The Owl in Daylight
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The Owl in Daylight is a novel that Philip K. Dick was working on at the time of his death in 1982. He had already been paid and was working against a deadline. After his death the Philip K. Dick estate approached other writers to see about the possibility of someone writing the novel based on his notes but this proved to be impossible as he never formally outlined the story. Philip viewed this novel as his Finnegans Wake. The idea was inspired partly by an entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica on Beethoven that referred to him as the most creative genius of all time, partly by traditional views of what constitutes the human heaven (visions of lights) and finally by the Faust story.
[edit] Summary of Story
The novel dealt with one Ed Firmley, a composer of scores for B-movie grade sci-fi films and a race of alien humanoids that had evolved without the development of sound as a basis of communication. The shamans of this alien race would on occasion have visions of Earth and its many sounds. Due to their unique evolution without sound the holy men were incapable of describing these experiences to the rest of their race. They just knew that the place they saw was their heaven. Meanwhile their race was modeled around sight and light, encompassing much more of the electromagnetic spectrum than the limited human vision. In fact, from their perspective, humans were capable of sight but nearly blind, such as a mole appears to a human. Their language involved the telepathic projection of color patterns in precise gradations and following mathematical formulas.
A spaceship carrying members of this race arrives on Earth and they mug Ed Firmley, a famous composer they quickly discover, as a cover-up for plugging a bio-chip into his head. This bio-chip is a digitized form of one of the aliens with a link back to the ship – essentially allowing everyone to experience Ed Firmley by proxy. The bio-chip is supposed to be passive, serving only as a means of relaying the mystic experience of sound to an entire race. Soon the alien presence in the bio-chip becomes bored of Firmley’s music, which is bland, schmaltzy schlock and the pop music that he constantly listens to. As a consequence of this boredom, the bio-chip turns from being passed to active, controlling what Firmley listens to as well as feeding him mathematical formulas that he begins to use as the basis of his compositions. His career, from a financial perspective, dwindles but he becomes a respected avant-garde artist. The active role the bio-chip takes in the relationship begins frying Firmley’s brain. At this point the aliens make themselves known and offer to remove the chip, but Firmley refuses. He sees himself as an artist where as before he was of no consequence, doing what he did simply for money. The solution eventually becomes that Firmley himself gives up his body to be transformed into a bio-chip which is in turn implanted into an alien brain. This will also lead to the eventual death of the alien host but it offers Firmley a chance of experiencing their world of lights, our heaven.
"The owl in daylight" is a phrase PKD heard on television. It means to not understand, or to be blind.
[edit] Film Adaptation
A movie version (of sorts) of The Owl In Daylight is reportedly in the early planning stages (as of September 2006). It is supposedly not a direct adaptation of the unfinished novel, and instead will resemble more of a biopic focusing on author Philip K. Dick's life story combined with elements from the book. Structurally the film is rumored to be similar to those written by oddball scribe Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich). Paul Giamatti is to play Dick and Terry Gilliam is to direct.
