Z/Web

Author: Philip K. Dick

A remarkable book. Definitely the kind you could read fifty times and still not completely understand. I’ve never done drugs, but if I had, I’m sure this book would describe the experience exactly. It’s set in the future (the 1990’s) and deals with a narc out to find drug dealers. Fred goes under cover as Bob, a drug addict. As part of his cover he must take Substance D, also known as Death, a powerful drug that has a side effect of splitting the mind into duelling consciouses. Slowly Fred (and Bob) lose the ability to distinguish reality. Worse, Fred’s secret identity is a secret even to his police bosses, and they assign him to monitor and keep tabs on… Bob. Yeah, that’s right, he’s to narc on himself! Eventually Fred can’t tell that he is Bob and the book gets really bizarre as paranoid Bob does things to avoid Fred and Fred does things to stop Bob… and they’re the same person! Incredibly powerful book on the dangers of drug abuse, but Dick doesn’t play God: he doesn’t judge these people, but he also doesn’t protect them from the consequences of their actions. From the opening line, “Once a guy stood all day shaking bugs from his hair,” to the end, this book is a trip. In some places it was so funny I had to stop reading to literally wipe tears of laughter from my eyes (like the part where the druggies argue that they were cheated on the ten-speed bike they bought because it only has seven gears, a two-setting gear and a five-setting gear for a total of seven). In other places it was so hard to read I couldn’t get through more than a few paragraphs without having to put the book down and breathe for a bit. The novel is hilarious, scary, and sickening, occasionally all three at once. It’s also a profound exploration of reality, unreality, consciousness, perception, personality, identity, and the meaning of existence. Very complex, very bizarre, very sad. Dick had his own drug problems, so this book speaks from experience. At the end he includes a list of close personal friends effected by drugs (some forming the basis of various characters in the novel), all of whom are either dead or permanently damaged by their habit. Frightening. He uses the analogy of a group of children playing in the street, being smashed and slaughtered by cars that pass, yet the children keep playing in the street, mindless of the deadly consequences of their actions. They just wanna have fun. Chilling. Highly recommended.

Author: James Patterson

A surprisingly good book. I’ve grown cautious with Patterson’s books: they are uneven in quality, but this one is very good. It deals with a serial killer who kills couples on their wedding night. But what makes the story interesting is Patterson’s protagonists: a group of females in various positions of authority (an assistant D.A., a Medical Examiner, a reporter, and a police inspector) who form their own unofficial “murder club” in pursuit of the killer. They all are intelligent, driven women, bonded by their sex, and feeling discriminated against by their male-dominated careers. The leader of the group is Lindsay Boxer, the police inspector in charge of the case, and as the book opens and the case begins, she learns she has a fatal disease. Unusual and interesting. Nice twists as far as the plot goes, though occasionally a little obvious. The reader’s given a little too much extra information about the crime at times, making the slower police investigation seem a little tedious, but overall the writing is decent, the pace breakneck, and the characters mostly three dimensional. The ending’s pretty good, but the epilogue — which changes everything — feels tacked on and tacky, like some editor told Patterson to include it. It’s way too short for the information it conveys and trivializes the rest of the novel. Patterson does leave the door open for a sequel with the murder club gals leading the charge: it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next. Good quick read.

Not a bad game, though rather strange scoring. Abdul Thompson Conteh (formerly of San Jose Earthquakes) scored on a header just 9 minutes in for D.C., but late in the half when D.C. was supposed to go up two goals after a penalty kick was awarded them, Calley’s shot was saved by Jurgen Summer. The second half was a reverse of the first half. Two minutes in New England was awarded a penalty and Harris took it. Mike Ammann blocked the shot, but the rebound went free and a charging Okoh pounced on it to tie the score. Then, toward the end of the game, it Conteh who scored again, this time on a volley in the box off a corner kick. Great action in the second half, both keepers performing well, especially Ammann, who made several spectacular saves to keep D.C. in the game. Unfortunately for the Revs, this is their third defeat in three games, though they didn’t play that badly. Final: 2-1 D.C.

Rather a boring affair. There were lots of valiant runs but neither team really had that many dramatic scoring opportunities, though the keepers did make a few key saves (especially Colorado’s Brown). Hendrickson got the game’s only goal late in the first half. Good result for L.A., but they should have won 3-zip. Final: 1-0 Galaxy.