Book 16 (2014)

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1. Berger, John - Ways of Seeing (149 pages)
2. Vonnegut, Kurt - God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (72 pages)
3. Roth, Joseph - The Legend of the Holy Drinker (100 pages)
4. Hrabal, Bohumil - Closely Observed Trains (87 pages)
5. Bloomfield, Barbara & Chris Radley - Couple Therapy: Dramas of Love and Sex (171 pages)
6. Feist, Raymond E. - Magician (689 pages)
7. Feist, Raymond E. - Silverthorn (424 pages)
8. Faber, Michael - Under the Skin (296 pages)
9. Gourevitch, Philip - We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda (351 pages)
10. Feist, Raymond E. - A Darkness at Sethanon (518 pages)
11. Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front (215 pages)
12. Jones, Gwyneth - White Queen (318 pages)
13. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White - The Elements of Style (104 pages)
14. Keating, Karl - Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" (337 pages)
15. Ettlinger, Steve - Twinkie, Deconstructed (274 pages)
16. Dick, Philip K. - The Penultimate Truth (191 pages)

Page count4296

I had a craving for Dick. It had been a while since I'd read any. I looked at the available choices and chose The Penultimate Truth, as it seemed timely. After all, with the two World Wars constantly in the public consciousness this year, a novel about World War Three seemed ideal.

When WWWIII broke out, humanity went underground to escape the nuclear holocaust. Fifteen years they've lived deep in shelters following daily broadcasts of the horrific war raging on the surface. Only they don't realise that the war ended years ago. The few on the surface have perpetrated a hoax to keep the masses underground, using them as factories to supply their needs while they divvy up the huge open spaces amongst themselves. Things aren't going so well underground, though, so every once in a while someone ventures onto the surface to seek help, never to be heard from again, presumably killed off by radiation sickness or worse.

Thus Dick sets the stage for The Penultimate Truth, then throws a few characteristic spanners into the works to get the story moving along. It's yet another thought-provoking, disturbing, and highly enjoyable tale from Philip Dick.