Eye in the Sky (novel)
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 Cover of first edition (paperback) |
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| Author | Philip K. Dick |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Released | 1957 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 255 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
Eye in the Sky is a science fiction novel written by Philip K. Dick and originally published in 1957.
The titular 'eye' refers to the perception of God within a particular concretely manifested personal worldview that one of the protagonists, Arthur Silvester, an elderly schismatic Babi World War II army veteran initially imposes on the other protagonists.
[edit] Plot summary
While on a visit to the (fictional) Belmont Bevatron, eight people become stuck in a series of subtly unreal worlds, caused by the malfunction of the particle accelerator. These are later revealed to be solipsistic manifestations, bringing the story in line with Dick's penchant for subjective realities. As well as his future discussions of theology and fears about Joseph McCarthy era authoritarianism, the novel skewers several human foibles.
Jack Hamilton, the central protagonist, is being dismissed from his job at the Bevatron due to McCarthy era paranoia about his wife Marsha's left-wing political sympathies, while other affected members of the injured touring party also include Bill Laws, a pre-civil rights era African-American, employed as a tour guide within the plant; Arthur Silvester, an elderly schismatic Babi and believer in geocentric cosmology; Joan Reiss, a paranoid woman; and Edith Pritchert, a maternal but censorious elderly woman and her son. In succession, the group moves through solpsistic personalised alternate worlds related to the beliefs and worldviews of Arthur Silvester, Pritchet, Reiss and a hardline marxist caricature of contemporary US society. However, Marsha Hamilton's subconscious perceptions did not produce this alternate reality, but it originates from an unexpected source, revealed as Charles MacFyffe, a communist sympathiser who works as chief security officer in the Bevatron plant.
