Kian Ryan reviewed Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Review of 'Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Dick likes drugs. Or at least, likes stories that use drugs to alter some form of reality. "Now Wait for Last Year" pivots around JJ-180, a time/space travelling drug and "A Scanner Darkly" revolves around "Substance D", a psychoactive drug which amongst other effects, slows down a user's perception of time.
In "Flow My Tears", Dick plays with the fear of a loss of identity. A famous celebrity wakes up one day to find himself an unperson. In a totalitarian regime, this inevitability means that if he is caught he will be put into a forced labour camp. The story starts on a familiar path of evade and escape, and feels very cosy. Past the half-way point of the novel, the drug theme is introduced and explored with another character, a "damaged" individual who has privileged access to this drug.
The format has been explored recently and extensively in film. …
Dick likes drugs. Or at least, likes stories that use drugs to alter some form of reality. "Now Wait for Last Year" pivots around JJ-180, a time/space travelling drug and "A Scanner Darkly" revolves around "Substance D", a psychoactive drug which amongst other effects, slows down a user's perception of time.
In "Flow My Tears", Dick plays with the fear of a loss of identity. A famous celebrity wakes up one day to find himself an unperson. In a totalitarian regime, this inevitability means that if he is caught he will be put into a forced labour camp. The story starts on a familiar path of evade and escape, and feels very cosy. Past the half-way point of the novel, the drug theme is introduced and explored with another character, a "damaged" individual who has privileged access to this drug.
The format has been explored recently and extensively in film. Hollywood likes a good chase movie and a movie about a hidden identity, or unperson evading the authorities has been rather flogged to death. I can't work out if this taints my view of this book. Whilst reading Dick, I expect to be challenged. Time Out of Join and A Scanner Darkly felt like harder readers, they challenged the reader to think more on the subjects presented. I had very little empathy with the main character or any other characters in the novel, neither did I feel as if I had been "taken along for the ride". There was very little new here that hadn't been previously explored by Dick in other novels, and the character of Alys felt like a get out of jail free card.
I was surprised that this was nominated for a Nebula in '74 and a Hugo in '75.
From another author, this would probably have been a reasonable piece of writing and an enjoyable-enough escape. But with "Dick" on the cover, my expectations are set significantly higher.
