Philip K. Dick's Puttering About in a Small Land

One of science fiction writing legend Philip K. Dick's relatively obscure realism novels, Puttering About in a Small Land, gave me an idea as to why these realism novels of his were so difficult to get published (many of them didn't until after his death). And the reason is really quite simple: they don't have any "hooks".

These novels, including Puttering, are more than anything a combination of very compelling character portrayals with some brutal social commentary woven in. All, so far, deal with people in the middle-to-lower class struggling to make ends meet while trying to hold on to their individual dreams and carrying on mostly dysfunctional relationships with one another. But there are no attractive backdrops to the stories that would draw the reader's interest to pick up the book, or at least to convince a publisher that it would stand a fighting chance on a store's bookshelf. Dick's sci-fi works, on the other hand, always have these hooks, or gimmicks if you will, that intrigue the reader.

Puttering About in a Small Land is about two California couples going about their mundane existences while trying in various ways to "break through" into more meaningful lives. And each of them has his/her own, distinct vision of what a "meaningful life" is. For Roger Lindahl, the novel's main focus, it is freedom and excitement. For his wife Virginia, it is security and control over all of the facets of her existence. The other couple, the Bonners, also have their own personally-held ideals. How these people put their visions into play, along with the consequences of their actions, determines the plot line of the novel. But truth be told, I wasn't particularly sympathetic to any of the characters, although the author did a masterful job at revealing and exploring them. What happened to them by the end of the story was of little consequence to me, so it made reading it a pretty drawn-out exercise of tedium. I suppose the main "lesson" I picked up from this story (more of an affirmation of what I already feel) is how much people create narratives of their past (usually casting themselves as victims) to justify their present behavior.

Maybe, for the sake of "completism", I will continue reading Philip K. Dick's other realism novels. But I greatly prefer his science fiction. Good news: The next novel I'm reading is his award-winning sci-fi story The Man in the High Castle.

.....And yes, I'm aware of the ambiguity of this article's title!