Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Book

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch was the kind of book that Kilgore Trout, the fictional recurring character in Kurt Vonnegut's novels (based on science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon) would have been proud of - deftly original, scathingly satirical, wildly entertaining - and funny in the kind of subtle way that would have pleased Vonnegut.

It is good in many different ways, and works well on different levels. First published in 1965, this is one of Dick's earlier works that deals both directly and obliquely with religious themes.

The surface story itself, if it were made into a movie, could be cast and produced in a similar fashion as the Bruce Willis film The Fifth Element - it's over the top, bizarre, absurd, and yet all fits together. PKD's underlying commentaries on religion and the drug culture are both erudite and socially informed. The author also applies a generous portion of irony and outrageous circumstance to an already volatile mix, like evolution of humans into a neo-bug-like thing. Critics before me have said that it is one of his best and I must wholeheartedly agree.

Oddly reminiscent of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the parts left out of Bladerunner) this novel brings out some of PKD's unique abilities to combine science fiction with theological explorations.

Best line in the book: "Palmer Eldritch had gone to Prox a man and returned a god".

A must read for PKD fans, SF fans, and a good introduction of his work for a new reader.

*** 2020 reread

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is on a short list of PKD's best.

This time around I paid closer attention to the climate concerns (first published in 1965, this describes full on global warming) and the strange connections with the mind altering drugs and the hovel societies on Mars.

I also noted the similarities with this book and one of his lesser known works, Our Friends from Frolix 8. (first published in 1970) where Dick revisits some of these same themes, especially of a godlike allegory of alien first contact.