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Valis
''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vision of God. Set in California during the 1970s, the book features heavy auto-biographical elements and draws inspiration from Dick's own investigations into his unexplained religious experiences over the previous decade. It is the first book in the incomplete ''VALIS trilogy'' of novels, followed by ''The Divine Invasion'' (1981). The planned third novel, ''The Owl in Daylight'', had not yet taken definite shape at the time of the author's death. Dick's final novel, ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' (1982), builds on similar themes; Dick wrote: "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme." Synopsis In March 1974, Horselover Fat (the alter-personality of Philip K. Dick) experiences visions of a pink beam of ligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VALIS
''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vision of God. Set in California during the 1970s, the book features heavy auto-biographical elements and draws inspiration from Dick's own investigations into his unexplained religious experiences over the previous decade. It is the first book in the incomplete ''VALIS trilogy'' of novels, followed by ''The Divine Invasion'' (1981). The planned third novel, ''The Owl in Daylight'', had not yet taken definite shape at the time of the author's death. Dick's final novel, ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' (1982), builds on similar themes; Dick wrote: "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme." Synopsis In March 1974, Horselover Fat (the alter-personality of Philip K. Dick) experiences visions of a pink beam of ligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Divine Invasion
''The Divine Invasion'' is a 1981 science fantasy novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It is the second book in the gnostic VALIS trilogy, and takes place in the indeterminate future, perhaps a century or more after VALIS. The novel, originally titled ''Valis Regained'', was nominated to the BSFA Award. After the fall of Masada in AD 74, God, or " Yah", is exiled from Earth and forced to take refuge in the CY30-CY30B star system. Although people of Earth are meanwhile ruled by Belial, the fallen Morning Star who serves as Yah's principal Adversary, Yah is intent on reclaiming his creation. Writing The book was conceived as a sequel to Dick's ''VALIS'', though it shares no characters and virtually no plot elements with the other book. Both novels depict divine information being imparted by means of pink beams of light. In both novels, it is suggested or stated that there was a "fall" resulting in impairment to the Godhead, but that some sort of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VALIS Trilogy
The ''VALIS trilogy'' is a set of science fiction/philosophical novels by author Philip K. Dick which include ''VALIS'' (1978), ''The Divine Invasion'' (1980), and ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' (1982). Dick's first novel about the VALIS concept originally titled "''VALISystem A''" (written 1976), was published as ''Radio Free Albemuth'' after Dick's death (March 1982) in 1985. Background In February and March 1974, Dick experienced a series of visions and other inexplicable perceptual and cognitive phenomena. For the rest of his life, Dick explored the philosophical implications and hypothesized about the origins of the experience, in a journal which eventually ran to hundreds of thousands of words. This work became known as the ''Exegesis'', selections of which were published as '' The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick''. Dick's leading hypothesis was that he had been contacted by a transcendental, mystical mind he called VALIS (vast active living intelligence system). In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Free Albemuth
''Radio Free Albemuth'' is a dystopian novel by Philip K. Dick, written in 1976 and published posthumously in 1985. Originally titled ''VALISystem A'', it was his first attempt to deal in fiction with his experiences of early 1974. When his publishers at Bantam requested extensive rewrites he canned the project and reworked it into the ''VALIS'' trilogy. Arbor House acquired the rights to ''Radio Free Albemuth'' in 1985. They then published an edition under the current title (the original was too close to ''VALIS''), prepared from the corrected typescript given by Dick to his friend Tim Powers. Plot summary In this alternate history, the corrupt United States president Ferris F. Fremont (FFF for 666, ‘F’ being the 6th letter in the alphabet) becomes Chief Executive in the late 1960s following Lyndon Johnson's administration. The character is best described as an amalgam of Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, who abrogates civil liberties and human rights through posit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man In The High Castle
''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues between Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany as they rule the partitioned United States. ''The Grasshopper Lies Heavy'' is a novel-within-the-novel which is an alternative history of the war in which the Allies defeat the Axis. Dick's thematic inspirations include the alternative history of the American Civil War, '' Bring the Jubilee'' (1953), by Ward Moore, and the ''I Ching'', a Chinese book of divination that features in the story and the actions of the characters. ''The Man in the High Castle'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963, and was adapted to television for Amazon Prime Video as '' The Man in the High Castle'' in 2015. Synopsis Background In ''The Man in the High Castle'' alternative history, Giuseppe Zangara successfully a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Transmigration Of Timothy Archer
''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' is a 1982 novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. As his final work, the book was published shortly after his death in March 1982, although it was written the previous year. The novel draws on autobiographical details of Dick's friendship with the controversial Episcopal bishop James Pike, on whom the title character is loosely based. It continues Dick's investigation into the religious and philosophical themes of ''VALIS''. The novel was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1982. Plot Set in the late 1960s and 1970s, the story describes the efforts of Episcopal 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 Episcopal bishop James Pike, who in 1969 died of exposure while exploring the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea in the West Bank. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theophany
Theophany (from Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way. Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifestation of God in some tangible form." Where the deity does not take tangible form (outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration. Where the spirit of god is manifest in a person the term used is divine incarnation, avatar or personification of the deity. Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. While the ''Iliad'' is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the specific usage for Christians and Jews, with respect to the Bible, ''theophany'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Owl In Daylight
''The Owl in Daylight'' is a novel Philip K. Dick was writing at the time of his death in 1982. He had already been paid an advance for the book by the publisher and was working against a deadline. After his death, his estate approached other writers about the possibility of someone completing the novel based on his notes, but that proved to be impossible, as he had never formally outlined the story. Dick viewed the novel as his ''Finnegans Wake''. The idea was inspired partly by an entry in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' on Beethoven that referred to him as the most creative genius of all time, partly by traditional views of what constitutes the human heaven (visions of lights), and finally by the Faust story. However, Andrew M. Butler's alternative plot summaries seem to suggest that he might have become fascinated by Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' as a form of theophany. In his final completed work, '' The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'', his narrator, Angel Archer, shows sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophical Novel
Philosophical fiction refers to the class of works of fiction which devote a significant portion of their content to the sort of questions normally addressed in philosophy. These might explore any facet of the human condition, including the function and role of society, the nature and motivation of human acts, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of art in human lives, the role of experience or reason in the development of knowledge, whether there exists free will, or any other topic of philosophical interest. Philosophical fiction works would include the so-called ''novel of ideas'', including some science fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, and the ''Bildungsroman''. Philosophical fiction : ''This is only a list of some major philosophical fiction. For all philosophical novels, see :Philosophical novels. There is no universally accepted definition of philosophical fiction, but a sampling of notable works can help to outline its history. Some philosophers write ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tides'' served as inspiration for the '' Monkey Island'' franchise of video games and was optioned for adaptation into the fourth ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film. Most of Powers' novels are "secret histories". He uses actual, documented historical events featuring famous people, but shows another view of them in which occult or supernatural factors heavily influence the motivations and actions of the characters. Typically, Powers strictly adheres to established historical facts. He reads extensively on a given subject, and the plot develops as he notes inconsistencies, gaps and curious data; regarding his 2001 novel ''Declare'', he stated, "I made it an ironclad rule that I could not change or disregard any of the recorded facts, nor rearr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music. Bowie developed an interest in music from an early age. He studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. "Space Oddity", released in 1969, was his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of Bowie's single " Starman" and album '' The Rise and Fall of Zi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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