More book wanted!
3 stars
There's greatness in the book, but there's some seriously questionable moments too. As classic PKD goes, it's one of his earlier novels and I could see glimpses of the style which would mature so successfully later on. Here though, we have tons of ideas but, I thought, not enough book to hold them all! The World Jones Made is short yet combines three strong storylines - to which other authors would probably given a book apiece. The eponymous Jones is a fascinating character, Cassandra-like initially, but realising the satisfaction of actually being believed and venerated for his skill. PKD shows the global reaction to his leadership, scarily prescient given the current climate, with a good sense of human desire and fallibility.
I was intrigued by the extra-terrestrial elements, but felt these didn't stand so well especially against modern scientific knowledge. I do realise it isn't completely fair to judge a …
There's greatness in the book, but there's some seriously questionable moments too. As classic PKD goes, it's one of his earlier novels and I could see glimpses of the style which would mature so successfully later on. Here though, we have tons of ideas but, I thought, not enough book to hold them all! The World Jones Made is short yet combines three strong storylines - to which other authors would probably given a book apiece. The eponymous Jones is a fascinating character, Cassandra-like initially, but realising the satisfaction of actually being believed and venerated for his skill. PKD shows the global reaction to his leadership, scarily prescient given the current climate, with a good sense of human desire and fallibility.
I was intrigued by the extra-terrestrial elements, but felt these didn't stand so well especially against modern scientific knowledge. I do realise it isn't completely fair to judge a 1950s book against 21st century information! I won't mention specific instances here in order to avoid inadvertently giving away plot points, but readers should probably be prepared to gloss over a few hang-on-a-minute moments! Overall though, I just wanted this book to have been at least twice its length and to delve much more deeply into the questions it raises. I felt characters and setting were sketched rather than fully drawn so were ultimately unsatisfying. Such grand ideas deserve a Really Big Book!
