The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
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 Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author | Philip K. Dick |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Timescape Books/Simon and Schuster |
| Released | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 255 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-671-44066-7 |
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer is a 1982 novel by Philip K. Dick. As his final work, the book was published shortly after his death in March 1982 following a series of strokes, although it was written the previous year. The book was originally titled Bishop Timothy Archer.
The novel was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1982.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Set in the late 1960s and 1970s, the story describes the efforts of Episcopalian Bishop Timothy Archer, who must cope with the theological and philosophical implications of the newly-discovered Gnostic Zadokite scroll fragments. The character of Bishop Archer is loosely based on the controversial, iconoclastic Episcopalian Bishop James Pike, who in 1969 died of exposure while exploring the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea in the West Bank.
Transmigration is one of Dick's most overtly philosophical and intellectual works. While Dick's novels usually employ multiple narrators or an omniscient perspective, this story is told in the first person by a single narrator: Angel Archer, Bishop Archer's daughter-in-law. Dick's work was often criticized for its flat, stereotypical female characters, so Angel may represent his effort to prove he could create a rich and believable feminine voice.
[edit] Characters in "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer"
- Angel Archer: narrator, manager of a Berkeley record store, widow of Jeff Archer
- Timothy Archer: Bishop of California, father of the late Jeff Archer and father-in-law of Angel
- Kirsten Lundborg: Timothy Archer's secretary and lover
- Bill Lundborg: Kirsten's son, afflicted by Asperger's syndrome and obsessed with cars
- Edgar Barefoot: Houseboat guru, radio personality, lecturer, based on Alan Watts
- Jeff Archer: professional student, Angel's deceased husband, son of Timothy Archer
[edit] Other works
Transmigration is thematically related to Dick's unfinished VALIS trilogy of novels:
- VALIS (1981)
- The Divine Invasion (1981)
- The Owl in Daylight
The novel has been included in several omnibus editions of the trilogy as a stand-in for the unwritten final volume. Transmigration was not intended by Dick to be part of the trilogy; however, the book fits comfortably with the two finished volumes and Dick himself called the three novels a trilogy, saying "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme." [1]
