03/22/2025
I had started this one many years ago and never finished, so I restarted it because I know how much praise this book has received, especially from Le Guin. Compared to other titles from Dick, the characters in this book are very well crafted. I found the differences of this alternate world pertaining to culture to be very interesting, and of course, how fortune telling plays such a huge role in decision making or interpretation of events. I like that multiple timelines are going on, and I love the concepts of art and Woo and this foreign mindset to each interaction.
I also liked the power of the fictional book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and what it does to people. Then you find out it was written by random, and then further the mystery of it is also shrouded in random interpretation. The beauty in this book is basically interpretation and the pressure of interpretation. But the biggest message was about war. Even though Germany and Japan had won, they were still at war with one another now. Even if England and the United States had won, they would have been at war with one another. I can’t help think about about something Octavia Butler said; things that aren’t strong enough to bring us together will eventually divide us. This book absolutely shows that.
2025-9
