathic, telekinetic and precognitive abilities. The overwhelming ruck of Earth's billions, the Old Men, are precluded from any sort of government/civil service employment and must make do with their menial-labor positions. In the book, we meet Nick Appleton ("the name a character in a book would have," he is told), a "tire regroover," who is shaken out of his mundane existence when his young son "fails" a rigged civil service exam. Swiftly becoming politicized, he drinks illegal alcohol, buys anti-government tracts from a feisty 16-year-old tomboy, and is soon embroiled in the thick of things in this Big Brotherish, dystopian world. A good thing, then, that Thors Provoni, a space wanderer who had left Earth a decade earlier to seek help for mankind's lot, is about to return...with a "90-ton, gelatinous mass of protoplasmic slime"; the telepathic, titular friend from Frolix 8.

Swiftly moving and filled with humorous touches, simply written yet complexly plotted, alternating furious action sequences with thought-provoking discourse, "Our Friends" is yet another delightful Dick confection. It finds the author dealing with some of his pet topics, such as divorce (Appleton leaves his wife during the course of the book; Council Chairman Willis Gram plots to kill his), Carl Jung ("A Maze of Death" was replete with Jungian subtext; he is referred to by Provoni as "the greatest of the human thinkers"), drug use (drugbars are ubiquitous in the novel, and every citizen seems to possess the knowledge of a Walgreens pharmacist) and 20th century fighter planes (this pet subject of Dick's had received especial attention in previous works such as 1967's "The Ganymede Takeover" and "Ubik"). Nick is an especially well-drawn everyman-type character, and the reader's sympathy for him never wavers, not even when he strikes his wife, Kleo (named after Dick's second wife out of five). No dummy, he recognizes the music of Victor Herbert and has a Yeats poem, "The Song of the Happy Shepherd," committed to memory. Charley, the young tomboy "gutter rat" with whom Nick has a rather icky love affair, is also memorable; in one sweet scene, the two make love in the one acre left of Central Park, and she spins around in circles, arms out, when Nick tells her that he loves her.

The book, however, good as it is, has its share of problems. As in "The Simulacra," several plot threads and characters simply peter out, never to be mentioned again. Worse, the author seems to be guilty here of a good deal of inconsistencies over the course of his story. For example, there is the matter of dates. We are told that the New Men have been in power for 50 years, since 2085. So the book takes place in 2135, right? But wait...Provoni later tells us that he was 18 years old in 2103, and now he's 105. So it's 2190, right? But hold on...his 10-year-old spaceship is a model from 2198. So it's 2208, right? See what I mean? Elsewhere, Dick mentions that there are 10,000 New Men and Unusuals on Earth; later, that figure changes to 10 million! He mentions that the army commands 64 different types of missiles; that figure is later said to be 70! He says that the government maintains detention camps in southwest Utah; later, they are said to be in southeast Utah! Provoni lands on Earth 1 1/2 hours earlier than expected; later, he is said to have landed eight hours earlier than expected! And perhaps most surprising, history buff Dick mentions that the name "Ashurbanipal" was Egyptian, whereas it is fairly common knowledge that the dude was Assyrian! (Granted, that last COULD be a bit of ignorance on Provoni's part.) Anyway, you get my point. Dick and his editors surely would have benefited from another rereading of their manuscript before publication. But despite all these many gaffs (very uncommon for this author, to my experience), the book is still as fun as can be. And really, how can you dislike any book with a 90-ton mass of telepathic slime?
It gets off to a promising start. Not that far in the future, mankind's next step in evolution creates the New Men. Intelligent beyond Old Men's comprehension, they quickly dominate the government ant turn the 100,000-to-1 minority into a ruling class, complete with everything that would have made great conspiracy theories if they weren't true. The bulk of the story follows one of the underclass as he becomes radicalized by the rebellious underground.

But, it's a PKD book, so the little things give it unique texture. Like Our Hero's job, carving grooves into bald tires. And like the outlawing and public horror of alcohol in favor of amphetamines and a rich assortment of other psychopharmaceuticals. And the gangster-like machinations by the head of government.

It could have gone in any number of directions the rebellion suppressed, or what happens when the Old Men regained control, or ... well, pretty much anything except the way it did end, which wasn't much of an ending.

-- wiredweird
This book reads like a combination of story elements and themes that he had used before, strung together well enough to keep you turning the pages, but not well enough to be great literature. Probably the biggest thing wrong with this book is that it's not really likable.
In my continuing effort to read all of Dick's work, I picked up the finally-reprinted Our Friends from Frolix 8 this week. What a disappointment!
I really like Dick's writing, and I have even enjoyed some of his less than stellar novels, like The Zap Gun or Clans of the Alphane Moon. This one, though, just doesn't do much for me. It's got a decent premise and some decent (but predictably Dickian) characters, but it just doesn't pull it all together and produce.
The climax was too long in coming and, once it came, was a let down. For the most part, I'm just glad to have finished it.
Loved this. Heavy metaphor driven fiction that really hits home. PKD , a beautiful mind.
So you know those books or movies that are so interesting at the beginning and introduce so many complex factors, the whole time you are excited thinking "how are they going to resolve all these different strands?! This is going to be a great ending!"

Well, unfortunately PKD bobbled it this time. An utterly unsatisfying end. I would have regretted reading the book, if not for one delightful paragraph. Let me save you 240 pages

"God is dead,' Nick said. 'They found his carcass in 2019. Floating in space near Alpha.'

'They found the remains of an organism advanced several thousand times over what we are,' Charley said. 'And evidently could create habitable worlds and populate them with living organisms, derived from itself. But that doesn't prove it was God."

Do not read the book if you are intrigued by this, there is nothing else about it.
Another great book by Dick. Slowly making my way through his collection and each book makes you want to pick up another once it's completed.
Maybe not one of PKD's best science fiction novels, but a thoroughly entertaining book I enjoyed very much. As in most of his work, it is the characters that are so real and make one want to read on and on. I have been disappointed by just one of his novels (one of his mainstream ones), and I've sampled all his novels in print save one. If you liked/loved Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, VALIS, or The Man in the High Castle, Etc., you should definitely read this one too... and the rest of his books. They are some of the most fun I've had (with my nose in a book, that is!)