VALIS by Philip K. Dick

 Refinished Sa 6/25/22

This is part of one of my trade paperbacks that contains all of 'The Valis Trilogy'; VALIS, THE DIVINE INVASION, THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER.

Over the decades I've read this several times and always find something new.

Beth- wife

Christopher- son  "Pink Light"

Sign of the Fish could signify The Double Helix

Kevin's dead cat- Why did god allow this to happen?

Gloria- addict; suicide

Sherri- cancer; sadomasochistic tendencies

'Valis' the movie; MOTHER GOOSE (Rock Band- Eric & Linda Lampton)

Ferris Freemont (Richard Nixon)

***From a reader at Goodreads:

"A question we had to learn to deal with during the dope decade was, How do you break the news to someone that his brains are fried?” So says the first-person narrator in VALIS, Philip K. Dick’s autobiographical novel of spiritual odyssey, a novel where the narrator begins by laying out the major issues he must deal with as he attempts to gain a measure of sanity along with a sense of purpose and the meaning of life: drugs, a desire to help others, the pull of insanity, suicide and death, time and place (Northern California in the 60s), split-identity (the narrator alternately identifies and disidentifies with one Horselover Fat), God and occlusion (he receives otherworldly messages via a beam of pink light prompting him to explore ancient Gnosticism) – all in all a 60s California-style version of the novels of Hermann Hesse, novels like Siddhartha, Damion and Steppenwolf. What a wild ride. For example, here is a list of what I see as the top ten conundrums we are asked to ponder:

One - Theophany

The narrator explains how a theophany is self-disclosure by the divine, in other words, a theophany isn’t something we do; rather, a theophany is something the divine – the God or gods, the higher powers – does to us. The intense pink beam of light experienced by the narrator’s persona Horselover Fat was just such a theophany. But, then, the question invariably arises: how are we to know if we received a true theophany or are suffering from an illusion?

Two - When your theophany goes against the grain of the conventional

One of the most fascinating and hilarious parts of the novel is the narrator’s therapy session with Maurice, a Hasidic Jew. In his session, Horselover Fat contrasts the ‘true’ God, the God of the Gnostics, the God of his pink ray of light, with the ‘flawed’ God of Genesis. Maurice’s reaction to such an esoteric explanation of the universe makes for lively reading, a high point of insight into the rocky spiritual challenges faced by our narrator.

Three - When your discover others share your theophany

Turns out, there are a number of other people who have had a similar theophany from the true Gnostic God. Horselover Fat’s encounter with these men and women challenges his very idea of sanity since he observes just how far zealots will go in their zealotry.

Four – How to deal with your theophany once it starts to wear off

From the novel: “They ought to make it a binding clause that if you find God you get to keep him. For Fat, finding God (if indeed he did find God) became, ultimately, a bummer, a constantly diminishing supply of joy, sinking lower and lower like the contents of a bag of uppers.” Darn, if only God were as readily available as drugs.

Five – When you encounter the many sides of you

As Harry Haller of Hesse’s Steppenwolf experiences the many facets of his personal identity in the Magic Theater, so, in the course this novel, PKD (yes, again, a very autobiographical work) discovers the many sides of PKD. How many versions are there? Feel free to round to the nearest dozen.

Six – The concept of time

Is someone or something playing a board game with time and we humans as mere players? Can time be abolished and transcended? If so, how do we go about it?

Seven – Zebra, that is, pure living intelligence, so called by Horselover Fat

Can an out-of-cosmos intelligence contact humans? This question is related to the possibility of a true theophany.

Eight - The presence of evil in the universe

Is there an answer to Kevin’s pressing question: What about my dead cat? In other words, why do bad things happen to good cats or why is there evil in the world?

Nine – The Exegesis

An exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of scripture or a sacred text. VALIS includes many entries from PKD’s thousand page exegesis published as a separate book. The question looms: would PKD have expanded his exegesis to several more thousands of pages had he lived to age 90? My own guess is definitely ‘yes’, since once you start to unravel the mysteries of the universe according to your own schemata, three questions pop up for every answer you offer. Ah, the mysteries of the universe!

Ten – What is VALIS?

Sure, it stands for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, but where does it fit into the novel? I wouldn’t want to spoil this question by providing an answer. You will have to read it for yourself. Once again, novel reading as a wild magic carpet ride. I recommend you hop on."

STILL WATERS by Tami Hoag

Finished We 6/22/22

This was a paperback that I bought at the library book sale two years ago; Sa 1/11/20.

I just read another novel by this author and I like her stuff. Slightly too much romance, but within acceptable levels. 

Set in the fictional town of Still Creek, Minnesota.

A town father is murdered- his throat was cut, and the body was found by the editor of the town's paper.

Review from Publishers Weekly:

"After a messy and very public divorce from her magnate husband, Elizabeth Stuart is persuaded by her old college chum to move from Atlanta to Still Creek, Minn. When car trouble strikes, Elizabeth hoofs it to a construction site--and finds the developer, Jarrold Jarvis, in his car with his throat cut. Sheriff Dane Jantzen figures the deed was done by a transient: Jarrold's wallet was stolen and his glove compartment rifled. Elizabeth, who now owns the local newspaper, suspects most everyone in town: Jarvis had kept a secret list of names of people who owed him money. Dane and Elizabeth start off their eventual romance by treating each other like dirt--exchanging what passes for snappy repartee. Dane insists on escorting Elizabeth to a press conference because ``I want to know where your mouth is.'' She retorts, ``it won't be kissing your ass.'' The characters are no more agreeable than the plot is focused on finding the murderer. Perhaps that's why the effect of Hoag's ( Lucky's Lady ) story is less ``still'' than static."

Random observations at GoodReads:

"...a great romantic thriller which hits right from the first page.

We have an Amish community, a normal close knit town, 2 killers ( one so unlikely) murders (obviously) a police sheriff and a new outsider newspaper editor who slowly falls in love so we get a HEA. There are many many up and downs twists and turns which all links together to make the grand final."

"Elizabeth and her teenage son, Trace, flee Atlanta and end up in small town Still Creek. Naturally, Elizabeth is gorgeous and dislikes men. The sheriff in town, Dane, is gorgeous and dislikes women. And they end up in bed together. Naturally.

Elizabeth happens on a dead body, the first murder in this town in decades. The sheriff is surly and lusty towards her (if he grabbed her by the arm and steered her one more time....seriously) and she's determined to find the killer, despite never having done anything like that before.

Also, enter the Amish with their dislike of the "English".

I know quite a few Southern people and have never heard the word "sugar" in conversation as Elizabeth."

"They are mildly entertaining, but after about one hundred or so of the same thing- usually some detective falls in love with the female victim and now they both have to come together to fight off some serial killer before he kills again- it does get old and tired, and VERY predictable. Formulaic novels are good when you want to shut down though, I'll give them that."

THE NARROWS by Michael Connelly

 Finished Fr 6/16/22

Maddie is only six years old in this Harry Bosch novel and still living in Las Vegas with her mother. There is no indication that I had read this book, but I'm sure that I have- just not this particular edition. 

Anything by Connelly is worth a look and the early Bosch novels are the best.

The title refers to the concrete culverts used to divert storm water during rainstorms in California.

 From the book's page at GoodReads:

"FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years, the one that tells her the Poet has surfaced. She has never forgotten the serial killer who wove lines of poetry in his hideous crimes--and apparently he has not forgotten her.

Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch gets a call, too--from the widow of an old friend. Her husband's death seems natural, but his ties to the hunt for the Poet make Bosch dig deep. Arriving at a derelict spot in the California desert where the feds are unearthing bodies, Bosch joins forces with Rachel. Now the two are at odds with the FBI...and squarely in the path of the Poet, who will lead them on a wicked ride out of the heat, through the narrows of evil, and into a darkness all his own..."

From the book's page at BookBrowse.com:

"FBI agent Rachel Walling finally gets the call she's dreaded for years: the one that tells her the Poet has returned. Years ago she worked on the famous case, tracking down the serial killer who wove lines of poetry into his hideous crimes. Rachel has never forgotten Robert Backus, the killer who called himself the Poet - and apparently he has not forgotten her either.

Harry Bosch gets a call, too. The former LAPD detective hears from the wife of an old friend who has recently died. The death appeared natural, but this man's ties to the hunt for the Poet make Harry dig deep - and lead him into a terrifying, bewildering situation.

So begins the most compelling, frightening, and masterful novel Michael Connelly has ever written. The Narrows places Harry Bosch in league with Rachel Walling, at odds with the FBI and squarely in the path of the most ruthless and ingenious murderer in Los Angeles's history. What follows is a taut and tantalizing mystery that has Harry Bosch racing from the hostile vistas of the Nevada desert to the glittering Las Vegas strip to the dark corners of Los Angeles.

Through it all, Bosch works at his newfound life as father to a young daughter, balancing the deepest love he has ever felt with his own sense of mission and his profound awareness of evil. This spectacularly dramatic and shocking novel will have Michael Connelly's readers desperately hungry for the next novel from "one of America's best writers"."

THE TERMINAL LIST by Jack Carr

 Finished Sa 6/11/22

The reason I read this book is that I learned that a mini-series will be dropped of this book at Amazon Prime on July 1st. Jack Carr was on J.R.E and Joe mentioned that Carr is about the only fiction author he reads. Rogan uses the audio books and Carr said that the guy that reads his books is the most popular 'reader' of audio books on the planet. Makes sense that there are awards for the charismatic person that reads the books. 'It's a novel about revenge. Someone attacks and harms the hero and he kills everyone even remotely connected to the transgression. Even you can believe the premise (seems like fantasy) then you won't be let down. 

I tried to buy some of Carr's novels at Amazon but they were all too expensive. Yesterday was the library book sale and I found one of his novels and got it for a buck. 

Lieutenant Commander James Reece learns that he did not lose his team in a firefight in Afghanistan, but he was set up by American officials high up in the Department of Defense. So he murders everyone connected to this crime. 

The reason that the authorities killed the Seals unit is that they were trying to develop a drug that would end PTSD. However, when they take the medication they acquire brain tumors. One of the reasons Reece can kill everyone in sight is that he believes that he also has a deadly brain tumor but at the end of the book he learns that the tumor is not terminal. This novel is the first in the series. 

One man is sliced in the stomach, one end of his intestines are nailed to a tree and he is forced to walk around the tree until his guts are wrapped around the tree. I can't wait to see how they handle this in the film version of the book.    

From a Simon McDonald blog:

"Navy SEAL Commander James Reece is the sole survivor of a mission gone wrong in Afghanistan. He had a bad feeling about the op from the start, and back home, his attempts to mollify his concerns and unearth the truth are stonewalled by the top brass.

Soon, during a routine CT scan, Reece learns he has a brain tumor. Alarmingly, so did other members of his team, which can’t be a coincidence. Then he discovers the bullet-riddled corpses of his pregnant wife and baby daughter at his house in Coronado, California. And Jack knows he has become unwittingly embroiled in the machinations of a secret cabal. But his enemies have made a fatal error. They’ve unleashed an apex predator; stripped a trained killer of the only things that kept him human and reigned in. And a man like that, with nothing to lose, wants only one thing: revenge.

The action comes thick and fast, and crackles with insider information, some of which has been redacted by the Department of Defense, leaving a trail of blacked-out sentences and words throughout the text, which prove more distracting than intriguing. Carr’s level of detail when it comes to weaponry and tech is almost Clancy-level, and his hero’s homicidal tunnel-vision delivers a high body count and ingenious methods of killing for readers who might think they’ve seen it all before.

“The Terminal List” is not a novel that delves into the morality of Reece’s kill spree. Revenge does not poison his soul. This is action-lit at its purest, for fans of Flynn, Hurwitz, Greaney, and Ludlum of yore: one crusading individual against an impossibly powerful adversary. It won’t turn you into a fan of the genre, but for stalwarts, there’s plenty to enjoy."

LILY WHITE by Susan Isaacs

 Refinished Tu 6/7/22

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I first finished on Easter Sunday 4/20/03. I was off Th/Fr/Sa/Su and I mostly read in one marathon over that weekend... "Great read. I never wanted it to end".

I refinished it We 4/5/17 and according to the note on the flyleaf this was also the day that I bought the new PC from BLH and a new 32" monitor that I use downstairs.

The novel is about Lily White who is a Long Island criminal defense attorney. Most of the novel is about her family and her in-laws. Her parents are 'nouveau riche' and her father made his wealth from the family owned fur store. Lily had always been in love with the boy 'up the hill'. His parents were 'old money' but actually they were very poor but retained their 'class'.  Norman Torkelson is a con artist who specializes in fleecing rich lonely women and this is the criminal case that is examined during the novel. An old woman is murdered and you don't know if Norman did the murder or was it his beautiful girlfriend who was jealous of all of Norman's 'marks'. 

From the novels page at GoodReads:

"In Susan Isaac's most ambitious and dazzling novel to date, we are introduced to Lee White, a criminal defense lawyer practicing on Long Island. Into her life drifts Norman Torkelson, a career con man charged with strangling to death his latest mark. At first, as Lee explains to us, the case seems routine, the evidence overwhelming. Norman--manly, magnetic and morally reprehensible--is a man who crisscrosses America looking for patsies for his cruel marriage scam: Love 'em, liquidate their assets, leave 'em. Clearly, he murdered Bobette Frisch, the dumpy, sour 50-something bar owner who had fallen madly in love with him. But just as Lee is resigning herself to the inevitable Guilty! verdict, she begins to have doubts. What, after all, was Norman's motive? Why not do what he had done for the last 20 years: run and leave behind a broke and brokenhearted victim? Lee starts to wonder if her client is not only not guilty but also covering for the real killer and, in doing so, performing the first selfless act of his life. As the Torkelson case unfolds, a second narrator chimes in to tell us the story behind the story: the tale of Lee's life. Born Lily White, Lee is a smart, pretty and privileged child coming of age on Long Island. Her parents have little time for her or her younger sister, devoted as they are to the pursuit of shallowness. Her mother, Sylvia, who looks like Lauren Bacall's twin sister with a mild eating disorder, is busy with the exhausting work of keeping up her wardrobe. Her father, Leonard Weissberg--Weiss--and finally White, is consumed by his chi-chi Manhattan fur salon, his model-bookkeeper mistress, and his obsession with the family next door, the old-money, oh-so-social Taylors. When Lee marries Jazz Taylor, the scion of these blue-bloods, her life seems blessed. Suddenly she has her mother's approval, her father's love--and a sublime husband. No matter that she has to give up her dream job in the Manhattan DA's Office to move back to Long Island with him; that's what marriage is, a series of compromises made in the name of love. Isn't it? Lily White masterfully interweaves the depths of deception surrounding the twisted Torkelson case with the stunning betrayals that devastate Lee's own life. With the characteristic intelligence and delicious, razor-sharp wit displayed in her previous bestsellers, such as After All These Years and Compromising Positions, Susan Isaacs has crafted an extraordinary novel about social mobility -- about what is phony and what is real. Lily White is the seamlessly executed story of the crimes committed in the name of the good life and the victims of these violations: Those like Bobette, who do not survive, those whose spirits are crushed, and the few, like Lee, who fight back--and find something better".

I loved the book the third time through and I want to get more books by the author. I read her bio and she is actually a housewife who had a lawyer for a husband and she just started writing on a lark. 

Today is the library book sale (Sa 6/11/22) and I might check out the stacks for a novel by her after I buy books at the sale.