The World Jones Made

I'm nearing the end of my endeavor to read everything by Philip K. Dick that is still in print. My unconditional fandom hasn't blinded me to the fact that occasionally, one novel out of the long series turns out to be a disappointment. Whilst exclusively reading Dick, the reader rapidly becomes so spoilt, that it is a letdown to come across a story that is _not_ scintillating from the first page to the last. So I'm open to the notion that an occasional Dick book can be as dull as a 300-page excerpt out of a 2000-page Russian tome. Yet, such disappointment is profoundly absent from this read. On a purely subjective basis, I don't care whether this book belongs to his early period, or that his writing style hadn't fully matured yet - I just know that I enjoyed the ride immensely. The traditional post-apocalyptic setting; the neverending schemes of bureaucrats; the mind-boggling fantasies about mutants, precogs and extraterrestrials; the battle of the sexes; the wry situational humor; the larger-than-life metaphysical issues raised; a storyline that sets you pondering for weeks after ... all the true Dick genius that so captivates his audience, is here. It's obviously a matter of personal preference, but I recommend this one among his best.

One of Dick's early novels, The World Jones Made (1956) has well-realized characters and psychological complexity, but lacks a coherent plot focus. Without the reality breakdowns, multi-focal viewpoints, robots, and time paradoxes of Dick's later pyrotechnic creations, it ranks as a minor work in the PKD canon but is interesting for what it tries to do, showing a blackly ironic rise and fall of a man called Jones. Jones, whose character is based on Hitler, is a "precog" who can see the future, and builds up a mass movement to oppose the prevailing state ideology of Relativism. The Jews' role here is played by the Drifters, a harmless race of amoeba-like aliens, who represent the universe Jones wants to conquer. Jones is opposed by Cussick, the policeman, who is the voice of conventional, commonsense reality. But Jones is like Cussick's alter ego, and the two men's lives are entwined in complex and surprising ways. The psychology of the policeman and the unhappy marriage of the protagonist are elements to be found in a number of Dick's later books. Here there is a somewhat contrived positive ending, but what impresses is Dick's precognitive vision, which has been shown time and again in the years since the 50s to be right on the mark politically, sociologically, and philosophically.

I must disagree with those who say this is an immature creation of PKD. Although a disjointed read in places (and his better stuff tends to be), conceptually it is one of his best. Structurally, it is fantastic: there are at least 4 microcosms in this book (including our solar system), each of which is planned out by someone or something, each recapitulating the other levels of the novel. And despite the planning, and in Jones' case, the actual foreknowing of events, one of the major premises of the story is the same as in other PKD novels: the inherent meaningfulness of human striving, for good or for ill.

Okay, this isn't later PKD. There is no twist and fold of reality, no astral trip. But that doesn't make it any less worthwhile for reading. Behind all of PKD's themes and devices stands a unique and reflective view of HUMANITY - The World Jones Made is no different.1956 - PKD predicts Political Correctness, named Relativism. This is right on the heels of WWII and Hitler, whom the characters in the novel are prone to refer to. After another 'Great War', the citizens of Earth aim to prevent further genocides by installing a government with strict adherence to relativist principles. Enter Floyd Jones, Hitler-alike in vision, only he can see one year into the future as well. PKD generates great ambiguity over which is the lesser of evils - there is no clearcut utopia here.Floyd Jones isn't quite as well developed or grand in scope as Palmer Eldritch, PKD's later manipulative antagonist, but he is interesting and his vision is nicely done. I don't think his futuresight amounts to 'hogwash' - it is very Oedipal and grounded in the idea of fate.Recommended.

People are generally harsh in consigning 'The World Jones Made' to stand beside truly awful novels like 'Dr. Futurity' and 'Vulcan's Hammer.' This novel is better than that. WJM is an early novel, and it is, as Patricia Warrick says, 'rough in parts.' Despite this it is full of excellent ideas, like the genetically engineered Venusians (no one knew what Venus was really like in 1956), the 'drifters' and the use of relativism for a world government. There are some pulpy ideas, like Jones' ability to see one year into the future, but PKD even manages to put a new spin on this, showing Jones' agony at experiencing the first year of his death in the last year of his life. All right, so the plot is hollow, the characters brittle, and the writing style pedestrian. But the essence of things to come in PKD's career is here. WJM is vastly superior to earlier works like Solar Lottery and The Cosmic Puppets. It is still in print, even after 40+ years. WJM doesn't really deserve 4 stars, maybe 3.5. I like it partially because most people hate it, and I think it deserves more credit than it is afforded.