I just finished reading another set of Phil
Dick's short fiction, and I finally came across
some of his stuff that I just don't get. To be
specific, "Novelty Act" and "What the Dead Men
Say" were the two stories that had me
thinking, "what on earth just happened?" at the
end. Or maybe just, "Huh?" Or perhaps,
"Where's the climax?"

With "Novelty Act," it just seemed like there
was no point to the story. He told a story, and
parts of it were interesting, but at the end, I
was thinking that if Dick had a purpose for
writing the story, I didn't grasp it.

But at least that story had a definite arc to it;
you know, an introduction, a buildup, a climax,
and a denoument. "What the Dead Men Say"
felt like it should have gone on another couple
of pages or so. The climax came, and then the
story ended... where was the rest?

There were some really good stories in the
collection too, though. My favorites: "War
Game," "Waterspider," and "Orpheus with Clay
Feet." The last one in particular really screws
with your head at the end... typical PKD, I
guess.

Now I've finally started _Do Androids Dream
of Electric Sheep_. And I'm wondering why
there is a Reuters news article from 1966
immediately before chapter one. The article is
from Auckland, New Zealand and is about the
death of a 200 year old turtle named Tu'Imalila
that lived someplace called Tonga. Apparently
the turtle's carcass was being sent to the
Auckland Museum. Curious.

Gri"was Philip K. Dick's mission in life to
confuse his readers?"shny